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State asked to review 'Gunks plan
Zoning discussed for upscale housing
By Dan Shapley
Poughkeepsie Journal, January 22, 2003

As questions arose about the size of the a controversial developmentproposal for the Shawangunk Ridge, the Gardiner town planning board joined the town board Tuesday in requesting the state Department of Environmental Conservation lead the environmental review. ''They are really in the best position to handle a project this size,''planning board Chairman Carmine Mele said.

The town also will hire legal and engineering consultants specifically toaddress the proposal.

The development of the Awosting Reserve would carve 349 plots for homes intothe forested slopes of the Shawangunk Ridgeline in the towns of Gardiner and Shawangunk on land bordering the Minnewaska State Park Preserve and the Sam's Point Preserve.

Together with the Mohonk Preserve, the preserves draw thousands of visitors each year to the white cliffs of the Shawangunks for hiking, rock climbing and other recreation.

The proposal calls for subdividing the land for second homes, a 296-acre golf course near Tillson Lake, as well as recreation and office space supporting the private ''conservation community.''

About 60 percent of the property -- 1,499 acres of forest and the golf course -- would be permanently protected as open space, but not in one contiguous block.

A memo presented to the planning board by town planner James Frieband Tuesday suggested the developers, Chaffin/Light Associates, may have overestimated the number of homes that can be built under town laws.

Clustering may be snagged

The developers have asked for permission to cluster the buildings -- meaning they would be built closer together than the town's five-acre zoning would otherwise allow because of the intention to protect open space.

But clustering requires that no more homes be built than could be built under a conventional subdivision. Frieband's memo suggested that steep slopes -- 1,700 feet from lowest to highest point, according to Bill Renner, a land planner consultant at the Awosting Reserve -- and the shape of many of the proposed lots may be contrary to town law.

''The lot layout does not remotely resemble a conforming conventional subdivision,'' the memo reads.

That same concern was raised after the planning board meeting by Gardiner resident Peter Conde, a member of the group Save the Ridge, which opposes the project on the basis of its impact on aesthetics, wildlife habitat and recreation.

''It's a gem. There's nothing like it anywhere around,'' Conde said. ''In my mind it takes a huge bite out of the mountain.''

In a short presentation to the board about the project, Roger Beck,
president of Awosting Reserve, acknowledged the community's opposition to the project, the attention the developers had paid to likely concerns and his intention to work with elected and appointed boards.

''We want to do it in a way that is not going to put us at war with our neighbors,'' Beck said.

WHAT'S NEXT
AWOSTING RESERVE

The Town of Gardiner planning and town boards will meet Feb. 6 at the Gardiner Firehouse on Route 44/55 to hear more about the proposed development at the Awosting Reserve. For information, call the town offices at (845) 255-9675.

Relevant Web links
- To learn more about Chaffin/Light Associates, the Awosting Reserve developer, visit www.chaffinlight.com.

- To read about the opposition to the development, visit
www.savetheridge.com.