Carvel/Durst Updates
The proposal began in 2003 with 1,000+ new units (some houses are already on the property) on 2,200 acres mostly in Pine Plains, with a small part of the property in Milan. News and related updates are listed below.
Town Consultants’ Memo on Carvel/Durst NND Pre-Application
March 30, 2010
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.
Durst NND Pre-Application Update
March 19, 2010
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.
Durst Begins New Neighborhood Development Process
January 30, 2010
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 more
Durst Likely to Have NND Tool for Zoning Exceptions
September 22, 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 more
Durst Submits Revision on Golf Development
August 2, 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.
PPU Lawyer’s and Other Expert Testimony in Response to Zoning Proposal
May 15, 2009
Comments delivered to the Town Board relating to the Zoning Proposal submitted for public review. The comments center mainly around the New Neighborhood District component of the proposed law. Read the letter here.
→ Lyons Testimony on Proposed Zoning
→ Lisa Nagle of Elan Planning and Design’s Testimony
→ Mark Wildonger of Scenic Hudson’s Testimony
We Need You at the Hearings
April 14, 2009
The first public hearing for the Draft Zoning Law is this Saturday, April 18th, at 9:30AM at the Lions Club Pavilion (82 Beach Road). We hope you can make it as your input on this far reaching law will have a dramatic impact on the quality of life of all of us here in the Pine Plains area. In our last email we made it clear how impressed we were with the hard work the Town Board put into their revision of the Zoning Commission’s original plan. Generally speaking, the draft zoning law they have come up with is acceptable. It presents needed guidelines and maximum numbers for growth in Pine Plains. It is for the most part consistent with our Comprehensive Plan and is reasonably sensitive to protection of our community’s environment and rural character by excluding steep slopes and wetlands from build-able acreage, for example. However, there are some flaws in the law as written that are serious enough to threaten to undo many of its benefits. We intend to raise them at the hearings and in our letters to the Town Board:
- The proposed New Neighborhood Development (NND), which appears on Page 41 of the document, is clearly in conflict with goals of the Comprehensive Plan. By shifting the base density from one unit per five acres, as it is in the rural district, to one unit per three acres, the NND allows for development on a scale and of a density inappropriate to the rural character of Pine Plains. It is a recipe for suburban sprawl and as such is entirely inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan.
- Further, the NND would allow for the creation of an entirely separate hamlet equal in size to the hamlet of Pine Plains (up to 611 or higher), within which some commercial uses would be allowed provided they don’t compete with businesses presently within the hamlet (just how the town would determine, in any legal fashion, exactly which businesses are competing and which are not is unclear). The Comprehensive Plan states plainly that the historic Pine Plains hamlet is to be the town center and community development must therefore be focused in or adjacent to that center.
- While it would seem that the NND concept was created specifically for the benefit of the Durst Carvel Project, it is by no means certain that it would preclude the construction of additional large scale developments. In fact, there are several other large land holdings within town which could be combined to meet the requirements of the NND and thus create a second and possibly a third hamlet-sized development in Pine Plains. Development on that scale is wholly at odds with the Comprehensive Plan.
- The NND section of the Draft Zoning Plan should be removed until such a time as language is clarified and the allowable development is of a scale and density consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Further, the proposed Draft Zoning Law, exclusive of the NND, provides sufficient flexibility to meet the legitimate concerns of both the town and any developer, making the NND provision unnecessary. Given the looseness of its wording and its potential to cause serious, irreversible harm to the community-both unforeseen and foreseeable-the zoning law would be much better without the NND provision.
- Some additional concerns. We believe site plan review should include single home parcels as well as multi-unit ones. Our concern for our ridge lines, steep slopes, and open farmland should not end just because a single residence is planned for the site. Also, the same lighting restrictions should be applied to all residential sites, not just ones with multiple units.
Please download the Draft Zoning Law if you have not already done so and come to the hearing this Saturday (and the second the following Wednesday evening at 7:30) prepared to voice your concerns. In addition, please put your comments in writing and send them to: Town Supervisor, Town of Pine Plains, Pine Plains Town Hall, 3284 Route 199, PO Box 955, Pine Plains, NY 12567. You have until the close of business day on May 4th to submit your comments.
Thanks and we’ll see you at the hearings.
How to get the zoning we deserve
April 8, 2009
Attend the hearings.
First, a reminder: the public hearings on the proposed Pine Plains Zoning Law are scheduled for Saturday, April 18th at 9:30AM and Wednesday, the 22nd at 7:00PM. Both will be held at the Lions Club Pavilion at 82 Beach Road.
Read the document.
If you haven’t already, be sure to go to the town website and download a copy of the draft zoning law (the main document is entitled “Local Law #1 of 2009″ but be sure to also download the maps and appendices). Or, if you prefer, you may purchase a hard copy for $12.50 at the town hall. It’s not exactly beach reading, it’s long and dense and very technical in parts, but what it lacks in style it makes up for in substance. No document will have a greater impact on the place we live
The NND: a slippery slope?
The section that most concerns us is the one dealing with the New Neighborhood Development (NND), on page 41. An NND gives the Town Board the flexibility to green light a development even if it doesn’t conform to zoning laws. We’re not opposed to NNDs per se, there may be instances where it is in the interest of the community to allow an exception to the rules. The problem is unless there are clearly defined limits the result may be seriously at odds with the goals laid out by the Comprehensive Plan. Unfortunately, the limits laid out in the NND provision are neither clearly defined nor strong enough.
The 800-pound gorilla.
Though never mentioned by name, the NND appears tailor-made for the Carvel Durst development, at least for its bottom line. By loosening density requirements (from one home per five acres to one home per three acres) and adding overly generous bonuses, the NND would appear to allow the Durst Corporation to add more than 700 new homes to Pine Plains and Milan. It would create a suburban style development so large and so dense it would be in clear conflict with the Comprehensive Plan’s stated goal of maintaining the town’s rural character. And in the process it would essentially create an entirely new hamlet on the western edge of town, comparable in size to the hamlet of Pine Plains, which is a clear violation of the Comprehensive Plan’s stated goal of keeping a compact town center surrounded by rural open space. Not only that, it would allow for another hamlet-sized development on the eastern edge of town and possibly a third on the north side. Not exactly what the citizens of Pine Plains had in mind when they made preserving the town’s rural character a top priority.
(FYI, there will be a special meeting of the Planning Board on Wednesday, April 15th at 7PM at the town hall to discuss how the new zoning will impact the Carvel Durst development. This is not a public hearing but it should be very illuminating.)
Make the law better.
We are by no means advocating the scrapping of the proposed zoning law. It is in most respects very impressive for its enlightened approach to zoning and we salute the Zoning Commission and the Town Board for their hard work and foresight. But what a terrible shame it would be to have come this far, invested all that time and effort, only to have it undone by a loophole so large you could drive a Mack truck through it. Pine Plains United and its members have also invested heavily in seeing that our community grows in a manner that maintains its unique rural character. Just look at all the testimony by both our members and our experts at last year’s Carvel Durst hearings. Our members, who have been extremely generous with their money and their time, didn’t do all that for nothing. We are hopeful that the Town Board, after getting lots of feedback at the hearings and throughout the public comment period, will decide to take a second look at the NND provision.
So study the documents and come to the hearings on the 18th and the 22nd armed with questions and comments. Thanks.
Carvel/Durst Proposal Update January 26, 2009
January 26, 2009
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.
Carvel Submits a New Plan with 648 units
November 26, 2008
In recent Planning Board meetings held since the hearings this spring on the Carvel DEIS the Durst team has submitted a major revision of the proposal. This revision is a result of the overwhelmingly negative reaction to the original plan by 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. Read more
