By AUBRIE GEORGE
Prior to 2004, Kenilworth Lake was a serene body of water spanning 15 acres in the southern end of town. Today, the lake is dry, as homeowners and a local developer remain at odds over who is responsible for fixing its dam and whether it should be fixed at all.
Developer Joseph Samost owns Kenilworth Dam and nearby Flamingo Dam under a subsidiary called Pine Acres Associates. Both structures were damaged in a storm that wreaked havoc on Burlington County in 2004, bringing 13 inches of rain in the form of a torrential downpour and damaging 30 dams in its path.
Shortly after the storm, a state superior court ordered Samost to drain Kenilworth Lake until there was a plan in place to reconstruct the dam.
The court concluded that failure of the dam could negatively impact downstream area structures, including Kenilworth Road, Braddocks Mill Road, Colony Lake Dam, and about a dozen homes located around the Colony Lake area.
Following the court ruling, the lake was drained but the dam was not repaired.
Last October, another state superior court ruled that Samost was responsible for paying 75 percent of the cost to repair the dam and that homeowners in the surrounding development were responsible for paying the remaining 25 percent. The estimated cost for the repairs is $1 million.
Since that ruling, Samost has been in the midst of an application to the state Department of Environmental Protection to decommission both dams.
If the application is successful, Samost will no longer be responsible for repairing the dams.
The DEP held a hearing on the application on Nov. 12.
Samost’s application argues that decommissioning of the dams is in the best interest of the environment as well as the safety of the residents who live downstream, citing that fixing the structure would be dangerous and also that endangered species now inhabit the area where the lake once stood.
“I think it’s in the best interests of the environment and the taxpayers as a whole,” Tom Hagner, an attorney representing Samost, said.
Gregory Voorhees, an attorney representing a majority of the homeowners in the legal battle, said Samost marketed homes around the lake as waterfront properties.
“In the event that the application is granted, the homeowners would lose the lake that they each paid to buy a house along,” Voorhees said.
DEP Commissioner Bob Martin is now charged with considering testimony and written communication before making a decision on Samost’s application. There is no deadline by which the commissioner must come to a decision.
