Hearing on cluster proposal set for Aug. 1

Hearing on cluster proposal set for Aug. 1

By Tony Houston
Highland Mills - The Woodbury Town Board, having passed five local laws this month amending zoning ordinances, is holding a public hearing Tuesday, Aug. 1, which may result in two more local laws affecting zoning.

The hearing is on the application by Legacy Ridge at Highland Mills, LLC, to build 287 single-family detached 4-bedroom homes on 749 acres. The proposed site is located on both sides of Trout Brook Road between Smith Clove Road and Route 32; the average cost of a home is expected to be $625,000.

A Draft Environmental Impact Statement, completed by the applicant and accepted by the Town Board, addresses the impact of both the proposed development and the two laws. Issues addressed in the draft environmental report include traffic, schools, water, sewers, grading the land, vistas and the impact on plants and animals.

“Legacy Ridge is not currently in front of the Planning Board,” said Planning Board Chairman George Sewitt in a telephone interview. “The project is in front of the Town Board as lead agency on a matter of conservation cluster development.”

One proposed local law would change the zoning of the Legacy Ridge site from R-3A to R-2A. The other would designate Legacy Ridge as a Conservation Cluster Development. The effect of the two laws would be an increase in the number of housing units allowed, the clustering of the 287 units on lots averaging 1.11 acres each on 319 developed acres, and the preservation of the remaining 430 acres as open space.

“The law relating to the Conservation Cluster Development deals, in part, with senior housing,” said Woodbury Supervisor John Burke, “but this project doesn’t include any senior housing.”

Woodbury Town Councilman Michael Aronowitz, whose change of mind resulted in the passage of this month’s five local laws, discussed the Legacy Ridge proposal in a recent interview.

“I will examine the application and local laws and listen to the public comment before I make my decision,” he said. “We must be sure of a benefit to the citizens of Woodbury and anyone else affected.”

One entity affected is the Cornwall School District, in which the Legacy Ridge site is located. Residents of other towns in that school district have complained that this project in the Highland Mills section of Woodbury would overload the Cornwall district.

“Many homes are going up in other towns within the Cornwall Central School District,” said Councilman Aronowitz. “We are not the bad guy.”

The public hearing will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the IBEW Training Center at 67 Commerce Drive South off Route 17 North in Harriman.