At a resumed Woodstock ZBA public hearing, the Woodstock Land Conservancy (WLC) once again made the case for barring the developer of Zena Homes from building the only access to a proposed Town of Ulster housing subdivision. Speakers posed many objections to the project, including a lack of emergency resources.
WLC is appealing a ruling from Woodstock building inspector Francis “Butch” Hoffman that Eastwoods Drive must be improved up to the same standards as if the entire development were in Woodstock, and would be subject to all the permitting and site-plan review processes. WLC is arguing that the road should not be permitted at all because the development would not be allowed had it been proposed in Woodstock.
The 106.6-acre site is surrounded on three sides by the Town of Ulster, but the sole access to it is through the Town of Woodstock. The developers have said they have no plans for now for the 500-plus acres in Woodstock.
“The access road is located in Woodstock’s R3 zoning district,” said WLC attorney Victoria Polidoro. “This district is intended for low-density residential use. To keep it low-density, three acres is the minimum lot size. The project is proposing lots as small as 1.3 acres, with no guarantee that the remaining acreage will not be further subdivided.”
The plan calls for lots ranging in size from 1.3 to ten acres.
Close to the land sanctuary
Polidoro said the development was very close to the WLC’s Israel Whitman Sanctuary. “All the activity, the lights, the noise pollution, it’s all going to be adjacent to this sanctuary. The sanctuary, as you probably know, is a 210-acre wildlife sanctuary consisting of mixed hardwood and coniferous forests,” she said. WLC executive director Andy Mossey elaborated.
“This proposed development and access of Eastwoods Drive will directly impact our ability to conserve these lands,” he said. “Those extend into the impacts of adjacent light pollution, invasive species, and including the introduction of those by building.”
It was common knowledge, Mossey added, that invasive species were among the first plants and vegetation types to take root and take hold in disturbed land. The proposed project may introduce such species, lawn clippings, pesticides, potential storm runoff contaminants and sewer contaminants into an intact, unfragmented forest whose quality has been ranked in the 95th percentile in the state.
Although Eastwoods Drive does not directly abut Israel Whitman, Polidoro said, there would be no project without the road.
Please work with us
Developer Evan Kleinberg said he was very passionate about what he does. He planned to live here a long time and to raise his family here. “I genuinely and passionately believe that the development of market-rate homes does not have to be in conflict with environmental conservation, preservation and protecting our natural surrounding habitat,” Kleinberg said.
He and his partner had proposed to put 400 of the 624 acres of total land into conservation, something he has brought up many times in the past.
“In exchange, we ask that they work with us on the remaining acres and not actively fight to shut us down,” he said. “Sit with us, challenge us, hold us accountable. We’re not asking for you to wave our flag of support in the town square, but let the review process of the town run its course,” he said.
Kleinberg challenged the notion that the development will be made up of luxury homes. “We’re applying for a low-density subdivision, and we’ve made no decision as to what type of home that we built on the land,” he said.
Kleinberg said they purchased the land for $11,000 per acre. For a 3-acre lot with their current legal and engineering expenses, plus 10-15 percent for investors, their cost is $85,000, he said.
“That means theoretically, we could sell a 3-acre lot for $190,000 and that person or family could then build whatever structure they want on that lot.
“I think it’s worth mentioning that the more legal costs that we need to spend on defending what we believe to be an as-of-right project will continue to drive up the cost that we will need to recover on the project,” he said.
Kleinberg said he agrees with the sentiment the area needs more affordable, not market-rate housing, but the last such project took nearly a decade or get approved.
“It is also well researched and well studied that adding market rate homes to an area that is under supplied is proven into reduced pressure on home prices. It’s not a controversial statement. It’s proven to be true,” he said.
Emergency services
Right now, the project is in limbo because neither the town of Woodstock nor Ulster’s planning board will review their application until the ZBA appeal is resolved.
Zena Development attorney Alec Gladd argued the project would not be barred had it been proposed in Woodstock.
“We could easily build 30 residential lots on the land that we have in Woodstock,” he said.
ZBA member Jude Silato questioned how a proposed homeowners’ association payment to the fire department is going to assure enough resources are available.
“So my question is, do you also expect to receive emergency services from the Woodstock police department as well as the fire department and the rescue squad,” she asked.
Gladd said it depends on who responds.
“So can you tell us why it is that the development is not receiving emergency services from the Town of Ulster when the development is in the Town of Ulster,” Silato asked.
Gladd again said it depends on who is first able to respond.
“We have volunteer fire departments, so money is always an issue, but that’s not the main issue,” Silato said.
“What happens if Woodstock finds its resources already overextended and refuses to provide emergency services to your development in the Town of Ulster? I understand that all of the volunteer fire departments assist each other,” she said.
“But you’re talking about Woodstock being a primary responder to another municipality, which doesn’t make a lot of sense to us,” Silato said.
Gladd said as part of the process between the planning boards, the project will be referred to all emergency services.
The developers have stated they’ve been in talks with the Woodstock Fire Department and came upon a solution where a homeowners association will pay an amount to the fire department to supplement its budget.
But not so fast, says Jeff DeLisio, chair of the Woodstock Fire District Board of Commissioners. He said the only people authorized to talk about money are the commissioners, and no such talks have taken place. And, even if they had, Woodstock cannot be first responders. They would answer calls to the development under a county mutual aid agreement, and even that would be at the district’s discretion. The needs of Woodstock come first, he said. The only way Woodstock can be the first point of emergency contact is through the establishment of a fire protection district, and that would likely be up to the voters of the Ruby Fire District, where the proposed subdivision lies.
Woodstock fire chief Patrick Rose had discussions with the developers about six months ago but those talks revolved around the logistics of how calls aren’t handled, DeLisio said.
Ruby can provide fire protection, albeit in a roundabout way, since it has to bring resources through Woodstock. But neither Ruby nor Sawkill, the next adjacent district, has ambulances. They rely on commercial services such as Empress.
Developers respond to fire department issues
Zena Development LLC principal Eddie Greenberg said they had “preliminary conversations with the fire department about the challenges our project could potentially create.”
The creation of the HOA payment was one possible solution as a way to remove any financial burden on the Woodstock taxpayer, he said.
“ It is correct to say nothing has been agreed or determined yet. Our expectation is that once we are in front of the planning board these communications will happen and any possible issues will be solved,” Greenberg said.
But principal Evan Kleinberg said efforts are being blocked.
“We are a bit frustrated because we are seemingly expected by the public and the ZBA to have formal solutions to potential challenges while simultaneously being blocked (via the ZBA appeal) from working with the planning board, which would be the correct forum to formalize these exact solutions,” he said via email.
“We have many informal ideas/solutions (i.e. the HOA payments, ideas to make the gun club whole, ideas for conservation) that we believe will solve the vocalized challenges at-hand, but the outstanding appeal has effectively barred us from working with the relevant stakeholders and agencies on enacting and formalizing them.”
Public comment
Eastwoods Drive resident Tana O’Sullivan said the road is unsafe for emergency services.
“There is no other egress in or out of Eastwood’s Drive, and so they cannot guarantee access to those in need, or for the first responders the events of a fire, another Hurricane Irene, or simply due to trees falling down the electric lines, which happened twice this year,” she said.
She also questioned the developers’ honesty in noting they removed access stipulations for the road.
“They did remove the easement language from the road parcels that grants contiguous landowners like me the use of EastwoodsDrive so we can access our house. That language had been in the deeds for decades,” O’Sullivan said.
“This is unfragmented forest, meaning it’s not chopped up into home lots and because it’s not chopped up, it’s home to species including red fox, black bear, porcupine and beavers,” said WLC board President Patty Goodwin.
“One of these species is the endangered Indiana bat. Why should we care about bats? Because just one bat can eat 6000 to 8000 mosquitoes every night. Given that an Ulster County resident just died of the mosquito-borne Eastern equine encephalitis virus, we should care a lot about conserving endangered bats, especially if you’re trying to shoehorn a lot of people into an unfragmented forest honeycombed with wetlands.”
Complete Streets Committee chair Howard Cohen said volunteers recently conducted a walk audit in the area of Zena Highwoods and John Joy roads. He said while the traffic counts closely mirror those submitted by the developer, those don’t tell the whole story.
“This doesn’t account for the pedestrian experience we had, which was horrible and frankly, felt dangerous,” he said. Cohen said there have been ten fatalities in Woodstock since 2001.
Of primary concern is Zena Highwoods Road, which is narrow and full of blind corners in the 0.63 miles from Sawkill Road to Eastwoods Drive, he noted.
Wildlife photographer Carla Rhodes expressed concern about the potential development of a forested area.
“My whole job is to be hyper aware of every single creepy, crawly, tiny thing around me. I’ve spent years documenting the wildlife and ecosystems of our region. I’ve seen firsthand how even small disruptions can cause significant, lasting damage,” she said.
“Imagine if a road was suddenly built through your home. You’re just sitting watching TV with your husband, like you do every night because you’ve been together ten years. But then there’s a road that goes right through your home,” she said.
“What do you do? But every time that you needed to eat, have sex, hang out with your friends, party, you had to cross a dangerous, unnatural landscape filled with speeding machines that could kill you. Not cool, is it? Someone’s got to speak for the wildlife.”
Ulster Strong member Raleigh Green was one of a few who spoke for the project. He called the WLC arguments weak and noted there is a housing crisis in Woodstock.
“Some say that because this proposed housing project isn’t specifically affordable housing, its contribution to the overall housing market should be dismissed. But however, we all know that the housing market is far more fluid. As long as demand for housing continues to be strong with existing housing prices, including those the lower end will continue to rise, unless we add some new housing to take off the pressure,” he said.
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