Town of Deerpark · Orange County, NY

Dragon Springs Expansion: What the Public Record Shows

Nine plain-language posters, built from public town, state and federal records, so neighbors can understand the plan and have their say.

Tue · Oct137:00 PM

Deadline for written comments on the FEISEmail the Deerpark Planning Board: agorr@townofdeerparkny.govThe public hearing was held September 30, 2026

Deadline: Tue Oct 13, 7 PM

✉ Write your comment See the posters ↓

18,400 → 100,000gallons a day of sewage capacity (more than 5×)

About 24 acresof trees to be cut

0.6 + 4.6 acresof wetland filled and flooded

136 milliongallons in the new lake

FROM THE APPLICANT’S PLANSFinal Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), 28 Aug 2026, pp. 2, 7, 13, 35, 45

In 60 seconds

What’s proposed: a 920-seat music hall, a temple complex, two parking garages, a second lake, and sewage capacity rising from 18,400 to 100,000 gallons a day. Nothing is approved yet.
What the experts found: three reviews done for Deerpark Rural Alliance and NYenvironcom say important information is missing on sewage, groundwater, stormwater and traffic. CEA Engineers says the Planning Board cannot approve the FEIS without it. See the expert reviews ↓
Have your say: written comments are due Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 7 PM. Use the letter builder below, email agorr@townofdeerparkny.gov, or mail the Planning Board at PO Box 621, Huguenot, NY 12746.

Built first, approved later

Much of this campus was approved only after it was built: court settlements in 2014 and 2023 approved buildings already standing, and this plan asks the Board to approve four more already-built items. The FEIS never says what happened to the 8th story the Town ordered taken to the Zoning Board or torn down in 2016.

FROM THE APPLICANT’S PLANSPUBLIC RECORDFEIS (28 Aug 2026) pp. 2, 4, 19, 66; Town Notice of Violation, 28 Sep 2016 (Town FOIL records, pp. 24–25). See Poster 8 ↓

Each poster opens with a one-line takeaway. Click any poster to enlarge it, and use the arrow keys to flip through them.

The project at a glance

A music hall, a temple, garages, a second lake and more than five times the sewage capacity. Nothing is approved yet.

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Where the water goes

How rain and runoff move off the campus toward the Basher Kill stream and the Neversink River.

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Sewage on a steep hillside

Where the septic field would go, and why steep ground raises the risk.

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The second lake

The planned second lake, shown with public elevation data.

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Then and now: 2010 to 2025

Aerial photos show how the land has changed over 15 years.

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The track record

A timeline of permits, violations and enforcement, taken from public records, including the 2016 stop-work order over an added 8th story and the $7,500 fine in 2018.

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They say, the record shows

Public claims about the project, side by side with what the documents say.

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What’s missing from the record

Questions the environmental review still leaves unanswered, including buildings approved only after they were built.

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Sources and citations

Every fact on these posters, and where it came from.

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Expert reviews of the FEIS

Three expert reviews, all dated September 30, 2026, and each done for Deerpark Rural Alliance and NYenvironcom. CEA Engineers and SIMCO Engineering addressed theirs to the Planning Board; HydroQuest addressed its letter to the Town of Deerpark.

CEA Engineers

Engineering review of the FEIS: sewage, stormwater and erosion control (23 pages)

Takeaway: the Planning Board cannot approve the FEIS and must require submission of a revised FEIS. p. 2

Read the full PDF ↗

HydroQuest

Groundwater and wastewater comment letter (2 pages)

Takeaway: prove the groundwater supply first. Project size, design, and approval should occur AFTER the quantity of available groundwater is proven, not before. p. 2

Read the full PDF ↗

SIMCO Engineering

Review of the applicant’s traffic study (5 pages)

Takeaway: the traffic study leaves the 920-seat music hall out of weekday traffic. This is a huge omission. p. 4

Read the full PDF ↗

Takeaways are short plain-language summaries; words in quotation marks are exact quotes. Each page link opens the PDF at that page.

Send a written comment

Deadline: Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 7 PM

The Planning Board is taking written comments on the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). You don’t need to be an expert. Pick the issues that matter to you, add your name, and send the letter below, or write your own.

Your name (required) Your town or street address (optional, but it helps)

What should the Board do? (untick any you don’t want)

Sewage and groundwater. Require thorough soil and groundwater testing beneath the proposed sewage disposal fields, and proof of the available groundwater supply, before any decision on raising sewage capacity from 18,400 to 100,000 gallons a day.Missing sewage designs. Require the design drawings for the new sewage treatment plant, its pipes and pump stations, and the drip field, plus proper soil deep test pit and percolation test results, as part of this review rather than deferring them to later permits.Stormwater and erosion. Require the applicant to resolve the conflicting stormwater documents and complete the erosion-control plan for construction on steep slopes.Traffic. Require the traffic study to include the 920-seat music hall on weekdays (or a binding agreement that it stays closed on weekdays), and a traffic management plan for events on our narrow, winding rural roads.Protecting our water. As conditions of any approval, require monitoring wells where groundwater flows away from the sewage disposal fields, tested every three months, and a plan to stop adding wastewater immediately if contamination is found, to protect groundwater, the Basher Kill and the Neversink River.Dam safety. Require a dam-safety study, including a map of what would flood if the dam failed, for the proposed 136-million-gallon lake.Built first, approved later. Explain what happened to structures the Town cited for being built without permits, including the 8th story added to the Rehearsal Hall in 2016, before approving more construction.A revised FEIS. Require a revised FEIS that fills these gaps before the Board accepts the FEIS or decides on the project.

Anything else, in your own words (optional)

Your letter (you can edit it here)

To: Town of Deerpark Planning Board
Re: Written comment on the Dragon Springs FEIS (Town of Deerpark)
Dear Chair and Members of the Planning Board,
I am writing to comment on the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the proposed Dragon Springs expansion in the Town of Deerpark (tax lot 31-1-72).
I respectfully ask the Planning Board to:
– Require thorough soil and groundwater testing beneath the proposed sewage disposal fields, and proof of the available groundwater supply, before any decision on raising sewage capacity from 18,400 to 100,000 gallons a day.
– Require the design drawings for the new sewage treatment plant, its pipes and pump stations, and the drip field, plus proper soil deep test pit and percolation test results, as part of this review rather than deferring them to later permits.
– Require the applicant to resolve the conflicting stormwater documents and complete the erosion-control plan for construction on steep slopes.
– Require the traffic study to include the 920-seat music hall on weekdays (or a binding agreement that it stays closed on weekdays), and a traffic management plan for events on our narrow, winding rural roads.
– As conditions of any approval, require monitoring wells where groundwater flows away from the sewage disposal fields, tested every three months, and a plan to stop adding wastewater immediately if contamination is found, to protect groundwater, the Basher Kill and the Neversink River.
– Require a dam-safety study, including a map of what would flood if the dam failed, for the proposed 136-million-gallon lake.
– Explain what happened to structures the Town cited for being built without permits, including the 8th story added to the Rehearsal Hall in 2016, before approving more construction.
– Require a revised FEIS that fills these gaps before the Board accepts the FEIS or decides on the project.
Please include this comment in the official record for the FEIS.
Sincerely,
[Your name]

✉ Open in my email

Email to agorr@townofdeerparkny.gov (Planning Board secretary). If the email button doesn’t open your mail app, copy the letter and paste it into a new email to that address, or print it and mail it.

✉

Email

agorr@townofdeerparkny.gov
by Tue, Oct 13, 7 PM

✎

Mail a letter

Town of Deerpark Planning Board
PO Box 621
Huguenot, NY 12746

☎

Drop off or call

Deerpark Town Hall
420 Route 209
(845) 856-2210

Mailed or dropped-off letters must reach the Planning Board by the deadline. Ask that your comment be included in the official record.

✉ Send a comment