After 10 years of talks, The Whippoorwill Club in the hamlet of Armonk and New York City”™s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) agreed this week on a $10 million deal to preserve permanently 100 acres of golf course so as not to pollute the Kensico Reservoir with runoff.
Under the terms ”“ still being finalized and not expected to be signed until next year ”“ New York City, in addition to an easement purchase of $100,000 per acre, will assume part of the tax burden of the land, which will remain on local tax rolls. The course, in turn, will feature 50-foot buffers around seven golf course ponds and filters to purify stormwater runoff. The golf course at the site will remain active.
Approximately 90 percent of the easement land is in the town of North Castle, with the balance in the town of New Castle.
According to a Whippoorwill spokesman, $100,000 per acre “is well below the value of the land for housing lots in that area of Armonk.”
Both parties issued statements of approval:
“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with DEP that will preserve this environmentally valuable land from future development while helping protect the quality of the water that serves millions of people in the metropolitan area,” said club President Paul Atkinson. “This transaction is in the best interests of the DEP, our members and the surrounding community.”
More than 43 percent of land within the Kensico Reservoir watershed will be protected with the addition of the Whippoorwill easement, the DEP reported.
“DEP is grateful that its ongoing negotiation with the Whippoorwill Club and its board of directors has yielded an agreement that is beneficial to both parties,” said DEP Commissioner Carter Strickland. “This conservation easement will help DEP protect the water supply for more than 8 million New Yorkers and it will provide the club with the capital it needs to improve its facilities and continue its impressive record of environmental stewardship.”
The club is on Whippoorwill Road off Route 120. It first opened for golf in 1928 and today hosts 300 members.
