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Town wants DEC on top of ridge development
By Paul Brooks
Times Herald-Record, January 14, 2003

Gardiner - The Town of Gardiner wants the DEC to take responsibility for the oversight of the massive housing development proposed for the environmentally sensitive Shawangunk Ridge.
At issue is what agency will control the review process for the Awosting Reserve proposal: the Town of Gardiner with its part-time supervisor and a small overworked town staff, or the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which comes with its own array of experts.

Gardiner Supervisor Jack Hayes prefers that the DEC take over. "All
things considered, they are better equipped," Hayes said yesterday.
That is what Hayes will suggest to the Town Board at its meeting tonight.

The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. at the old Town Hall office on Route 44/55. Awosting Reserve could become a rich man's playground, complete with pool, tennis courts, fitness center and an 18-hole golf course. It would spread 349 houses over 2,600 acres, from large houses to what developers call cabins. No prices have been set yet, but no one expects they will be cheap.

The proposal covers land in three towns: Gardiner, Shawangunk and
Wawarsing, but only 30 residences fall in Shawangunk and none in Wawarsing.

Moreover, Minnewaska State Park also borders the proposal to the west. "It's a sensitive area," Hayes said. The DEC will have a "lot more" of the expertise needed to govern the State Environmental Quality Review, a process that delves deeply into issues such as water, sewer, traffic, and the effect on air, land, aesthetics, wildlife and plant life. Anne Bienstock, a member of the Shawangunk Valley Conservancy, supports the DEC as lead agency. "That would subject it to the most detached scrutiny," she said, although she prefers the development never happen.

The Town Board is not off the hook entirely.Hayes said the board still has to decide if it wants Awosting Reserve to cluster the housing and what requirements roads in the development will meet. "Slope could be a requirement," Hayes said, a reference to how steeply
the town will allow developers to build roads on the mountainside. Access for fire trucks and other emergency vehicles is a concern, he said. "They may have to change the slope."

Town officials, including Hayes, met yesterday morning with Roger Beck, president of Awosting Reserve, and an engineer for developers. Beck said they will work with whichever agency is selected to lead. Hayes said the Town Board and Planning Board will meet together Feb. 6 to listen to the applicants pitch the project.