To say last month's Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting was standing room only was an understatement. There were community members standing inside the meeting room, in the hallway and outside the building listening in through the open windows! So many members of the public wanted to speak that the ZBA had to recess the meeting to complete other business on its agenda.
The public hearing will resume Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. This time the meeting will be held in the Mescal Hornbeck Community Center to allow for more seating and sound amplification.
THANK YOU! We asked you to make your opposition known, and you did just that! We were so pleased to see the outpouring of support for the Woodstock Land Conservancy's appeal and the land, wetlands, vernal pools, wildlife and plants we are working to protect.
We have no way of knowing how the ZBA will ultimately rule, but we are certain the board members got the message that Woodstock does not want Eastwoods Drive lengthened and widened to form the only ingress and egress to a large subdivision in the Town of Ulster. (Of the 19 individuals who provided comments at the public hearing, only two supported Zena Development.)
This is no time to be complacent, however. We need to pack the Community Center Sept. 26 to ensure the ZBA knows we mean business. Please mark your calendars now and make plans to attend the second half of the public hearing. Tell your neighbors and friends. Share this email. Form carpools. We will see you there.
Zena Development's property includes acres that are designated as part of a Critical Environmental Area and abuts many protected landsstewarded by the Woodstock Land Conservancy and Ruby Rod & Gun Club. It also abuts part of the Bluestone Wild Forest.
This undeveloped land is critical as a wildlife corridor. It includes important biodiversity and a significant forest that helps to sequester carbon. It is critical that this land is stewarded rather than developed.