Temperatures still haven’t fallen two months after the last public hearing over the proposed 122-unit Villa Residences low-income senior housing complex in Saugerties, but Supervisor Fred Costello cautioned that the requested zoning change necessary to move the project forward has not been settled.
“There’s recently been a little bit of kind of an artificial sense of urgency regarding this because we’ve been having this conversation for more than a year,” said Costello last week. “We haven’t made a decision about the zoning change yet.There are no shovels going in the ground, and some of the urgency and some of the alarmist rhetoric suggests that next week there’s going to be a dump truck hauling away debris from demolition.”
Many of the issues brought forth by local residents relate to its location at the southeastern terminus of Spaulding Lane, which is lined with single-family houses, as are a handful of other residential streets branching off from Spaulding. Neighbors have primarily cited the increase in traffic along Spaulding Lane, the potential for light pollution, privacy issues, and the general size and scope of the project.
Noelle Schmidt, who lives at 41 Spaulding Lane, said during a public hearing on Tuesday, December 5, a meeting which joined with another that January to bookend 2023.
“When we bought on this residential lane, we knew we’d have neighbors, a family of two, four, or even six, a few cars in the driveway,” Schmidt said. “However, in just a year’s time, our new immediate neighbor will be three-story buildings with 122 apartments, balconies and dozens of windows all facing our single family home.”
The property is owned by the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, which in the past has used the property for recreation for nuns and others, and as a conference center for groups of up to 90. 150 acres of the property was sold to Scenic Hudson, and as they no longer have a use for the remaining 29 acres, the Sisters believed that its best use was for senior housing, which even many of those who oppose this particular project agree is needed in the community.
At the December 5 meeting, Matthew Wexler of the National Development Council, a not-for-profit company working with the Sisters on the Villa Residences project, addressed some of the concerns that have been raised over the prior year, including allegations that they had misrepresented the affordability of the residential units.
“We are very specifically using state and federal guidelines and applying for state funds through (New York State) Homes and Community Renewal that require this to be affordable housing,” Wexler said. “It sets income limits on the residents and it sets limits on the rents that you’re allowed to charge those residents, and that’s what makes this affordable housing.That’s the law, and we intend to follow the law with this project.”
The same laws prohibit the project from obtaining an exemption from paying taxes, and Wexler said whatever payment in lieu of taxes arrangement might be made with the town will benefit local residents more than the current situation.
“Right now, the Dominican Sisters on the property do not pay real estate taxes,” Wexler said. “We intend to pay real estate taxes.”
At the same meeting, Sister Irene Ellis, prioress of the Dominican Sisters, said the Villa Residences will be open to community and is not intended to serve as a retirement facility for the Sisters.
“The sisters have housing,” Ellis said. “They have assisted living, independent living, a mother house, a place where our frail elderly reside and are cared for and have no need…to move to Saugerties, as much as we have loved our time here and have used this property for our own benefit for purposes of retreat recreation.We are not intended that this will be a housing project for the Dominican Sisters.”
Since the December public hearing, new issues have surfaced, including questions about the historic value of an 18th century stone house that would be removed should the current plans be approved. In a late-January letter-to-the-editor, local historian Karlyn Knaust Elia noted that the house was identified in a 2005 historic resource survey undertaken by the town.
“It was noted in the survey that the stone home was built by John and Andrus Van Leuven circa 1735,” wrote Knaust Elia. “The narrative description stated that ‘The history of these buildings — their additions and alterations, and outbuildings, and the history of the landscape itself warrant further study.’”
Knaust Elia cited further information from a book published in 1896.
“The importance of understanding our cultural heritage and the significance of this stone house was pointed out in 1896 by R. Lionel DeLisser in his book Picturesque Ulster,” wrote Knaust Elia, then quoting DeLisser. ‘A little further down the river is located the home of Charles Spaulding…We have heard so much about the Old Dutch houses along the Hudson, that it gives me pleasure to write of one that was built two hundred years ago and find it just as our old ancestors left it. …built of stone with walls four feet thick, with the heavy artistic beams, just as they were built..’”
Historians have also raised the idea that there are historic remains buried on the property, including the possibility of interred slaves.
“There is the potential for (the protection of) some cemetery, especially some potential slave cemetery plots that need to be considered,” said Costello. “There are some topography questions that are outstanding.And there are some environmental questions that are outstanding.So if we had all those answers today, we might be making a decision relatively soon.But we do not.”
Costello said the town would continue to consider the myriad factors relating to the proposal before making any determination on the zoning change request.
“There’s clearly emotional and statistical data that tells us we need more housing opportunities of this nature, and then there are some concerns that were brought up by the immediate neighbors about the potential impacts, and they’ve expressed their concerns about those, Costello said. “And I think it’s clear that if the town does award a zoning change, it’s going to come with a series of contingencies.We’d still achieve the housing goals, but hopefully minimize the potential of neighborhood impacts.”
Costello added that the town will continue reviewing the project with planners and legal experts, along with considering the concerns from those who oppose and support the proposal.
“We are, I think, deliberately going through a process fully engaged to hopefully get to a good outcome,” he said.
The Dominican Sisters of Sparkill could not be reached for comment.
Join the family! 
