With the bulk of New York City”™s tap water across King Street to the south, the water hazards on The Whippoorwill Club”™s 18 holes in Armonk play themselves out in conjunction with the city”™s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
After 10 years of talks, Whippoorwill and the DEP agreed June 10 on a $10 million deal to preserve permanently 100 acres of golf course so as not to pollute with runoff the Kensico Reservoir”™s 30.6 billion gallons of Big Apple water.
Under the terms ”“ still being finalized and not expected to be signed until next year ”“ New York City 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 and tennis courts on 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.
The DEP will pay $100,000 per acre for purchase of the easement. According to a Whippoorwill spokesman, “This 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,” club President Paul Atkinson said. “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,” DEP Commissioner Carter Strickland said. “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.
