What a Mess!
Thirty-eight years ago, Christie Kroll and Peter Kirchner bought a little red house on 39 acres directly across from Camp Combe on Peekskill Hollow Road. Although their attorney warned them that living across from a children’s camp could be challenging, they decided they were game. They became regular donors to the nonprofit and Kroll briefly worked there. She even drove an old tractor occasionally to help out at some of the camp’s family events.
That was then, this is now.
In 2021, Camp Combe moved its outdoor activities to a larger field directly across the street from Kroll and Kirchner’s home to assure adequate social distancing. Since then, they have endured summer morning blasts of “Chicken Dance” and “I’m a Gummy Bear” from the camp’s loudspeakers, registering as high as 75 decibels on the meter they purchased. When Kroll heard through the grapevine that Camp Combe was going to become the host site for Kingdom Faire, the Renaissance festival that attracts hundreds of people and can snarl traffic, she decided it was time to take action.
On March 13th, Kroll paid a visit to Town Hall, where she appears to have set off a firestorm. Supervisor Jacqueline Annabi confirms that until Kroll’s visit, she was unaware that Camp Combe’s special use permit would not allow it to host Kingdom Faire’s events. And Kingdom Faire festivals aren’t even the full manifestation of Camp Combe’s ambitions.
Since 2023, Camp Combe, which is owned by the YMCA of Central and Northern Westchester, has been requesting the right to expand the potential uses of its 79-acre property beyond that of a day camp. After considerable prodding from the town's Planning Board, in February the YMCA spelled out its desire to hold 56 events a year. It characterized 25 of those events as “small”, for 125 people; another 25 as “large”, for a maximum of 300 people; and six times a year Camp Combe said it wanted to hold “showcase” events for more than 400 people. Included in the YMCA’s application are drawings of a 470-seat amphitheater. “The threat of Camp Combe becoming an event venue for large events is real,” Kroll wrote in a note to her neighbors. “Large scale entertainment is not a good fit for the Tompkins Corners neighborhood.”
The YMCA’s goals mark a significant change from the camp’s current allowable use. Its special use permit, issued in 2009, limits it to hosting a day camp for up to 600 children, plus five “family nights” during nine or ten weeks in the summer. Period. Even more constraining, the camp is located in the town’s “Preservation District”, which is primarily intended for "very low density/intensity recreational purposes."
Hosting Kingdom Faire and other similar events would require getting approval from the town’s Planning Board and Zoning Board, but after numerous meetings, many thorny questions remain. Until the Y's plans get approved, its permit makes clear that violations pose real risk: “This Special Use Permit shall terminate with any change of use, expansion of use, failure to abide by the conditions of the Amended Site Development Plan and this Amended Special Use Permit, or misrepresentations by the applicant.”
Despite these complications, on February 25th Kingdom Faire posted on its Facebook page that Camp Combe is now its permanent home. It announced that it would be holding its festival on two weekends at the end of May and early June.
Kingdom Faire is selling tickets and inviting as many as 40 vendors to sign up, even offering them the opportunity to park their RVs on the property or stay in tents, although camping on the property is strictly prohibited except for two “family nights”.
Although the camp only has parking spots for about 60 cars, nowhere near enough to accommodate Kingdom Faire's 50 performers, 40 vendors and regular attendance levels, the FAQ on Kingdom Faire’s website says “All parking is on site and FREE.”
Asked about the apparent conflict between what is allowed by Camp Combe’s permit and Kingdom Faire's festivals, Supervisor Annabi said, “Should we have known about it? Yeah.” However, she notes that she wasn’t on the Town Board when the camp’s 2009 special use permit was issued and that previous town supervisors never questioned the smaller outdoor events that the camp occasionally held. “It never became a problem until it became a problem,” Annabi said.
Five days after Kroll’s visit to Town Hall, Annabi unveiled a proposal at the March Town Board meeting for a new law to regulate outdoor community events. It would have allowed the Town Board (rather than the Planning Board) to issue a permit “for the purpose of a special event or public festival for a period not exceeding two days, and not more than three events at the same location per year.” The proposed law also included this clause: “This Local Law is intended to supersede any provisions of the Town law, the laws of the Town of Putnam Valley, and the New York State General Municipal Law which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Local Law.”
Supervisor Annabi says there was never any connection between the proposed law and Kingdom Faire. She says her goal with the proposal was merely to address local traffic and safety problems that arise with temporary events like neighborhood block parties and tag sales, whereas Camp Combe’s application before the Planning Board is about the rules governing more permanent land use.
Still, Annabi was very familiar with Kingdom Faire, having worked assiduously in 2022 to ensure that the theater group could hold its festival in Town Park on weekends for nearly two months. The town even arranged for shuttles to bring non-Putnam Valley residents to the event from the parking area at Jefferson Valley Mall. The festival offered a way to bring family-friendly entertainment to the town and boost Putnam Valley's tourism aspirations.
It is understandable that a town supervisor would want to encourage economic activity. The county has also been supportive. Last year County Executive Kevin Byrne and Assemblyman Matt Slater submitted letters to the Planning Board voicing their support for a $100,000 grant that would enable Camp Combe to replace a cabana and open its pool to all 97,668 county residents on weekends. And the Putnam County Economic Development Corporation is celebrating Kingdom Faire's home at Camp Combe on its website.
But first the YMCA has to negotiate its way to an amended special use permit. How's that going so far? Not well. For more than two years, members of the Planning Board and their consultants have been trying to extract information about the types, size and frequency of the alternative uses the YMCA is requesting. The details and the scope of those plans keep changing.
The YMCA’s evolving proposals
In February 2023, the YMCA asked the Planning Board to amend its special use permit to include “rental opportunities of YMCA facilities for personal, corporate, or community-based events.” A year later, the YMCA’s attorney said his client had scaled back its ambitions and "now proposes to only allow the use of the Property by small community groups (e.g., the Town, the School District) and by YMCA-affiliated groups/families throughout the year.” The lawyer later referred to that narrower focus as “a big change.”
In subsequent meetings, Planning Board members continued to express concern about the potential impact of large-scale events on the property. In March, YMCA lawyer Taryn Ramey again tried to allay those concerns, stating in a letter, “The YMCA would like to clarify that it is not proposing a “24/7/365” use of the Property, nor is it proposing to transform the Property into an event venue…. The YMCA’s proposed usage of the Property outside of camp is a modest request that aligns with its mission of fostering youth development, providing healthy living and embracing social responsibility.”
Throughout its interactions with the Planning Board, the YMCA has made clear that it understands the legal restrictions on its activities. Most recently, it even submitted a copy of an email exchange showing that it had denied a request from a camp family to hold a bridal shower there this September.
Having turned down a bridal shower in September, it is all the more surprising that the YMCA was going to allow Kingdom Faire’s much larger festivals to start at the end of May. (Despite repeated requests, Camp Combe did not make anyone available for an interview.) Supervisor Annabi’s view of the situation? “That’s between them and Kingdom Faire. They are in violation right now. Camp Combe is in violation right now.”
Despite that conclusion, Annabi still believes the camp should be allowed to host Kingdom Faire because they weren’t stopped from holding small outdoor events in previous years. “To pull the rug underneath them after 20 years of them doing something - to say ‘you can no longer do it’ - is not fair to anybody,” Annabi says.
However, none of the previous outdoor events that Camp Combe held generated anywhere near the attendance levels that an event like Kingdom Faire could entail. The Planning Board still has questions about the YMCA’s application and has resisted various requests to move it forward. In response to the recent entreaties at its February meeting, Planning Board Chair Dale Phillips said, “There’s a lot of stuff in here that I’m not sure exactly how this Board feels yet. We’re thinking about it and we’re going over it.”
Issues of concern at the Planning Board
Whenever applicants come before the Planning Board, their submissions are reviewed in detail by the Town’s planning consultant, Bruce Barber, to evaluate how those requests jibe with town codes. In his most recent assessment of the YMCA’s application regarding “Impacts to the character of the surrounding neighborhood and community,” Barber wrote, “Applicant indicates no impacts.”
Despite that blanket statement, here are some of the issues that the Planning Board is focusing on:
Traffic The YMCA's plans include expanding the driveway and traffic circle to make it easier for cars and buses to enter and leave. Although the camp’s current permit allows up to 600 campers, that number far exceeds recent summer enrollment and the Y maintains that it is extremely unlikely that there will ever be 600 people attending events at the camp simultaneously. The traffic study from its consultant assumes a maximum of 295 cars coming in and out during the morning and afternoon peak hours. In its February Traffic and Parking Management Plan, the Y states that its intent is to ensure that traffic "will occur safely and efficiently, and will not spill back out into Peekskill Hollow Road."
Parking In preparation for large events, the YMCA has submitted plans to create 185 parking spots on the property. For any event where parking needs would exceed that, it says it will require event hosts to find off-site parking and provide shuttle service.
Many of the proposed 185 spots, however, are very close to the Peekskill Hollow Brook, which led Planning Board Vice Chair Tom Carano to voice serious concerns at the February meeting. “I don’t want to seem negative about something that’s been in the community for so long and it’s provided a wonderful service,” Carano said. “But you have potentially a hundred cars going to be parked right at the shoreline of the Hollow Brook, which essentially is the water supply for the City of Peekskill, among other things. There’s no riparian buffer, there’s nothing except for gravel and everything that drips out of those cars - and anything for that matter - rainwater, any residual stuff that comes off Peekskill Hollow Road, is going to end up in the Hollow Brook.” Summing up his concerns, Carano said, “There’s a lot of discussion about enhancing the use of the camp, and that’s still up for debate and review by this Board. So I’m just concerned about where they’re all going to park.”
Drainage As in many parts of Putnam Valley, in heavy rainstorms there is often flooding at Camp Combe. After the July 2023 storm, the turnaround area used for daily drop offs was completely under water. Planning Board members are reviewing how the Y’s plans to develop the property will fit with its location in a wetlands area and FEMA-identified flood plains.
Septic To address its expansion plans, the Y is proposing to install a new septic system and field. It has also committed that any event attracting more than 300 attendees will be required to provide portable restrooms.
Noise - Planning Board consultant Barber noted in his memo that a noise study was not provided and that “traffic noise was not considered.”
Emergency management With regard to fire, EMS and police, Barber’s memo notes that “Applicant indicates that there shall not be any impacts.” However, in his mid-March memo, the Y’s traffic engineer noted "the likelihood that police presence might be requested to direct traffic at the Camp’s entrance for the largest such events.”
What now?
Camp Combe is currently scheduled to appear again before the Planning Board on April 28th. After residents complained at this week's Town Board meeting about the many flaws in the proposed law to govern outdoor events, Supervisor Annabi acknowledged it was "loosey-goosey". In a highly unusual move, the board unanimously voted to reject the law it had proposed. As of this writing, it's unclear what will happen to Kingdom Faire's plans to hold its festival in about six weeks.
The complicated issues raised by Camp Combe’s planning application have put some individuals in awkward positions. One of the five members of the Planning Board, Mat Bruno, has had to recuse himself from all deliberations because he is the father of the YMCA’S senior program director. Town Board member Christian Russo lives across the street from Camp Combe, next door to Kroll and Kirchner. And the Town Board liaison to the Planning Board, Stacey Tompkins, is socially connected to the YMCA’s president and CEO, Cynthia Delfino Birdsall. Both sit on the board of the Business Council of Westchester.
Ideally, these various parties will find their way through this regulatory thicket. The beautiful, 79-acre property where Camp Combe is located has been an important source of child care and outdoor recreation in the area for decades. Camp closures caused by COVID and the July 2023 storm undoubtedly put pressure on the Y to identify new sources of revenue. The local school district, for one, has indicated its interest in using the site for field trips, retreats and professional development. A thriving camp and appropriately-scaled event location could help raise Putnam Valley's visibility, potentially lending support to local businesses. And careful review by the Planning Board in a public forum could help ensure a happy ending for the local environment and the community.
In the meantime, what a mess!
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