EASTHAMPTON — An affordable housing development recently granted a comprehensive permit by the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals has been called “a beautiful vision gone awry” in a legal complaint now filed in Land Court by the property’s abutters.

The development at 385 Main St., dubbed Growing Green: Easthampton, sits along the Manhan River and is being coordinated by Springfield-based The Community Builders in partnership with Kestrel Land Trust. The project intends to bring 87 new affordable housing units on 10 acres along Main Street, while designating the remaining 43 acres of the property as conservation land.

But a group of abutters have concerns about what this new development will mean for the area’s stormwater runoff and aging sewer infrastructure.

“The preliminary plans show a sewer connection with a 19th century system that’s already overloaded,” said Michael Pill, the attorney representing the group of abutters. “Nobody has explained how they’re gonna put in a new sewer line that crosses over the original line.”

In addition, Pill called the initial groundwater study conducted on the property “a complete farce,” stating that the groundwater levels at the site are already so high, it is unclear how the property will adhere to

stormwater management standards with the addition of new paved, impermeable surfaces. The abutters, who live downhill from the property, anticipate the runoff flowing onto their properties.

The abutters serving as the plaintiffs in the complaint are listed as Sage Hannah Grace, Timothy John Grace, Mary Barbara Grace, Jean Marie Bigda and Mark Albert Bigda as Trustees of the Bigda Family Revocable Trust, as well as Jean Yun Wilson.

The complaint, brought against the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals and The Community Builders, calls for an appeal to the comprehensive permit awarded by the board for this project, as well as declaratory judgment on the issue. The permit in question is a Chapter 40B permit, which allows local Zoning Boards of Appeals to approve affordable housing developments with more flexible rules than traditional permits under Massachusetts General Law. The intention of such permits is to increase affordable housing availability across municipalities.

But the complaint states that the permit awarded to the 385 Main St. project utilizes findings about sewer capacities and stormwater management designs for the site that are “inaccurate, omit significant facts, or both.”

While Pill noted that the sewer issue may be solvable, he said the site’s stormwater management complications would be a much harder fix, writing that the site is “mostly an unbuildable swamp” in the complaint. The complaint also says that “while the Comprehensive Permit includes conditions purporting to deal with the sewer and stormwater issues, defendant Builders likely will not be able to comply with those conditions.”

The site was advertised as nearly 53 acres of land available to develop in a prime location, with the potential for over 200 units approved, but the complaint states that “experienced builders” walked away from the property after “doing initial due diligence.”

Alternatively, “Kestrel Land Trust, a land conservation organization rather than a developer, placed the property under contract for $2.5 million. The property tax assessment is $336,600,” the complaint reads.

In 2021, two anonymous donors gave Kestrel a $530,000 gift to explore projects in Easthampton that would involve both affordable housing and conservation efforts, making the property a contender for such a project. The city also awarded Kestrel $600,000 in CPA funds to acquire the land with The Community Builders.

Included in the complaint is an email from former Easthampton City Engineer James A. Garcia, which voiced concerns about the project’s burdens on sewers. This email was also read aloud at the final Zoning Board of Appeals public hearing session about the project on Sept. 18.

“This project will discharge in excess of 10,000 gallons per day of sanitary flow to an already overburdened sewer main,” the email states. “My concerns are that simply dumping a large new flow into that main will impact the existing sewer users downstream.”

In addition to sewer overload concerns, Pill said that the site’s groundwater is very close to the surface of the land, which has raised worries from abutters about an increased risk of flooding, “which is already a problem, because the site is so wet.”

Jeff Squire, a principal at Berkshire Design Group, which was brought on as part of the project’s design team and is working on the site’s stormwater and sewer considerations, said that their team is working on compiling stormwater information which will then be sent to the city’s Conservation Commission for review and further permitting.

“The Zoning Board had granted a comprehensive permit for the project, it doesn’t negate the need for all the other permits to be acquired, like stormwater permits,” said Squire. “It’s not uncommon for the comprehensive permit to be granted before other permitting work.”

Squire said that Berkshire Design Group is currently “working through the details” of the project “to ensure that we have a compliant project.”

Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle said that the stormwater information will likely go out for third party review before returning to the Conservation Commission for a permitting decision. In addition, she said that the Department of Public Works director and city engineer are looking through the concerns brought forth in the complaint to determine how they can be addressed.

“It’s not uncommon to get these types of appeals on 40B affordable housing developments,” she said. “It allows abutters to further question the project’s impacts on their property.”

LaChapelle also stated that there tends to be a general impression that “a comprehensive permit is all-encompassing,” when further permits and adjustments are needed after the comprehensive permit is granted.

As affordable housing creation continues to be a priority in Easthampton, LaChapelle said that new development needs to be “balanced with thorough review by the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Conservation Commission.”

“We need to do our due diligence and we’re in the process of doing that,” she said.

In response to requests for comments pertaining to the concerns written in the complaint, Kestrel Land Trust and The Community Builders issued the following joint statement:

“We value this opportunity to advance affordable housing and land conservation in the community of Easthampton. We are aware an appeal was filed against our recently granted permit and look forward to working on a resolution that supports neighbors’ concerns while also promoting the joint mission of The Community Builders and Kestrel Land Trust.”They declined to comment further.