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Developers get an earful from Hinchey
By DAWN LETUS
Correspondent, February 07, 2003

WALLKILL - U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, one of 600 people attending a presentation on a proposed housing development along the Shawangunk Ridge Thursday night, called the project "a significant threat to the natural resources of the ridge."

Before the Hurley Democrat had risen to speak after a 90-minute presentation in the Wallkill High School auditorium, the development team for the Awosting Reserve project had barely drawn a reaction, other than a few outbursts from opponents. Hinchey, who characterized the project simply as a sprawling community for the wealthy, received a 5-minute standing ovation from the crowd.

Roger Beck, president of the Awosting Reserve and a managing director of the development company Chaffin/Light Associates, said he arranged the informational meeting at the high school to tell residents that developers want to protect the ridge.

"It didn't take us long to find out the importance of the 'gunks to the
people of Ulster County," he said. "The ridge has worked its way into the life and souls of the people of Ulster County. We want to protect that which you have come to love."

Using a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, planners, engineers and attorneys from the development team said the subdivision plan is "a good plan, created from a sound analysis."

"The mission is to create a settlement that supports the rural character of its host community and that preserves the natural resources and recreational importance of the Shawangunk Ridge," Beck told the crowd. "Awosting Reserve will be a settlement within a mountain reserve, sit lightly on the land, be economically sensible and beneficial to the region."

At the same time, developers said, the subdivision would leave 1,753 acres of open space in a gated community, including 270 acres set aside for an 18-hole golf course on Tillson Lake.

The project would be carved from 2,660 acres in the towns of Gardiner, Shawangunk and Wawarsing, on which the developers propose to build 349 homes, an Awosting Trust building, Awosting Center, a wastewater treatment plant, a mountain lodge, nature center, fitness center, administration building, recreation areas and parking.

Jim Light, a principal of Chaffin/Light Associates, asked residents to help define the project and said he would respond to "reasonable" concerns throughout the project review.

"Our goal is to create a community that will be cherished not only by
Awosting Reserve residents, but the community at large," Light said. "To do this, we need your help. We ask that you be candid, honest and civil in your comments."

Hinchey, however, blasted the proposal.

"The Shawangunk Ridge is a large part of what defines our region," he said. "Awosting Reserve touts itself as a sustainable community for families who want to live simply, with a conservation ethic. In reality, this is a sprawling, gated, wealthy residence. The effect of this development will ripple through our community and its environmental impacts will be substantial.

"This project is in sharp contrast to surrounding land-use patterns and it is critical to the future of this area (that) this development be carefully scrutinized," Hinchey added.

©Daily Freeman 2003