DEERPARK, NY — Neighbors of a proposed film studio in Deerpark are suing the town for not requiring an environmental review of the 40-acre project.

The suit was brought by the Lower Huguenot Neighborhood Alliance, an unincorporated association of residents that formed last year to “protect and preserve the rural and natural character of the lower Huguenot, NY area, especially the waters and wildlife of the Neversink River” by opposing “ill-advised suburbanization and irresponsible planning.”

The alliance brought a special proceeding, known as an Article 78, that asks the court to “annul, vacate and in all respects void” the town of Deerpark Planning Board’s negative declaration last August and approval of New Century Film’s conditional site plan in September. A negative declaration is a legal statement that asserts a proposed project will not significantly affect the environment and so does not need a State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR). 

“The Deerpark Planning Board failed to take a hard look at numerous substantive environmental issues and areas of impact that will occur with the proposed development,” the alliance says in its suit. Those include the creation of a wastewater treatment plant, traffic, the quality of ground and surface water, streams and wetlands, viewsheds or historical and recreational preservation.

The project on Neversink Drive is on the site of a former equestrian center. Plans include a hotel, arena, restaurants, a parking garage, and a gun range, among other amenities.