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Ridge plan gets cool reception
'Gunks project has many foes
By Dan Shapley
Poughkeepsie Journal, February 07, 2003

WALLKILL -- Colorful protesters and several hundred rancorous area residents greeted the first detailed discussion of a controversial development on the Shawangunk Ridge Thursday night at Wallkill High School.

The crowd was largely unconvinced by a 90-minute presentation on the Awosting Reserve development by Chaffin/Light Associates. The presentation explained the 18-month study that preceded the proposal, as well as the firm's track record of creating ''conservation communities'' similar to the 349-home development and 296-acre golf course proposed for 2,660 acres in the towns of Gardiner, Shawangunk and Wawarsing.

Town of Gardiner Supervisor Jack Hayes twice threatened to close the meeting because of outbursts. And U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Saugerties, whipped the crowd into a loud minute long standing ovation after he denounced the proposal as a ''sprawling, gated housing development'' that threatened the ''unique and irreplaceable resource.''

Presentation deliberate

The emotional response starkly contrasted the slow, deliberate presentation by Chaffin/Light Associates and its contractors who pledged to protect the ''soul'' of Ulster County represented by the white-cliffed 'Gunks.

Their presentation laid out plans that would have little visual impact from hiking trails on the ridge top because the line of sight overshoots the ridge, and slightly greater impact from the valley. But that impact would be reduced, they said, by strict design guidelines that would restrict the amount of land cleared, buildings' height, lighting and the colors of building materials

The project would create as many as 70 permanent jobs, as well as hundreds of construction jobs over 10 years. They argued the tax base of the town would benefit because the community would provide its road, water and sewer services, and that few children would attend schools because wealthy second-home buyers will populate the development.

More than 1,400 acres of forest, while not in one contiguous block, would be protected in two corridors of several hundred acres each. Jim Light, co-founder of Chaffin/Light Associates, said the development is an alternative to outright land protection because much of the 100,000 acres on the ridge is in private ownership.

''Is it just possible that Awosting Reserve will be a better way to protect 66 percent of these 2,660 acres? We hope so,'' he said.

About 10 Rondout Valley High School students wore gaudy spoofs of golfing garb and spoke in British accents. The golf course, deadpanned Clinton Graybill, 14, would allow people to enjoy open space ''without the dangers of hiking or small animals.''