Daily Freeman
By WILLIAM J. KEMBLE PUBLISHED: May 3, 2024 at 3:26 p.m. | UPDATED: May 3, 2024 at 7:46 p.m.
TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. – The application by Zena Development LLC for 32 lots that can accommodate up to 52 units of housing has been declared incomplete pending payment for escrow and approval for a road that can accommodate the corresponding traffic.
Code Enforcement Officer Warren Tutt provided the information Thursday during a Town Board meeting.
“There is not sufficient supporting documentation and certain funds have not been forthcoming,” he said. “They will not be present on any Planning Board agendas anytime in the near future.”
Officials are requiring that the site plan application be accompanied by a $20,000 deposit to cover engineering and legal fees that are expected to be needed during Planning Board reviews of the proposed Zena Homes development on 106.6 acres adjacent to the town line with Woodstock.
“There will be the town planner involved,” Tutt said. “We’ll also probably have engineering involved for roadways and some stormwater infrastructure. So, there are multiple agencies on our end.”
Officials insist that Zena Development LLC obtain approval from Woodstock town officials that would be equivalent to Ulster town requirements for a 1,423-foot-long driveway extending from Eastwoods Drive in Woodstock and crossing over the town line for access to the proposed subdivision. That contention is also being made by attorneys for a neighboring property owner, which Ulster Supervisor James Quigley said has begun setting the stage for protracted legal battles.
“The firm…representing the Woodstock Land (Conservancy) sent a letter outlining the SEQR review requirements…and concluded that this project had to go through the town of Woodstock Planning Board and gain Planning Board approval for the development in the town of Ulster to move forward,” he said.
Conservancy attorney Victoria Polidoro in a May 1 letter contends Zena Homes would have significant adverse impacts for the town of Woodstock.
“The town of Woodstock has identified the project site as low density due to the ecological sensitivity of the R3 District,” she wrote. “The road extension will require the removal of trees and habitat in an environmentally sensitive area, increase demands on Woodstock’s emergency services, and result in construction on steep slopes (with) impacts of which must be considered as part of the subdivision (environmental) review by the lead agency.”
The letter also cited court cases that found a project in one municipality needed to be assessed for impacts in another municipality.
“The project proposes lots as small as 1.38 acres (which is) well below the 3-acre minimum in the (Woodstock) R3 District,” Polidoro wrote. “Therefore, the project would not be permitted in the town of Woodstock and the road extension providing access to the project violates Woodstock’s Zoning Law and is not permitted.”
A March 26 letter from Woodstock Code Enforcement Officer Francis Hoffman had already informed developers of the need to have the impacts evaluated as if the project were in his town.
“Although the proposed subdivision lies outside the town of Woodstock the road to access is proposed in Woodstock and must conform to the standards for development within,” he wrote.