The Woodstock Planning Board Must Say No to Zena Development
To get to their proposed subdivision in the Town of Ulster, Zena Development needs access through the Town of Woodstock. Extending and utilizing Eastwoods Drive as the sole access road would put lives and property at risk. Constructing an additional 9800’ foot access road would irreparably harm Woodstock’s fragile Zena Woods Critical Environmental Area. The Woodstock Planning Board MUST deny Zena Development’s application and requested waivers.
No access, no subdivision.
We Cannot Waive Safety…
Further studies are needed to understand the proposed subdivision’s potential impacts on an aquifer that extends under Woodstock, Ulster, Saugerties and the Town of Kingston.
Years of construction would create dangerous traffic conditions for pedestrians, drivers and cyclists in Woodstock and Saugerties.
The subdivision would be in the Ruby fire district, but the Ruby firehouse would be over 15 min. away.
Woodstock’s traffic consultant stated that as planned a single access road would be unsafe. Ulster’s consultants stated that as planned the subdivision’s roads would be unsafe for subdivision pedestrians.
Zena Development has requested many waivers, including a waiver to allow Eastwoods Drive to be the only access road to their 30-lot subdivision, and a waiver to extend Eastwoods Drive to over 7000’ from the intersection with Zena Highwoods to the farthest lot in the subdivision.
Woodstock regulations state that subdivisions with 20 or more lots shall have at least two access roads, and cul-de-sacs shall be no longer than 2000 feet. Ulster’s Town Code states that no dead-end street may be constructed with more than 20 lots, and dead-end streets shall normally not exceed 1200 feet.
…And We Won’t Sacrifice Our Forests…
All of Zena Development’s 520+ acres in the Town of Woodstock are located in the Zena Woods Critical Environmental Area. This CEA was created to highlight the forest’s biodiversity, rare species, important habitats and community benefits like flood prevention.
The extension of Eastwoods Drive would make it easier to develop - or sell - the rest of Zena Development’s 520+ acres in Woodstock.
…For An Unfair Development.
All of the subdivision’s taxes would go to Ulster. All of the burdens would fall on Woodstock.
The subdivision would pollute the Woodstock Land Conservancy’s beloved Israel Wittman Sanctuary.
Most, if not all, of the subdivision’s houses would be priced above $1 million according to developers. This luxury subdivision would fail to provide the affordable and accessibly priced housing that our region so desperately needs.
Juvenile NYS Threatened Bald Eagle in the Zena Woods, July 2024