Letter to the editor
Concerns about the plan for Winston Farm
The newly suggested plan for Winston Farm that was described to the town board of Saugerties this August is puzzling. Since it is just a generic plan intended to support their case for necessary zoning changes, I don’t expect much detail. However, what they offered to the town was only an in-person retelling of what is on the Winston Farm website plus some numbers suggesting potentially wonderful possibilities including increased “economic windfalls” from earnings and spendings at home and from enhanced tourism. The following concerns are what puzzles me:
• Is 840 acres large enough for 799 housing units, a 5000-seat indoor venue, a 150-room “boutique” hotel, a conference center with 250 additional rooms, a 100-cabin campground, 250,000 square feet of commercial space and 250,000 square feet of light industrial or lab space?
• All on 840 acres? And promised “open space?” Not public open space? Public open space was not the language used..
• Has the Howard Johnson and Holiday Inn Hotels on Route 32 disappeared or are they continually full? Is Diamond Mills unable to provide conference space and rooms any longer? Are the commercial spots on 9W finally occupied? What’s going in at the old McDonalds? Is the commercial and industrial development completed on King’s Highway?
• Imagine the amount of asphalt all of that construction will require…all of it draining onto the roads, and none of the water entering the aquifer underneath.
• The issue of water was spoken of: the developers believe the output of two wells, 270 gallons per minute, will make the entire project self sufficient without drawing on the municipalities resources. However, perhaps the town and village need more water? Water supply is already a big issue in local towns.
• The suggested plan doesn’t mention sewage treatment after the water is used by the various entities covering the 840 acres. Who is picking that responsibility up?
A few other things puzzle me:
• With due respect to the business acumen of the developers, who were able to buy the land, but who is expected to pay for the huge construction costs of development even if it only develops over stretches of time? Banks may enter the picture and when that happens, it’s banks that own the land not our local fellows.
• An increase of about 125,925 tourists was suggested in the presentation. I love the village. Partition and Main streets are appealing, but not remarkable. And then there’s traffic and parking to consider.
• Finally, a comment I consider naive, was made that developing Winston Farm would help avoid development in other places. On what planet do developers think that way?
I could pick out a few more points, but I come to an end with some imaginings on my part.
Was this proffered plan just intended to give the developers some leverage: they will give up much to get what they might really want, whatever that might be? I believe they would make their money back and with good profit if all they built was a limited number of high-end houses. Is it just the change in zoning they want? That alone may be very valuable if the property is resold. But, I am untutored in real estate. I can’t read the minds and motivations of all concerned nor can I foretell the future. All I can do is hope that once the SEQR is available that a sensible plan is proposed and that the involved lead agency, the town board, does its duty to the citizens as a whole regardless of the local status of the developers.
Mary Ann Mays
Saugerties
