By WILLIAM J. KEMBLE | news@freemanonline.com
UPDATED: July 29, 2024 at 6:15 p.m.
WOODSTOCK, N.Y. – The Woodstock Land Conservancy is seeking to prevent the Woodstock Planning Board from reviewing part of the Zena Homes project, aiming to stop the housing development in the town of Ulster from moving forward.
An application filed on July 23 with the Woodstock Zoning Board of Appeals argues that the project would be a “detriment to the health, safety and welfare of the community.”
An extension of a driveway, located in the town of Woodstock, would be used for the major housing development in the town of Ulster. The group is asking the Zoning Board to overturn a ruling stating that the road improvement must be reviewed by the Planning Board.
“The project would not be permitted in the town of Woodstock and the road extension providing the access to the project violates Woodstock’s zoning law and it’s not permitted,” Woodstock Land Conservancy Attorney Victoria Polidoro wrote.
Officials in both towns say that Eastwoods Drive, a private unimproved road, and its proposed extension, should meet standards for traffic from a project that proposes 30 lots which could have up to 52 residential units.
Conservancy members contend that planning approval cannot be given for changes to the road because it is located in Woodstock but the project is in Ulster. It then goes on to say that Ulster town officials do not have jurisdiction over the access road because it is in Woodstock.
Polidoro wrote that the conservancy’s position is supported by a 2009 state Appellate Division case involving access to a proposed multi-family project in Carmel that required building a road in the town of Kent.
“The Second Department ruled that construction of the access road to serve a multi-family use was in violation of Kent’s zoning law and there impermissible in the town of Kent,” she wrote.
Conservancy members contend that the Eastwoods Drive may have even more impediments than previously found during the Woodstock code officer’s review because it does not have evidence that it has been formally designated a private road.
“There is no indication and I could not find any further evidence … was filed with the county clerk to indicate that the ‘private road’ referenced on this subdivision map was considered to be a street to satisfy NYS Town Law,” Polidoro wrote, adding that “right-of-way is not considered a street for the purpose of satisfying the access requirement.”
Ulster town officials have stated that the proposal does require an access road that meets state highway standards but otherwise appears to meet requirements for a town Planning Board review to secure a special use permit. However, those access regulations are problematic for developers who have said that they don’t believe they should be subject to having the access road in Woodstock subject to demands of the town code enforcement officers.
Ulster town regulations anticipated the problems that could come from a project such as Zena Homes, and wrote that “lot lines should be laid out so as not to cross town boundary lines” and that any access roads have to “abut a suitably improved street.”
The access road in Woodstock would be an extension of Eastwoods Drive, a private road that goes to the developers’ property in that town. Developers have considered it as a viable route after being told by adjacent property owners in the town of Ulster that the project was not wanted and they would not provide access.