Speaking on behalf of the Saint Joseph’s Villas development, Edward Vickers told the Saugerties Town Board at its regular meeting on Wednesday, February 1 that he is involved with charitable organizations in New York that work with seniors, “which is wonderful.” He said that his interest is in the project’s environmental impact statement. He raised a number of critical questions about how the coverage of the existing land is being calculated: how roadways and sidewalks are considered, whether the walkway along the riverfront trail developed by Scenic Hudson, which goes over wetlands, is considered in the calculations.
“At one point I heard eight percent of the property would be built on; the newspaper said four percent, but the density is high. Why wouldn’t the state want to be involved? When calculating the percentage of the property the project would cover, would the Scenic Hudson trail be included? The trail crosses numerous wetlands, which would also have an impact on what areas would be buildable. The Environmental Impact Statement would be critical in determining all the impacts.” Vickers said the state should be overseeing the project to ensure that adverse effects are mitigated to the greatest extent possible.
Aside from environmental impacts, there is also the pressure on fire and medical services that a senior citizens’ project of this size would require, Vickers said. Local fire companies may not be able to handle a fire in a three-story building, and depending on mutual aid would mean fire apparatus coming from a greater distance, increasing the amount of damage and possible injury or loss of life.
Catherine Anderson said that her main concern is traffic, which would be far more than her narrow street could handle. “Their driveway is up against the side of my house. We have had people come up the driveway in the past, cut between our stone wall and the road. After a fireworks display a few years ago, people came up our driveway, got hung up on our stone wall and backing up, going forward, breaking the wall. I beg you all, please come down and walk the property and see what this is doing to the neighbors.”
Anderson said that the people on the street have no sidewalks, no lighting fixtures. “There’s nothing for those people to do down there, because they’re in a lane down by the woods.” The traffic is impossible now, she added, and the addition of housing in the Falling Waters Preserve would make it far worse.
Anderson also cited the tax-free status of the religious order, while all the neighbors have to pay taxes on their property. Having this large development close to her property would devalue the house she has restored to its original, historical beauty, she said. “To have something this mammoth at the end of our quiet little lane — it’s in the wrong place.”
While he understands the neighbors’ concerns, Town supervisor Fred Costello said, “I’m disturbed by the amount of misinformation that is out there, and your understanding of our role in this process. The Town Board has been petitioned by the Sisters to consider a zoning change. The platform that they have argued is that they should be considered High-Density Residential for a number of reasons. Many of your properties are zoned High-Density Residential. They also cite that they donated property to Scenic Hudson and thereby created a good deal of open space. In doing so, they compromised their ability to develop their land.”
Had they not done that, the density of their proposal would have met the density requirements they have to meet, Costello noted. The Sisters also point out that they are responsible for infrastructure improvements that benefit the neighbors.
The Town Board has not yet approved the zoning change; “That is the point in the process we are at,” Costello said. Regarding the study Vickers had referred to, given the size of the project, the long-form Environmental Assessment — a complex process of determining all the environmental impacts — would be required. The State Department of Environmental Conservation would also be involved, he said. “The Town would also have its experts study the project and ensure that it is compliant with the best practices, and then there will be a determination about the value of the study,” Costello explained. “But we are nowhere near that; the Town Board has not made a determination about the zoning request that has been made. Any zoning change will require public hearings, and you folks can come and express your concerns.”
The process would also allow the Town Board to impose restrictions, such as requiring a higher density than the original plans or writing the zoning so that the project could not be sold to or taken over by another developer who might not want to restrict the project to senior citizens.
If the Town Board decides not to change the zoning, that is not the end of the process, Costello said. The Sisters would have a right to appeal the decision to the Zoning Board of Appeals, and beyond that to the courts.
If the project goes ahead, it would be subject to taxes, the supervisor pointed out. The current relief from taxes is based on the use of the property for a religious order. If the use were changed to rental property, the tax exemption would no longer apply. Because the project is aimed at low and moderate incomes, some tax abatement would apply, but the Sisters would be required to pay taxes. Other projects that would be subject to the abatement have agreed to pay higher taxes than the law allowed, Costello said.
In response to a statement by Anderson that only 20 percent of the property would be restricted to senior citizens, Costello pointed out that the percentages in the proposal referred to income, not age. All residents would have to be at least 62, but there would be various provisions for lower-income or moderate-income residents.
Costello referred to a flyer that alleged that the Board would be making a determination on the proposal for the convent. This was not true, and the spread of misinformation could only make the whole process more difficult.
The supervisor listed the many studies that the Town has undertaken to determine best ways to preserve the natural values in Saugerties, and to ensure that its development maintains the rural atmosphere that its citizens love. The Board is prepared to do the necessary work to ensure that the proposal for the Falling Waters Preserve will benefit the Town, and he offered to discuss any resident’s concerns.
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