Woodland Pond, a senior living community in the Village of New Paltz, is proposing a satellite campus expansion, including a commons building and two hybrid-style buildings. Some neighbors of the proposal are hoping to stop the plans in their tracks.
Woodland Pond made its first presentation before the village planning board on Tuesday, January 20, with their plans covering two parcels of around 17,578 acres located south of the current community’s campus. The expansion as proposed would include 95 residential units, underground parking, a courtyard patio area, a community park; and amenities such as an indoor golf area, a movie area and pickleball and tennis courts.
The property sits in the village’s P-B (Professional and Limited Business) district, and the plan would require the approval of five variances as zoning limits buildings to 30-feet in height, or 2.5 stories. As proposed, the project includes two common building wings standing 48-feet, six-inches tall, one with four stories, the other with three stories. A single-story common area building standing 37-feet high, as well as hybrid buildings of two stories at 40-feet high, and four stories at 55-feet high respectively.
“We see our proposed development as responding to a great demand within our community,” said Dave Roberts, capital projects manager for Woodland Pond. “I’m proud of our team and the solutions we’ve arrived at, which respect the natural environment that surrounds the development and also is respectful to the adjacent neighborhood.”
Some homeowners of the adjacent neighborhood disagree.
“While I acknowledge the need for senior housing, the magnitude and scale of the proposed project and its proximity to our quiet residential neighborhood makes the proposed location inappropriate for many reasons,” said Allison Loyer, who lives on Lent Drive. “Besides negatively affecting our property values, this will modify the entire character of the neighborhood. Had the residents near Woodland Pond wanted to live near tall buildings, bright lights and on a busy road, we would have invested in a more urban area.”
Matthew Hirsch agreed, saying that the project as proposed, will drastically reduce the value of my home.”
“My entire neighborhood has deed restrictions that do not allow for building over two and a half stories, but on the other side of my rock wall, (they want) to build an enormous, massive high-density housing complex. I live in a charming, quiet neighborhood. And I feel that will no longer be the case if Woodland Pond is given the agreement to fulfill these plans.”
Joshua Kaye and his wife are new to the neighborhood, having purchased their Lent Drive home just six months ago. They live there with their three children, aged seven, five and three.
“We chose this house because some of the things that we valued was living on a quiet, uh, residential street with very little traffic, and also being surrounded by natural beauty,” Kaye said. “Unfortunately, we learned about this expansion project with Woodland Pond and we have many concerns.”
Among those concerns is an anticipated increase in traffic along Lent Drive and Waring Lane, which he said are not designed for commercial use, and are often used by local residents, some of whom have small children.
“(Our kids) are learning how to ride their bicycles on Lent Drive,” Kaye said. “And we specifically chose this house so that our kids could be kids safely on a quiet street. I’ve got a toddler who is very fast when she runs away. If I look away for a second, she’s gone.”
Kaye added that light and noise pollution from the expansion as proposed would be intrusive and negatively impact the natural beauty of the neighborhood.
“Additionally, I’m concerned about the consequences of the construction of this building and its effect on my seven year old son who has asthma and has been hospitalized multiple times, including in the ICU,” Kaye said. “With the construction comes dust and all kinds of other pollutants.”
He added that had the satellite campus been proposed earlier, things would have been different for his family.
“I can tell you that if less than a year ago, when we were considering this house, had we known that there was going to be this giant monstrosity of a commercial entity practically in the backyard, we wouldn’t have bought the house,” Kaye said.
The planning board classified the proposal as a Type I action under the State Environmental Quality Review, and declared their intent to be lead agency reviewing the plans moving forward. They also pledged to refer the application to a consultant for review, though had yet to narrow their choice down to a specific name.
The next meeting of the Village of New Paltz Planning Board is scheduled for Tuesday, February 3.
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