Residents in the Village of Saugerties packed the fire house on Partition Street last Wednesday to share their concerns about a proposed multi-tiered land swap between the village and a developer with plans for a 167-unit apartment complex. The village would receive land to locate a new salt shed.
The public hearing took place during the regular monthly meeting of the village planning board and was technically about an application for a lot line-adjustment relating to the land swap of two parcels near Cantine Field. The developer seeks access to a currently landlocked, wooded parcel bordered by North Street to the west, Elm Street to the east and Canoe Hill Road to the north. The public hearing was only related to lot-line changes for the land within the village; a separate hearing will be needed for the town portion of the proposal.
The village is looking into building a new salt shed to replace their current structure, which was found to be out of compliance after the New York State Environmental Conservation discovered that water runoff from the property was spilling into a ditch on Canoe Hill Road.
Under the plan, the developer would transfer 2.02 acres to the village to locate a new salt shed. In return, the village would provide the developer with two parcels: one measuring 1.01 acres and another 1.27 acres, allowing access to the project site, where they plan 26 separate subdivisions with a single multifamily building containing between four and eight units on each lot.
“The applicants, as we understand it, at some point in the future, will file an application that is likely to develop in the residential development,” said the village’s attorney Ben Neidl. “That application has not been filed yet…If that happens, it will come sometime in the future. It will be subject to a separate public hearing, a separate public approval process by this board.”
Even so, the eight people who spoke during the public hearing were focused less on lot-line adjustments, and more on the ultimate reasons for the proposed land swap. The development would be located on land in the village’s R-2 and I-1 zoning districts, and the town’s HDR district. The R-2 district is for a mixture of one- and two-family residential homes, and the I-1 “devoted exclusively to industrial uses on adequate sites…buffered from residential uses.” The HDR district is for “concentrated suburban housing adjacent to educational, cultural, recreational, retail business, employment, public transportation and/or other supportive uses along state roads.”
Michael Moriello, an attorney for the developer, said the subdivisions and other aspects of the plan was “fully transparent” and would be vetted during the review process.
“It was thought that the best way to do this was to be fully transparent and say the overall project, which is down the road, the multifamily project, if you will, has to be disclosed up front,” he said. “Segmentation under SEQR (State Environmental Quality Review) is usually a bad word, but there is a provision for making it happen. We thought the best way to do that was to be fully transparent, get everything out on the table instead of coming in, getting a lot-line revision approved, and then coming in with the application, which then everybody would have said, ‘You had this plan the whole time and you never told anybody at the time.’”
Village resident Laura Phillips was one of the speakers opposing the land swap, a plan which she said included “unclear statements about zoning permissions and lack of transparency about the owner entities listed on the drawings.”
In a letter to the media prior to the meeting, Phillips outlined other issues, including its flouting of village zoning codes.
“These lot changes will make it much easier for the developer to build high-density housing that will change the residential nature of Market Street, Elm Street and Cantine Field,” Phillips wrote. “The proposed transfer makes it appear that the village is endorsing this development without consideration of traffic on village roads, the R-2 zoning district, environmental impacts and other important issues.”
Kathryn Meyer read from a petition urging the village to reject the land swap signed by 293 residents many of whom, like her, live on Elm Street.
Please do not exchange village land at the north end of Market Street, which would allow access to the developer’s property.
“We value our green spaces and respectfully request that you vote no to the proposal of the lot-line change and ultimate deforestation and development between North and Elm Street,” she said. “This project is not in keeping with the character of the village.”
Town resident Chris Allen said the planned deforestation to allow for the residential development would impact the lives of neighbors in the area.
“The precise location where a lot of this deforestation will take place if this lot-line change occurs is where the fireworks are launched off during the July 4th fireworks every year…for Cantine Field,” he said. “Those trees are air filters to clean and protect our lungs from the air pollution that ensues after fireworks are launched off while the gun powder residue and smoke that’s in the air…So on the single day when air quality will be at its worst, the neighborhood where this will be built will be removing nature’s protectors and air filters.”
Elizabeth Reese added that the trees also serve as a noise buffer in an area where commercial rail and New York State Thruway traffic can already be heard.
The village planning board voted to keep the public hearing open to allow for more community review and comment.
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