Nurture vs. nature - Glenmere B&B approved, to dismay of conservationists

CHESTER — While some consider the restoration planned for the splendid Glenmere mansion a gift to Hudson Valley history, others consider it a threat to the ecosystem. Glenmere Lake is separated from the mansion by 600 feet of grass and gardens. This expanse happens to be one of the last remaining homes of the endangered northern cricket frog. People have seen the frogs in and around the lake, including on the Glenmere property. It is a protected species in New York State. But no frogs were seen during a study done to satisfy the state’s requirement for an environmental review. Soon after the study was completed, the town planning board approved the massive restoration. The grand old mansion is to be converted into a bed and breakfast, restaurant, and spa. The project is expected to restore to Glenmere the luster of its heyday, when it was a year-round escape for the rich and famous. But it was the fate of a humbler resident, the northern cricket frog, that was the focus of last week’s Town of Chester Planning Board meeting. In a heated session that carried on well into the night, Jay Westerveld of Sugar Loaf, a naturalist with expertise in the northern cricket frog, insists he’s seen them on and around the Glenmere property. Just as insistent were members of the planning board that they followed the proper procedures in approving the project. The study was properly done, they said, and the unauthorized observations of an outside party at some time in the past was not their problem. And, they said, if Westerveld had observed the frogs recently, he was probably trespassing. Who wouldn’t love to live at Glenmere? Certainly any frog they knew, they said. A hop, skip, and jump Plans do not call for any disruption of the front lawns or the road facing the lake beyond some minor brush clearing, which has already been done, and some work on the historic gardens. After much contemplation, town engineer Jerry McDonald, said that, if there indeed were frogs in the area, and if they were to migrate across the property, the greatest obstacle they would encounter would be one small outbuilding to be built behind the mansion and at a great distance from the lake. “I think they can manage that,” he said with a smile. But the conservationists disagree. Because the frog’s habitat is so limited and so rare, observations should be made four times a year, to consider their migratory patterns in all four seasons, Westerveld said. The standard calls for four-season observations if the frog is seen within 500 feet of the area to be developed. In the end, the planning board was not convinced. Aside from the frogs, the project’s only barriers were a neighbor’s concern about poor stormwater drainage, and outstanding approvals from the department of health for the spa and restaurant. McDonald said engineering requirements could be met by building a new stormwater detention pond. Confident the project will be a great asset to the community because of its beauty and history, the planning board gave its go ahead, as long as those conditions were satisfied. It is possible, however, that the county will require four-season observations of the frog, as it has done recently regarding an adjacent property being developed as a senior citizen community in the Village of Florida. www.hiltonpond.org About the northern cricket frog • At only an inch long, the northern cricket frog is one of the smallest vertebrates in the state, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. • It can leap five to six feet in a bound. • It likes sunny, shallow ponds with abundant vegetation in the water or on the shores. • After getting all but wiped out in the last century because of aerial spraying of DDT and the decline of wetlands, the frog is now only locally present in a few scattered populations in the Hudson Highlands and Shawangunk area. Source: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation