Beautiful Saugerties Statement on the Proposed Rezoning Request for Winston Farm
Photo by Henry J Fair Photography
12/27/24
Beautiful Saugerties opposes the proposed request for rezoning Winston Farm from the current zoning to a Planned Development District which would accommodate the drastic overdevelopment the current owners would like to implement. At the same time, we recognize that current zoning is far from optimal to protect Winston Farm. We wish to work directly with the town board, alongside other community groups, on a PDD that would include two major elements:
1) PDD must be compliant with the Town and Village of Saugerties Comprehensive Plan’s requirement that 73% of the property must remain Open Space. To keep to this requirement:
Open Space must be contiguous.
Open Space must not include private property (houses’ yards, for example, or landscaping around parking areas).
Open Space must be prioritized to protect sensitive environmental (including overlay) areas.
The Beaverkill Stream, wooded areas, and wetland must be maintained in their current natural, unaltered, and uncontaminated state. Meadows must be preserved intact as much as possible.
The footprint of any development on the 27% of the property allowed for it must be minimal and must preserve the viewshed.
2) PDD must also include the following considerations:
Public access to selected parts of the Open Space areas (walking trails, educational center), to preserve Winston Farm as the Gateway to the Catskills
Preservation with public access to historical and archaeological sites on the property to promote cultural awareness.
Housing, commercial, and any other construction must be designed with social responsibility and environmental stewardship at the forefront. We envision the following:
low and moderate income housing at a higher ratio to market housing than the usual 10-15% (25-30% minimum)
minimal impact (few to none impervious surfaces, for example)
conservation easements
state-of-the-art green technology in construction
disruption to traffic patterns must be minimal, without need for extensive alteration to existing roadways or enforcement of eminent domain.
commercial development limited to the frontage on Rte 212, avoided on Rte 32
