New Winston Farm development proposal released in Saugerties
The proposal for Winston Farm in Saugerties now includes a 150-room hotel and a conference center instead of an adventure park
By Maria M. Silva, Staff Writer
Aug 19, 2024
The owners of Winston Farm, which can be seen on the far side of Route 32, presented a draft environmental impact statement to the Saugerties Town Board on Aug. 14. The plan includes changes responsive to community concerns, but local opponents remain unconvinced.
Courtesy J. Henry Fair
SAUGERTIES — The owners of Winston Farm, who plan to build housing, a hotel, cabins and more on the property that famously hosted Woodstock ’94, said their project will generate $62 million in annual economic impact and will have other “comprehensive benefits,” according to a draft generic environmental impact statement developers presented in front of the Town Board on Aug. 14.
The draft statement culminates months of research since 2022, when the Town Board issued a “positive declaration,” which determined the project could have adverse impacts on its surroundings. Developers have billed the project as a mixed-use “live, work, play” development designed to spur vitality and economic benefits like job creation, housing and tourism for Saugerties and the Hudson Valley.
At the Aug. 14 meeting, project engineer Chris LaPorta presented the developers findings and addressed topics like the proposed development’s water source, traffic and ecological impacts — issues that locals have raised as their main concerns and reasons for opposing the project.
The DGEIS includes some changes to earlier development concepts. According to the developers’ presentation, a proposed water park has been replaced with a 150-roomboutique hotel and conference center with another 250 hotel rooms; an outdoor adventure park and hiking trails have been eliminated from the forested area; a10,000-seat outdoor amphitheater has been reduced to a 5,000-seat enclosed performing arts venue; and cabins and roads have been relocated.
Additionally, the project will have a lab or light industrial space and a 100-cabincampground. Other changes to the original plan call for expanded property buffers to protect privacy and security and smaller lots for homes to enhance the setting of the community, Winston Farm spokesman Josh Sommers said.
Developers said Winston Farm would not be developed in its entirety and would preserve a substantial portion of the 840-acre property in its natural state.
Among the benefits, developers said the plan would bring $62 million in annual economic impact after a full buildout, the capability to provide its own water instead of relying on Saugerties’ already strained drinking water supply, and traffic solutions to support development.
Several changes are in response to community feedback, Sommers said, adding that the owners have been engaging in conversations with locals.
But many residents who attended the Aug. 14 Town Board meeting remained unconvinced by the developers' reassurances and worried about the potentially irreversible changes to the land.
“The historic Winston Farm is much more than a site for developers to exploit for profit,” said Kate Hagerman, project manager at Catskill Mountainkeeper, an environmental nonprofit. “Given this large-scale development would be built on the headlands of the 7,000-acre aquifer, Catskill Mountainkeeper encourages the town to adhere to the Winston Farm High Technology Feasibility Study and Master Plan, which calls for the 73 percent of the open space undeveloped, thus protecting the aquifer.”
Among those opposing the project is the citizens group Beautiful Saugerties, which is concerned about the scale of the development and believes it will increase pressure on the local water supply.
“As a pristine natural woodland that is home to endangered plants and animals, that includes an essential aquifer recharge zone, and contains structures of historical importance, zoning and development must be informed by the realization that we are in a climate emergency and that our success as a community depends upon preserving its natural beauty and environmental health,” group spokesman Bill Barr said in a statement. “Citizens for Beautiful Saugerties feel the developer's proposal, as summarized, presents grave risks to this area, to the beauty of Saugerties, and to the environment as a whole.”
The historic 800-acre farm, a rare unfragmented parcel with ties to George Washington, Woodstock ’94 and a wide range of wildlife, has remained in its natural state for decades as various projects from former owners fell through, in part due to community opposition.
In 2017, the property was listed for over $10 million and was sold three years later to three local businessmen — John Mullen, Anthony Montano and Randy Richers — for about $4 million.
Since the current owners announced their plans in September 2021, there have been some attempts to preserve the land. Last year, the Open Space Institute offered current owners $10 million to purchase the property to build a state park. Developers have also fi led a zoning change request to create a planned development district.
“The ecosystems that are currently intact are hard to quantify in dollars and cents, yet they translate into clean water quality and natural landscapes that we all enjoy, as well as habitats for rare, threatened, and endangered species,” Hagerman said at the Town Board meeting. “All of which will be lost if this project as it was presented tonight without careful and clear-sighted review.”
The DGEIS is currently being reviewed by the Town Board. Residents will be able to speak at future public hearings, which have not been scheduled yet.
https://www.timesunion.com/hudsonvalley/news/article/winston-farm-environmental-impact-statement-19658184.php
