The Woodstock ZBA heard arguments at an August 22 public hearing about why the sole access to the Zena Homes development violated zoning. The developer argued that the Woodstock Land Conservancy (WLC) had no standing in its appeal of the town building inspector’s decision.
Concerned citizens packed the small meeting room on Comeau Drive to make their case against the development. About 50 or 60 people stood outside, listening through the windows.
Cassondra Britton, attorney for Rodenhousen Chale & Polidoro, representing WLC, argued that using land in one zoning district for an access road to another zoning district was prohibited if the use was barred in the first district. She said the 30-lot development proposed in the Town of Ulster was more dense than would be allowed in Woodstock.
The developers plan to use Eastwoods Drive in Woodstock to access the development.
“The Eastwoods Drive extension is located in the R3 district, which requires a three-acre lot minimum as a density requirement,” said Britton. “However, Zena [Woods]’s application before the planning board is proposing lots as small as 1.3 acres, which contradicts the Woodstock zoning code and the purposes of the R3 zoning district.”
She cited precedent in the Town of Kent, where a road to access a multi-family housing development in Carmel went through a part of Kent that only allowed single-family homes. A state appellate court ruled the use impermissible.
Britton also said the Zena Homes access violated Woodstock health and safety provisions because the road was too long.
Woodstock standards
“While this may be outside the purview of this appeal, this road and development need to conform to the Town of Woodstock standards, because it is the Town of Woodstock’s tax dollars and emergency personnel that will be servicing this development, not the Town of Ulster’s,” Britton argued. “Given this fact, how can this development not meet the standards of the Woodstock zoning district which it was located in?”
Eastwoods Drive, as it exists today, does not meet the standards for a road. A gravel road, it is a deeded right-of-way, she said. She is conducting a title search.
WLC attorneys argued that a May ruling by Woodstock building inspector Francis “Butch” Hoffman could be interpreted as Hoffman saying the road was allowable under zoning.
“He could have outright rejected it and he said this is not a permitted use, and therefore go get a use variance,” WLC attorney Victoria Polidoro explained. “But he didn’t. And so that is why we are asking you to amend the determination, stand into the shoes of the zoning administrator, and make the decision that he should have made, which is that, because this density would not be permitted on the Woodstock property, you can’t make a road on the Woodstock property to go to that density.”
Zena Homes attorney Alec Gladd argued WLC had no standing as an organization to appeal because it hadn’t demonstrated any individuals would suffer direct harm. WLC owns the Israel Whitman sanctuary, which is contiguous to the Zena Homes land.
What kind of road?
Gladd argued the case law cited by WLC attorneys didn’t apply to roadways deemed public ways. Eastwoods Drive is currently a private road.
ZBA member Martin Mills pointed out Eastwoods Drive was not a public way.
“It is going to be a public way,” Gladd countered, to loud groans from the audience.
“There’s a disconnect there. What kind of road are we talking about now, and how are we talking about the future that hasn’t happened?” Mills asked.
“We have a right to develop, to use the property, so we have a right to file the application and have it reviewed by the planning board,” Gladd answered.
“Sure, but why are we talking about a road that doesn’t exist? The current road is private, correct?” Mills asked.
Gladd decided to move on to his next argument.
An exchange between Gladd and Mills about the main road in the development elicited audience laughter.
“You’re not calling this a cul de sac?” Mills asked.
“No. Well, it’s an internal loop,” Gladd said.
Gladd noted the building inspector’s determination included three months of deliberation.
“And also, for the sake of argument, even if there is some perceived ambiguity in the code, what the law states is that ambiguities must be resolved in favor of the property owner?” Gladd said.
Polidoro argued the WLC does indeed have standing because it owns abutting land. “You can’t just file appeals without having some skin in the game,” she said.
Developer proposal rejected
After the hearing, Zena Homes principal Evan Kleinberg said the developers had tried to no avail to work with the WLC.
“We’re trying to do this thing the right way, and we’re just not getting any support from the very experts that that are in that room,” Kleinberg said.
He and his partner, Eddie Greenberg, proposed doubling the land under WLC.
“I said, let us do something on 200 acres and hold us accountable that it’s low impact, hold us accountable that it doesn’t have the impact you’re concerned about,” he said. “They said they’d never work with us on something like that, so we’re stuck on our own, trying to figure it out.”
Kleinberg said he showed WLC a plan that had 400 of the 625 acres they own in perpetual conservation and was told he was 200 acres short.
An initial plan proposed last year under the name Woodstock National included more than 190 homes and townhouses, an 18-hole pro-level golf course and helipad on 625 acres, mostly in Woodstock. They scaled back the project to use only the 106-acre portion of the land in the Town of Ulster.
Kleinberg considered speaking at the hearing, but said he decided against it “given the energy in the room.”
“I’m very passionate that building market-rate homes doesn’t necessarily have to be in conflict with preservation. We own 624 acres of land. We’re trying to build on 100 of them,” he said.
Overflow crowd
Around 20 people spoke, mostly opposed to the proposed Zena Homes subdivision, during an August 22 hearing of the Woodstock Zoning Board of Appeals on the merits of an appeal to a decision by the town building inspector.
It was a standing-room-only crowd in the town offices on Comeau Drive, well exceeding the posted legal occupancy of 50. Another 50 people outside listened through the windows. It was difficult to hear the proceedings. Due to technical problems, nobody on the Zoom call could hear or see anything, either.
The session did not lack for passion. Among the speakers were Woodstock Land Conservancy director Andy Mossey, Eastwoods Drive resident Tana O’Sullivan, Zena Highwoods Road resident Lisa Bonk, Ulstercitizens.org chair Laura Hartmann, Susan Paynter of the Stop Zena Coalition, WLC board president Patty Goodwin, 25-year Zena Highwoods Road resident Zoe Keller, Hudson Valley Property Association executive director Richard Lanzarone, and Ulster Strong representative Megan Bianco,
All those who signed up had the opportunity to speak. The public hearing will be reopened September 26 at 7 p.m. at the much larger venue of the Mescal Hornbeck Community Center at 56 Rock City Road.
Join the family! 
