Fight brewing over Carmans River plan

Pieces of a landmark plan to protect the Carmans River watershed were contested Wednesday by developers and environmentalists - some of whom helped craft the proposal.

The quarrel signifies the beginning of what likely will be a drawn-out fight preceding the proposal's adoption into law.

The Carmans River Watershed Protection and Management Plan plan was unanimously approved Wednesday by a committee of public officials, building industry representatives and environmental advocates that crafted the proposal at the request of Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko. The proposal will now go to the town board, which will accept the plan formally on Tuesday and later set a public hearing.

The heart of the plan is 25 recommendations that range from steering future development out of the river's watershed to providing stricter management of invasive plants.

But environmentalists, building officials and civic activists - some members of the committee, some not - questioned Wednesday whether the recommendations do enough to protect the environment, how they might change neighborhoods, and what they could mean for the future of development in Brookhaven.

"This process is not only not over, it's only bringing us to a new beginning," said committee member Richard Amper, executive director of the Pine Barrens Society.

The plan's call to expand the "core preservation area" of the Pine Barrens raised a flag for committee member Mitchell Pally, chief executive of the Long Island Builders Institute. Pally issued a statement saying some parcels the plan targets for preservation were selected "not because of the need to protect the river, but solely for political purposes to prohibit development."

The plan also would allow developers the right to build more densely outside the Carmans River watershed in exchanging for yielding the right to build near the river. Karen Blumer, president of Open Space Preservation Trust and not a committee member, said she feared the proposal "opens it up for intense development everywhere."

Kevin McAllister, executive director of clean water group Peconic Baykeeper and a committee member, chided as "arbitrary" the proposal's standards for nitrogen and nitrate discharges.

Building and environmental representatives who helped craft the plan signed on to the proposal during Wednesday's vote, but each filed "minority reports" listing their concerns. The reports will be included in the final plan presented to the town board Thursday, said Lee Koppelman, a political-science professor at Stony Brook University and committee chair.

Koppelman said the implementation of the plan is in the town board's hands now.

"Protection of the river . . . depends on political action by the elected officials," he said.