A sold-out concert headlined by local favorites Marco Benevento and Simi Stone raised money on Sunday, October 22 to stop 600-plus acres in the Zena Highwoods from being developed.
Supporters of Stop Woodstock National LLC packed Colony Woodstock to listen to Benevento, Stone, Karina Rykman, Chris Corsica, Leslie Mendelson, Aaron Johnston, Jeff Hill, Danny Blume and Bill Carbone.
The goal was to convince Woodstock National LLC not to close on the property, committee co-chair Susan Paynter said. “We want to preserve the 625 acres of unfragmented forest that is wedged between Bluestone Forest and Israel Whitman sanctuary”
The land in question is six parcels, part of it in the towns of Ulster and Kingston. It is a foraging area for the bald eagle, and home to the long-eared bat and the box turtle, both rare species.
The Woodstock housing committee recently met with Woodstock National principal Evan Kleinberg to discuss affordable housing on the property,
Stop Woodstock National wants nothing built.
“We know that what we would like is to preserve it entirely. We don’t want any development there, whether it’s new zoning, old zoning, or in-between zoning. We don’t want any development on that land,” said Paynter, who co-chairs the committee with Woodstock Land Conservancy president Andy Mossey. “We feel that the initial phase was to bring public awareness. And it seems that there is definitely public awareness, One of the things that I noticed is that I think it is really very positive for Woodstock is with all the fighting over the election, this is one issue that every candidate agrees to. We need to stop Woodstock National. So that that to me is very encouraging.”
The October 22 concert is the group’s biggest fundraiser to date.
In July, Kleinberg and his partner Eddie Greenberg presented a concept for 24 affordable housing units, 90 single-family homes, 77 townhomes and 16 guest villas in the Zena Highwoods area between Zena Highwoods Road and Eastwoods Drive. More recently, Kleinberg hinted an 18-hole golf course and helipad may be dropped from the plan based on public reaction.
“People don’t think they want a suburb in the middle of a pristine forest, with wetlands and vernal pools,”
Paynter added. She didn’t believe the developers understood what they were getting themselves into.
“He said he just came to listen, but I don’t think he really had understood,” Paynter said. The developer “was facing quite an uphill battle.”
She listed some of the obstacles to development.
In July, Kleinberg and his partner, Eddie Greenberg, presented a concept for 24 affordable housing units, 90 single-family homes, 77 townhomes and 16 guest villas in the Zena Highwoods area between Zena Highwoods Road and Eastwoods Drive. More recently, Kleinberg hinted an 18-hole golf course and helipad may be dropped from the plan based on public reaction.
Woodstock town supervisor Bill McKenna recently said an official position by the town board against the project would likely result in legal action. He encouraged the citizens of Woodstock to continue to band together. He said he had told the developers approval would likely only be for something that looked nothing like what they had initially proposed.
Information about the group’s efforts can be found at stopwoodstocknational.org.
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