UPDATE
Catskill Mountainkeeper has emphasized that the Winston Farm PDD represents a fundamental change in the Town of Saugerties. The proposed zoning would add a new development hub as large as the existing Village. The PDD’s build-out would replace 800 acres of forest, meadow, and stream corridor with hundreds of acres of paved surface and buildings, forever altering the Saugerties gateway to the Catskills. Accordingly, the environmental review is critically important.
This November, Mountainkeeper and its allies opposing the development of Winston Farm recently sent a letter to the Saugerties Town Supervisor and Board urging them to require the project’s developers to survey existing water monitoring and production wells by measuring current groundwater levels - a simple and inexpensive process - will provide critical data to help inform future decision-making around local development and water supply issues. You can read this letter here.
In October, the Town returned the developers' Draft Generic Environment Impact Statement (DGEIS), stating it "came up short." (Daily Freeman) Catskill Mountainkeeper appreciates the Town’s attention to ensuring the DGEIS is complete. The first draft lacked the information needed for the board and community to assess the impacts. You can read some of our concerns in the Daily Freeman, Albany Times Union, Hudson Valley One, News Atomic, and WRRV.
Catskill Mountainkeeper is particularly concerned about the developer’s dismissal of many alternative approaches the Town required them to produce. The Town needs to see reasonable alternative design concepts to determine which has the least environmental impact. Catskill Mountainkeeper specifically asked for a “balanced open space alternative” that would designate the most environmentally sensitive land for preservation and less sensitive areas for development. In the first draft DGEIS, the developer dismissed that alternative.
Catskill Mountainkeeper is advocating a rational plan that will balance the community’s needs for clean water and environmental protection with the developers’ goals. We stand ready to work with the Town to achieve that outcome.
Please donate today to support Catskill Mountainkeeper’s efforts to stop the proposed Planned Development District zoning change which would turn Winston Farm—currently a beautiful open space that provides a rich habitat for wildlife, carbon sequestration, and clean recharge for the Beaverkill aquifer --into a sprawling city, with 799 houses, a 5,000-seat concert venue, hotels, and a conference center.
Country roads in small villages of Saugerties, Palenville, Woodstock, and others would be gridlocked with thousands of cars billowing pollution into our clean air.
CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW
The proposed development of a massive resort at Winston Farms – a pristine 800-acre parcel of undeveloped land in Saugerties, NY – stands to jeopardize the health and safety of nearby residents. This priceless environmental resource provides a safe refuge for wildlife, an opportunity for residents to connect with the natural world, and lies above an aquifer that may hold the key to the Town of Saugerties drinking water concerns. The reservoir that supplies Saugerties with drinking water is straining to meet the town's needs, and many residents are considering tapping into this nearby aquifer to supplement its supply. However, any contamination to this aquifer resulting from the grab bag of inappropriate development projects proposed for Winston Farm would be effectively irreversible, and render its water unsafe to drink. Mountainkeeper emphasized that “The developers are envisioning a massive commercial development that would destroy intact habitats on the site and could impact drinking water, species of concern, and communities further downstream to the Hudson.”
If allowed, the proposed development of a huge resort on this relatively unscarred land would be an ecological and public health disaster. In addition to the increased noise, water, and air pollution that would be generated by activities at this proposed resort, the development of this land would mean clearcutting trees to make room for 200 acres of parking lots and roads, and 175 acres of monoculture lawns. The future of this potential environmental disaster has not yet been determined, and Mountainkeeper is keeping a close eye on the process and advocating for the protection of this special piece of land. We are always wary of large-scale developments in open spaces in our region, especially those that threaten the health of our communities and ecosystems.
To learn more about what’s at stake, watch our new film, What’s at Stake at Winston Farm, which highlights the significant impacts of development on the delicate ecosystem at Winston Farm. You can also learn more at the links below and please visit BeautifulSaugerties.com, a website developed by a group of over 300 concerned Saugerties residents.
Watch What's at Stake on Mountainkeeper's YouTube channel or our Facebook page
Read this piece in the Times Union
View a full ecological assessment of Winston Farm by Hudsonia
Access our hydrology report on Winston Farm
Read our letter to the Village of Saugerties
