"NIMBY" nay-sayers, or just cause for concern? Cragsmoor residents say they are not opposed to the Buddhist group that plans to build Dharmakaya, a retreat center on a 90-acre tract in their community, but have several very specific concerns about what is proposed.

Jim McKenney, president of the Cragsmoor Association, a local group that has provided a voice for the community on this proposal, said there are two major issues that make residents uneasy, and caused the "Not in My Back Yard" reaction.

Water is one of these. McKenney said test wells demonstrated enough water to provide the required amount needed for the people expected to use the facility, but the return of water to the aquifer is a major factor in measuring the impact on the community. Hydrologists hired by the community said recovery was very slow, an indication that there could be problems with the water supply for the rest of the community.

Joan Lesikin, who like most residents, lives above the project, said her well is already 300 feet deep, and that if her house suddenly had no water, she would be forced to sell it.

"Who would buy a house with no water?" asked another resident.

Heidi Wagner, manager of the Sam's Point Preserve and an active member of the Cragsmoor Association, said it's documented that the Cragsmoor Inn, located on that site at the turn of the century, was constantly running out of water.

McKenney said the Dharmakaya hydrologist's report found "plenty of water," but said the Town of Wawarsing Planning Board is "taking this very seriously," and has hired its own hydrologist to study the issue.

The greatest concern is the size of the project, and the potential for its expansion. Although Dharmakaya has reduced the number of people expected to use the property by 20 percent, and reduced the size of buildings in the complex by 15 percent, McKenney said it would still allow for buildings totaling 60,000 square feet, with the main temple being 17,000 square feet.

Although requirements for religious groups are much more lenient, it is still vastly disproportionate to other buildings in Cragsmoor. The Stone Church, which is used by the community, is 1,700 square feet, and the library and historical society buildings are even less.

"This is just an enormous facility," McKenney said, "not appropriate to the scale of this community. They insist the largest attendance would be 150 people, 4 times a year, but how do you know? A thousand people could fit into that main building."

More than 60 residents appeared at a November meeting of the planning board when representatives of the Dharmakaya appeared to present their Draft Environmental Statement to address these concerns and others.

The Dharmakaya group has offered to grant conservation easements on the borders of the property to mitigate cutting down 35 acres of forested land, but residents are more concerned about the issue of use.

They want enforceable guarantees that will limit the number of people who will use the site for long-term retreats and special events to the few hundred the group says it will host.

So far, McKenney said, Dharmakaya representatives have responded to these requests by saying they will "strongly consider it."

But McKenney and others are concerned about the potential of finding the temple filled, bringing in a number of people more than double the population of Cragsmoor.

"If you really aren't going to expand beyond the numbers you're proposing, why wouldn't you offer an easement?"

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