Members of the Village of New Paltz’s “Compliance Board,” as the Planning Board has been called by its chair John Litton, got to drill down a bit more into the details of a senior-citizen apartment complex being proposed for a site across from campus on South Manheim Boulevard. The 33 affordable units would be built under the auspices of Gardiner-based Affordable Housing Concepts, LLC, and two Keiths Libolt — specifically, Keith P. Libolt and son Keith H. Libolt II — spoke to board members about the plans.
This project would bring 33 apartments to the Village, which would be open to senior citizens and be rented for rates that fall under the legal definition of “affordable.” It would represent that largest addition to local affordable housing stock since the creation of the Village’s Affordable Housing Board. The 33 units are needed to make the project profitable for the developer, but even that won’t be possible without a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes plan, as well. The Libolts will be working with Village trustees on that aspect, rather than turning to the county’s Industrial development board, which is often maligned locally.
Board attorney Rick Golden questioned the curious way the new lot would be configured, after lot lines are revised. A house on Hasbrouck Place sits on one of three lots to be rejiggered, and if the dust settles as the Libolts intend, that house will have a smaller lot and a tongue of land associated with this project would have frontage next door. Golden called it an odd “appendage” that could impact future development, but Keith P. Libolt explained that not only would that land be used to access the site, much of it can’t easily be built upon in any case. “It wants to be green,” said the other Keith; there are wetlands and steep slopes that are best left undisturbed.
State standards require that senior housing be built to at least silver LEED standards; leadership in energy and environment criteria include metallic designations as a measure of how efficient buildings are in terms of energy usage within. The site was selected in part because of the municipal water and sewer availability, as well as being large enough to have room for visitors and residents to park vehicles.