On December 21, 2011 the Durst Organization submitted a formal application to the Pine Plains Town Board to rezone the Carvel Property according to the New Neighborhood Development (NND) section of the Pine Plains zoning law. The proposal is for 591 housing lots on 1,932 acres in Pine Plains. In addition the property also includes 444 acres in Milan, where 54 lots are planned; bringing the total proposal to 645 lots on 2,376 acres. Therefore this proposal is for an increase of 21 lots over the NND “Preapplication” version which was for 624 units. The increase results from the additional acreage Durst has purchased in the last few years on Mt. Ross Road in Pine Plains and his recent purchases of small lots in the old Carvel subdivision that he didn’t previously own. A description of the proposal and a map of the property are available on the Carvel Property website (http://www.carvelpropertydevelopment.com/). See map below.

Towne Centre (Stissing Farms/VA Clinic): In the November 9, 2011 Planning Board meeting the board approved the revised application for Towne Centre to become a senior rental development. This 13.69 acre project on 199 near the high school was originally approved as 48 condo units for buyers age 55 and above. Later the unoccupied completed units were approved for rental units with the same age restrictions. In the summer of 2011 the developers submitted a request to drop the age restrictions and change the approval to multifamily rentals as the continued economic downturn has led to a dearth of applicants. This change received a very negative reaction at a public hearing and was dropped by the developers who reintroduced the age restriction in response to the community opposition. The proposed rental units would be mostly market rate with a small percentage classified as “affordable” with rent levels to be determined by the town. Six one bedroom, one den prefab attached units are finished. Five units of the next phase of redesigned, stick-built units are also now complete. Now that the developers have received approval for their new application they plan to construct the additional units once they have secured financing from HUD. Rentals of the new units will not begin until construction of half the project is complete. The VA clinic in the commercial building on 199 is already open and the other part of that building is vacant. The remaining acreage along 199, next to the clinic is slated for future commercial development including a large (10,000 s.f.) two story building and a replacement of the gas station. This proposed commercial section of the property has not yet officially come before the planning board yet and therefore has not been approved.

Towne Centre (Stissing Farms/VA Clinic): This 13.69 acre project on 199 near the high school was
originally approved as 48 condo units for buyers age 55 and above, then later approved for rental units
with the same age restrictions. In the summer of 2011 the developers submitted a request to drop the age
restrictions and change the approval to multifamily rentals as the continued economic downturn has led to
a dearth of applicants for the units in the restricted age range. The proposed rental units would be mostly market rate with a small percentage classified as “workforce housing” with rent levels to be determined by the town. Six one bedroom, one den prefab attached units are finished. A few units of the next phase of redesigned units are also now complete. They are stick built, mostly two unit buildings (although there will be two single unit buildings) built into the hill at the back of the property. If the developers receive approval for their new application for multifamily rentals they plan to construct the additional units. Rentals of the new units will not begin until construction of all units is complete. The VA clinic in the commercial building on 199 is already open and the other part of that building is vacant. The remaining acreage along 199, next to the clinis is slated for future commercial development including a large (10,000 s.f.) two story building and a replacement of the gas station. This proposed commercial section of the property has not yet officially come before the planning board yet and therefore has not been approved.

The development proposal for the Village Green property was formally withdrawn by Tom/Lew in a letter to the Planning Board read by Chair Rick Butler in the September 8, 2010 Planning Board meeting.  No additional information was given at that time about any future plans for the property.

As per the Town’s zoning regulations, the submission of a NND floating zone petition application requires that the applicant appear before the Town Board and Planning Board at a pre- application meeting. The purpose of the first meeting is to:

• solicit preliminary non-binding comments of the Town Board and Planning Board with regard to the consistency of the NND proposal with the criteria set forth in §100-28.B;
• identify any issues that would need to be addressed during the NND review process; and
• review a sketch plan that conveys conceptually the use and site improvements being proposed.

Download the PDF

The Town Board and Planning Board held a joint session this past Tuesday to submit comments to the Durst Corporation on their pre-application submission for a New Neighborhood Development designation under the newly adopted Zoning Regulations. The 18 different criteria for NND status were reviewed and commented on individually over the course of the meeting. Many important issues were raised so that the applicant can address them prior to submitting their final application.

Following the review of the individual criteria, the newly elected town board member Sandra David read her comments in full into the record, speaking more broadly to the issues at hand. Plainly stated, the purpose of the NND is to allow our community to negotiate with the developer and issue bonus units insofar as there are correlating community benefits. Her comments speak directly to the open question of whether or not the Durst Development will benefit our community or not. It is a must read. Please forward widely.

Sandra David’s comments on the Durst pre-application for an NND.

March 16, 2010 – My comments tonight will be to give a broad brush response to what Jennifer Van Tyle characterized as a broad brush approach to the pre-application.  Although, as a group I believe we will be reviewing the 18 criteria that we must consider before approving the NND, I would like to address the issues, on balance, that need to be considered when assessing the benefits to the Town of Pine Plains.  All  residents want what is BEST for the Town.  What that “BEST” is will be the debate during this process.

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Now that the zoning law has been enacted by the Pine Plains Town Board, the Durst Organization is beginning the application process for a New Neighborhood District zoning change.  Doing so entails some very slight revisions to the project layout from the second version of the project.  You can view the “pre-application” project material (including maps) on the town website at http://pineplains-ny.gov/content/Generic/View/8.  The maximum number of units allowed on the whole property would be 624 (572 in Pine Plains and 52 in Milan). Durst has decided to take the option of paying the affordable housing fee (in lieu of building the 42 affordable units) to a dedicated affordable housing fund that will be set up by the town.  The above numbers of units on the property include the “previously approved” subdivision lots in both Milan and Pine Plains, the maximum number of bonus units allowed for in the zoning and the base net yield of units as outlined in the NND section of the zoning law.  Some of the bonus units are at the discretion of the town board for various community and commercial benefits provided by the developer; so the actual final number is not yet determined. Read the rest of this entry »

The zoning law was adopted at the October 15, 2009 Town Board meeting. The most salient features of the law are:

• It divides the town into various zoning districts with differing lot sizes or densities, varying from 20,000 square feet (15,000 if central sewer is installed) in the central hamlet districts to 5 acres in the rural district, including the agricultural overlay and the wellhead protection district.
• Although a number of commercial uses are allowed throughout the town (i.e. home businesses and other smaller impact commercial uses) major commercial development is concentrated in the hamlet center and hamlet main street districts. The latest zoning map now includes the flat land behind Stewarts on the Village Green property in the hamlet main street district.
• The agricultural overlay zone covering about ¾ of the rural district includes properties currently or previously used in agriculture (raising crops or pasturing livestock), properties with prime soils or soils of statewide importance and properties included in the County Agricultural District. However, none of the Carvel property is included in the Agricultural Overlay even kthough it meets the first two criteria. The zone
  does not differ from the underlying rural district in allowed density but it restricts placement of houses on agricultural fields to the extent practicable.
• The subdivision regulations require that environmentally constrained acreage (steep slopes, wetlands, flood plains, etc.) be subtracted from the total acreage prior to calculating the net buildable acreage.
• Major subdivisions outside of the hamlet districts are in most cases to be designed as conservation subdivisions, with most of the units
  clustered on small lots and at least 50% of the land preserved as open space. In the agricultural overlay (A-O) district this requirement applies to any development of 5 or more housing units. In the rural and well head protection districts not included in the A-O overlay developments of between 5 and 14 units may be of a more conventional layout with Planning Board
  approval; although the preferred layout is still the conservation subdivision layout. Additionally, in all conservation subdivisions after deducting the environmentally constrained land an additional 15% of the
  remaining acreage is deducted from the total prior to determining the net buildable acreage.
• The zoning draft includes a New Neighborhood Development (NND) overlay that can be applied to a development in single ownership of at least 750 acres. The base density in an NND is one unit to 3 net buildable acres rather than one unit to 5 acres. The open space requirement is increased to 60% of the entire parcel from 50%. Prior to approving an NND rezoning
  application the developer will be required by the Town Board to commit to providing a number of community benefits and infrastructure improvements to the town beyond those obtainable through SEQRA review.
• The regulations also include generous bonus density awards for various community benefits-up to 40% additional units in a regular conservation subdivision and 50% in an NND.
• Affordable housing provisions apply to all developments of 10 or more units.

Jane Waters
November 9, 2009

Carvel (Durst)/Landmark: After the overwhelmingly negative reaction from the public and many experts representing PPU, Scenic Hudson, the Dutchess Land Conservancy, the county planning office and even the State Department of Environmental Conservation in the series of public hearings held in the spring of 2008; the Carvel/Durst team submitted a major revision of their large golf development proposal to the Planning Board. Work on this new “preferred” alternative plan initially was led by Alexander (Alex) Felson, an expert ecological planner now on the faculty at Yale, and the multinational planning firm EDAW. This plan has widened buffer zones around important wetlands and vernal pools and has much more dedicated connected open space. It clusters most of the development around the golf course, away from both the Ham Brook and the Route 199 view shed. The number of housing units is reduced to 648 (576 in Pine Plains, 61 in Milan and 11 on lots that are partly in both towns). The 18 hole golf course is redesigned with the second nine extending towards 199 on the west side of the property. There will no longer be an additional 9 hole academy course. Read the rest of this entry »

The final draft of the zoning law will be adopted at the October 15, 2009 Town Board meeting. Prior to that, one more workshop meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 6 at 7PM to review the wording of a few final revisions made in the law in the September 10th workshop meeting. The most salient features of the law are: Read the rest of this entry »