• Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Hearing on environmental designation in New Paltz held open

by Terence P. Ward
July 14, 2021
in Politics & Government
0
New Paltz board seeks to map town’s environmentally sensitive areas

Former New Paltz Town Board member Kitty Brown delivered a fact-based response to a broad range of concerns that have been raised about designated some portions of the town as Critical Environmental Areas (CEA’s), but Brown’s request that town council members act on this proposal at the July 1 board meeting did not come to pass. Instead, the hearing was held open to continue to invite feedback.

Brown framed this testimony as responses to questions and concerns raised at town council and planning board meetings about these designations, which are intended to send an early signal that more review of a particular project might be warranted. They were compiled with the assistance of several town residents, current or former employees of Wild Earth, Nature Conservancy, Scenic Hudson and the state’s Environmental Conservation Department, as well as a biology teacher.

Over the course of several minutes, Brown carefully countered a number of concerns that have been raised, including those about impacts to time and cost, worries that these designations are redundant or add regulation and concerns that such a designation would somehow impede the building of affordable housing. Due to a technical error, that testimony was not included in the video of the meeting, but Brown submitted the comments in writing and was assured by Supervisor Neil Bettez that written testimony for public hearings is included in the minutes.

Brown was the only person to speak at what was technically two public hearings on this topic. The first was to designate both the Shawangunk Ridge and the Plutarch woods as CEA’s. When that hearing was first opened on June 17, the testimony was clearly in favor not only of creating these two, but the entire set of six that was first proposed. Designation results in a box being checked on the Environmental Assessment Form that’s filed with a planning board application. For projects in excess of ten acres or involving the subdivision of land, checking that box serves as a flag that there may be information worth looking at more closely about the environmental features nearby. In New Paltz, much of that information is compiled in a convenient natural resources inventory, recently completed by volunteers. After hearing from members of the public who were strongly in support of designating at least two of these areas, a majority of council members signaled that they preferred dropping that down to one as a test of the process: the Ridge, which supporters of this measure say isn’t a useful test because development interest is low because legal protection of that land is high. That’s a big enough change that a new hearing would be needed, and council members left the original open to mollify Julie Seyfert-Lillis, the only supporter of immediately designating both areas.

The reluctance does not appear to be due to a lack of concern about the environment. As Bettez has expressed, if planning board members do not support this measure, then it is less likely to be used. Those board members are against these designations by a margin of six to one; the board’s attorney and engineer have each raised some of the concerns that Brown sought to address. Town council members are keeping the now two hearings open in hopes that others will comment; thus far, there has been no testimony in opposition to these designations by anyone not on the town council or planning board. The hearings will be continued on August 5.

Tags: members
Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher
Previous Post

Work on Saugerties creekside cultural park continues

Next Post

Saugerties celebrates Independence Day with parade and fireworks

Terence P. Ward

Terence P Ward resides in New Paltz, where he reports on local events, writes books about religious minorities, tends a wild garden and communes with cats.

Related Posts

Woodstock meeting and DEC letter reveal competing narratives
Politics & Government

Woodstock meeting and DEC letter reveal competing narratives

December 1, 2023
Town of Ulster pondering four-year supervisor terms
Politics & Government

Ulster town justice asks town officials to maintain two part-time clerks

November 30, 2023
Five hundred bucks extra a month?
Community

Five hundred bucks extra a month?

November 28, 2023
Expansion project at Mid-Hudson Sporting Clays causes a disturbance
Politics & Government

Expansion project at Mid-Hudson Sporting Clays causes a disturbance

November 27, 2023
After years of frustration, Woodstock landowners still awaiting final resolution in illegal dumping case
Environment

Town of Woodstock among the defendants in Shady dumping lawsuit

November 27, 2023
Op-ed: End the ethics waiting game
Politics & Government

Ulster County transparency law languishes in legal purgatory

November 28, 2023
Next Post
Saugerties celebrates Independence Day with parade and fireworks

Saugerties celebrates Independence Day with parade and fireworks

Trending Posts

  • Woodstock meeting and DEC letter reveal competing narratives

  • Ulster town justice asks town officials to maintain two part-time clerks

  • A free telescope? If you love the heavens, it might be yours

  • Sinterklaas Festival Day in Rhinebeck this Saturday

  • The golden age of Woodstock lithography

  • It’s A Wonderful Life: The Live Radio Play at Colony

Weather

Kingston
◉
43°
Cloudy
7:05 am4:25 pm EST
Feels like: 39°F
Wind: 5mph S
Humidity: 92%
Pressure: 30.01"Hg
UV index: 1
SunMonTue
45/39°F
48/32°F
43/28°F
Weather forecast Kingston, New York ▸

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

×
You have free article(s) remaining. Subscribe for unlimited access.
View Subscription Offers Sign In
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    • Hey Kingston
    • New Paltz Times
    • Woodstock Times
    • Week in Review

© 2022 Ulster Publishing