The proposed expansion of the Bread Alone facility in Lake Katrine was referred to the Ulster County Planning Board by the Town of Ulster, but the project is not without both supporters and detractors.
During a town board meeting held on Tuesday, April 9, council members unanimously authorized referral of the project at Bread Alone’s, which includes two separate additions totaling around 13,200-square-feet. They also recommended the application to be an unlisted action under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and established to be lead agency.
Bread Alone’s organic bakery at 2121 Ulster Avenue was opened in October 2013, and has been reflective of the company’s steady growth, with even the closure of its public cafe at that location in January 2023 deemed a move driven by a need to use the space for their employees. The company’s CEO Nels Leader addressed the proposed expansion during last week’s town board meeting.
“We proposed an addition to our building that will allow us to build on our 40-plus-year mission of making good sourdough bread available to all,” Leader said. “The project will allow us to continue to thrive in the Town of Ulster. This means continued opportunities for each and every of our more than 200 employees based out of our Town of Ulster location.”
But some neighbors have shared concerns about the project, including a group called Esopus Creek Neighbors.
“In February/March, 2024, Bread Alone submitted an application to expand its operations by a total of 13,200 square feet that will likely add to the stormwater problems in our neighborhood, and could increase the burden of traffic and air pollution with plans for more diesel truck traffic on 9W,” reads a post on esopuscreekneighbors.wordpress.com. The group’s Karen Sanders told the town board last week they’d identified errors in the short environmental assessment form (EAF) submitted for the proposed expansion.
“How can this environmental review provide a fair and robust process when the application in front of them may be in need of corrections?” said Sanders. “It’s clear that the board has a need for speed, but look at where that has gotten us in the past 40 years. We demand that the town investigate the cumulative impacts of this project on traffic, noise, light and stormwater.”
But Leader said that the company remains committed to respecting the environment.
“As we’ve shown with our commitment to organic ingredients 40 years ago, our 196 kilowatt solar array here in the Town of Ulster and our carbon neutral bakery in Boiceville, environmental sustainability will be a focus of our project,” Leader said. “At this early stage, I can share the work exploring additional solar energy production, geothermal heating and cooling and use of sustainable building products such as mass timber.”
Leader countered the notion that Bread Alone’s expansion will yield an increase in polluting transportation along the 9W corridor.
“I do not plan to increase diesel stock traffic on 9W,” he said. “I do plan to create an inspiring and successful example of a business’s transition to electric trucks.”
Regis Obijiski of Town of Ulster Citizens said his group had previously shared similar concerns, particularly as the adjacent property belongs to utility company Central Hudson. But, he added, Bread Alone is a different kind of operation.
“Most of us view Bread Alone as an important business in our town because they bring the highest standards of quality and their tradition to the most basic foods, bread,” Obijiski said. “Their products are not only wholesome, but they make us feel good about ourselves and to give us bragging rights that the best bread anywhere is made right here in our town…One has the feeling that Bread Alone cares about us as neighbors, our environment, their highly valued employees, and about their own reputation for excellence on every level. From our point of view, they go the extra mile.”
Obijiski added that Bread Alone appear to have good intentions as an environmentally-conscious business and community neighbor.
“Are they perfect? No,” Obijiski said. “Do they have chinks in their armor? Yes, they’re human…But in our opinion, Bread Alone is not like their immediate neighbors, Central Hudson, whose clearcutting actions have caused the flooding, light and noise pollution of two residential neighborhoods to their west and their north.”
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