Rebekah Channell
Kingston Wire

'Hang On to Your Seats'

Winston Farm Developers Begin Push for Approval

News by Steve Ellman

8/19/24 • Land Use

Saugerties– The developers who propose to transform Winston Farm’s 840 historic and environmentally significant acres into something more domesticated and commercialized than mere landscape offered a first look last week at their current thinking.

Wednesday night saw a PowerPoint preview before the Saugerties Town Board; the full Monty arrived the next day with the release of the project’s Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement. Usually acronymized as DGEIS, it's a description, per state regs, of “purpose, public need and benefits” as well as "a statement and evaluation of the potential significant adverse environmental impacts at a level of detail that reflects the severity of the impacts and the reasonable likelihood of their occurrence."

The DGEIS runs 208 pages and examines the impact of up to 133 single family homes, 115 townhouses, and 800 condo/apartment units as well as “a campground with a 157 cabins and RV sites, 425,000 square feet of commercial retail space, a 150-room boutique hotel, a conference center with 300 hotel rooms, a 5000-person amphitheater, and 375,000 square feet of lab or light-industrial space."

Rebekah Channell
Daily Freeman

Winston Farm updated plan calls for 799 housing units, commercial space in Woodstock ’94 site in Saugerties

By WILLIAM J. KEMBLE | news@comnews@freemanonline.com

UPDATED: August 15, 2024 at 6:02 p.m.

SAUGERTIES, N.Y. — As Winston Farm developers detailed their plans for an 840-acre residential neighborhood with hundreds of housing units along with with a commercial center during a Town Board meeting on Wednesday, opponents of the project also voiced their objections.

A draft environmental generic impact statement provided updated information about the development, which was discussed during a Town Board meeting on Wednesday. The plan showed an 840-acre project area along state Route 32 that would combine commercial, retail and residential development with quick access to the state Thruway.

“The sponsor’s preferred plan will create 799 housing units (from) a mix of townhouses, apartments, hotels, conference centers, cabins, and other residential uses,” wrote developers, who anticipate the buildout would result in 1,746 new residents.

Maya Van der Meer
HV1

Winston Farm hearing in Saugerties draws mixed reviews

by David Gordon
September 25, 2022

Danny Melnick, the owner of a music tour and production company called “Absolutely Live,” said that he has produced music festivals around the world for more than 30 years, “and if anyone should be excited about an amphitheater in this area it is me; but I am not. Amphitheaters are huge; they accommodate thousands of people, and this is how our two amphitheaters, SPAC and Bethel Woods are designed. They must have parking lots many times larger than the amphitheaters themselves.” An amphitheater would bring in thousands of cars, as well as trucks and buses idling on Route 212 and Route 32, as well as sanitation and other service trucks entering and exiting the site. In addition, “sound checks and concerts can be heard almost a mile away. I have never worked at an amphitheater anywhere in the world situated in a residential community.”

HV1
Maya Van der Meer
Daily Freeman

Winston Farm hearing in Saugerties draws environmental concerns

By William J. Kemble
September 22, 2022

Resident Bari Koral read a letter from her 13-year-old daughter, Tuli Caigan, who wanted board members to consider ways to have the scoping document protect the town’s environment and character.

“In five or six generations what will this place look like?” she wrote. “We are talking about destroying or dividing (a) forest that protects us…As more places become uninhabitable I worry for my future (because) we are the generation that will inherit climate change.”

Daily Freeman
Maya Van der Meer
Daily Freeman

Winston Farm plans in Saugerties face objections

By William J. Kemble
August 18, 2022

Resident Gene O’Donovan, who owns property adjacent to Winston Farm, said developers are doing a disservice to the town.

“This project doesn’t have any responsibility to any of its neighbors,” he said. “It’s going to take Buffalo Road…and make it into its entrance to this property. Do you want your kids living on Buffalo Road to dodge the dump trucks as they come back and forth? I don’t think so.”

Daily Freeman

Kingston Wire

Kingston Wire

Winston Farm's Next Phase

Regardless of the environmental review, some remain skeptical of the project’s direction; a representative of local environmental group Beautiful Saugerties describes the new plans as “loose and subject to interpretation.” For example, Saugerties LLC’s current vision preserves 400 of Winston Farm’s over 800 acres for open space — Beautiful Saugerties wants to know whether one section of the property will remain untouched, or the acreage will be broken up around construction into pockets of land.

“The SEQR process will serve to identify traffic, noise, pollution, environmental and construction concerns while not necessarily influencing the overall direction of the project itself,” said Andrew Cowan, a Beautiful Saugerties representative. “We're concerned about the scope and fit within the context of Saugerties — a gateway to the Catskills historically centered around nature, the environment, arts and farming — whereas the development as planned looks to be best suited for a larger and more rural piece of property.”

Times Union

Times Union

Winston Farm development intensifies water supply concerns in Saugerties

by Alexandra Zissu
April 27, 2022

“The two biggest things are the water issues and the habitat destruction. And this is just the tip of the iceberg,” says Kate Hagerman, program manager at Catskill Mountainkeeper. “The developers are envisioning a massive commercial development that would destroy intact habitats on the site and could impact drinking water, species of concern, and communities further downstream to the Hudson.”

“They asked for the moon in the initial plan and are seeing what’s going to stick and what they can get,” says Ken Devine, a Winston Farm neighbor and member of Beautiful Saugerties, a group of about 200 local citizens concerned about the scale of the proposed project.

The River

The River

Massive Development in Saugerties Raises Concern Among Locals

Rachel Hellman
Feb 24, 2022

Over the past few months, multiple environmental advocacy groups in the region have raised red flags concerning the Winston Farm development plans. Kate Hagerman, program manager for Catskill Mountainkeeper, is deeply worried.

“The proposed development project at Winston Farm, or any project of its scale, would be devastating to the ecosystems, wildlife, and plants of Winston Farm and the surrounding region,” she says.

HV1

HV1

Full SEQRA at Winston Farm

by Brian Hubert
December 29, 2021

Those with concerns about the potential Winston Farm project include Andrew Cowan who serves on the steering committee of beautifulsaugerties.com, which he described as a group of 200 local people concerned about the scale of the project in its current form. In a conversation December 16, Cowan noted the proposed project covers one and a quarter square miles, about half the space occupied by the entire village of Saugerties.

Chief among their concerns, he said, were plans to cut down 270 acres of woods and proposals for a 10,000-seat amphitheater, indoor waterpark and adventure park with accompanying parking lots. He estimates it would take 25 acres of parking to accommodate the cars for the amphitheater alone. He said the proposed amphitheater would occupy 45 acres compared to the 2200 secluded acres at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Your voice matters!

This decision will ultimately come down to the Town Board, so our local officials are key to this process! Call or email, and let them know about your concerns.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Please submit letters to the editor about your concerns:

  • Hudson Valley One: submit at this link. Monday is the deadline for the weekly paper.