Alarmed citizens of southern Ulster County continue to press the Town of Plattekill for answers about the status of the controversial proposal by Modena Developers, LLC, to build a warehouse at 2021 Route 44/55 in Modena that would be big enough to swallow 7.8 football fields. The project has not appeared on the agendas of town board or planning board meetings since the public hearing was closed in January. “We have them tentatively coming back on April 23,” Plattekill planning and zoning board clerk Janice Stryker told HV1 by e-mail on March 7.
Meanwhile, project opponents have been busy, setting up websites, social media pages and online petitions to raise awareness, as well as writing letters to local newspapers, regulatory agencies and Town of Plattekill officials. Nearby municipalities worried about regional impacts, particularly on traffic patterns, have been taking positions against the proposal or demanding more information.
The Town of Gardiner, whose boundary is only 500 feet from the site, was quick off the mark in opposing the mega-warehouse project, commissioning hydrological and environmental consultants to review existing documents, analyze potential impacts and make recommendations about the proposed project. Attorney David N. Yaffe of Hamburger & Yaffe, LLP sent a lengthy letter on Gardiner’s behalf to Plattekill Planning Board chair Richard Gorres on January 23, including copies of reports by Paul A. Rubin of Hydroquest, Andrew Millspaugh of Sterling Environmental Engineering, ecologist John Benner, Erik Kiviat of Hudsonia and Gardiner Environmental Conservation Commission chair Joan Parker. Yaffe’s letter urged that Plattekill issue a positive declaration on the project’s Environmental Impact Statement; require “substantially more information and studies” from the applicant: reclassify the proposed facility’s use from “light industrial” to “transportation-related and heavy impact activity;” and “ultimately deny the application.”
And now Ulster County officials have stepped into the fray, with county executive Jen Metzger and four members of the county legislature sending a letter to the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) demanding a more thorough investigation of road safety, arguing that “the existing traffic analysis is flawed and insufficient for decision-making purposes.” The February 29 letter to DOT regional director Lance MacMillan and regional traffic engineer Gerald Charleston was issued on the Office of the County Executive letterhead and co-signed by Ulster County legislators Kevin Roberts (D-12, Plattekill), Debra Clinton (D-16, Gardiner and Shawangunk), Megan Sperry (D-17, New Paltz and Esopus) and Limina Grace Harmon (D-20, New Paltz).
In a March 1 press release announcing the communication, Metzger wrote, “The potential volume and frequency of truck traffic from this kind of facility is a major concern for neighbors and surrounding communities, and there are issues like sight distances, speeds and the ability of trucks to safely navigate portions of the highway system that have not been adequately examined. Our communities have recently lost four young people to accidents on three different state roads, and we insist that the proper analyses are done for this project to protect public safety and reduce risks of such tragic losses in the future.” The four deaths referenced included two Kingston High School students killed in a tractor/trailer collision in Shandaken on January 8 and two pedestrians killed in hit-and-run incidents: a 21-year-old Saugerties woman on January 10 and a male SUNY New Paltz student on January 26.
“The Ulster County Planning Board, in its review of the project, has raised several issues regarding the estimated truck traffic that the site would generate, including the calculation and timing of trips. The county planning board review also expressed concerns about sight distances and issues with speed at the site access road, as well as the ability of trucks to navigate portions of the state highway system safely and remain in their lane,” said Metzger and the legislators in their letter to the DOT. “As an involved agency under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, and in keeping with the department’s concern for the safety of all road users, NYS DOT’s purview includes the capacity and geometry of the roads that must be traversed to access regional destinations. We urge the department to require a revised traffic analysis and address concerns raised by adjoining communities and the county planning board as part of any decision on the project.”
Set amidst apple orchards, the 50-acre rural site consists of forest, meadow and federal- and state-designated wetlands. Some 32 acres are slated to be developed, including up to 15 acres of impervious surface, with a 116-space parking lot, and an existing pond is to be filled in. The proposed 451,050-square-foot warehouse will cover nearly ten acres with a single structure. Its 75 tractor/trailer loading docks are meant to handle arrivals and departures of 270 trucks per day, over a 12-hour period, according to the traffic impact study issued in January 2023 by Chittenango-based GTS Consulting. The study categorized the proposed shipping hub as a “minor overall traffic generator with approximately 50 vehicles entering/18 vehicles exiting during the morning peak hour and 23 vehicles entering/58 vehicles exiting during the evening peak hour.”
A chorus of voices has been raised calling the existing traffic study, completed in November 2022 and filed with the town in March 2023, inadequate. Gardiner attorney Yaffe noted, “There is no discussion or report analyzing the local roads and bridges and their capacity and limitations.” Critics have repeatedly pointed out that one of the bridges on Route 32 that trucks would need to use to reach a New York State Thruway entrance has a 17-ton weight limit, which many loaded tractor/trailers would exceed.
Sightlines are also an area of intense local concern. “One of the greatest arguments against this project is the failure of the developer to properly analyze the truck traffic entering and exiting the site along Route 44/55. The road there dips and curves and sightlines are very limited,” wrote Gardiner resident Misha Fredericks on the Stop the Mega Warehouse Facebook page. “If only two or three westbound tractor trailers (each 72 feet+ long) are waiting to turn into the site, you have almost a football field of standing traffic, on a road with a speed limit of 50 miles per hour. If you then add to those standing trucks the limited sight distances due to the hills/valleys of the road near the entry, I believe you have a recipe for serious accidents.”
While the official public hearing period on the proposal has ended, comments and questions can still be addressed to Janice Stryker at (845) 883-7331, extension 18, or plattekillplan@yahoo.com. For updates on the April 23 agenda, visit https://town.plattekill.ny.us/government/planning-board.
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