Carvel developers reappear in Pine Plains

PINE PLAINS — The buzz in the Community Center above the library was audible on Saturday, Feb. 24, just before the first community-wide presentation on the Carvel Property Development in years got underway. The project, the brainchild of real estate tycoon Douglas Durst and the Durst Organization, seeks to build 645 luxury second-home properties at the former Carvel Country Club, which straddles the border of Pine Plains and Milan.

History

As explained  by Durst Organization Chief Development Officer Alexander Durst, his father first became interested in the Harlem Valley region after he bought land with North East farmer Ray McEnroe. The two partnered to create McEnroe Organic, the largest organic farm in the Northeast.

In 2001, Durst bought the Carvel land. By June 6, 2003, he had  submitted a site plan and application to the town of Pine Plains. The Pine Plains Planning Board was declared lead agency in November of 2003, and by 2008, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was deemed complete.

“A lot of people didn’t like the plan,” said Durst. “They thought it was too big, that it wasn’t stable enough, that it wasn’t green enough, that there were too many curb cuts and too much impact.”

That’s when the Durst Organization regrouped. It hired a professor from Yale University to study the application, make changes and redesign the plan. The result? A new “conservation plan” in 2008 that was then submitted to the Planning Board.

Not long afterward, Pine Plains adopted zoning. It was the last town in Dutchess County to do so. That was on Oct. 15, 2009, and it included provisions for New Neighborhood Developments (NNDs).

“That allowed for development similar to the 2008 conservation plan,” explained Durst.

An NND application was submitted for the project on March 16, 2010, and a final document was submitted to the town at the end of 2011, which took into account criteria for the zoning law.

“We were very thoughtful about this,” said Durst, adding there was a presentation made in March of 2012.

“Then, things became very quiet for the next five years,” he said, adding that his company had a “disagreement with how to proceed with escrow” with the town. 

Also, at the same time, the Durst Organization was “very busy with projects that were going well in New York City.” That left less time for the Carvel Development.

“Communications broke down,” said Durst, but “last June, we made an affirmation of interest.”

And last week, Durst gave a presentation that was “very similar” to the last one, six years ago.

Open space

The development will include a variety of housing types and lot sizes. There will be a golf course and country club, dining facilities, a health spa, tennis courts, pools, boating facilities and more.

The project will result in 645 units, with 591 in Pine Plains and 54 in Milan. The land includes roughly 1,900 acres in Pine Plains and another nearly 440 acres in Milan. 

“There is a lot more open space than in the old plan,” Durst assured the audience. “And there are many fewer units. There’s been a one-third reduction in the number of homes.”

Roughly 68 percent of the site is now dedicated to protected open space. Since the last presentation six years ago, the Durst Organization has purchased more land through 1133 Taconic LLC, which owns all the property in Pine Plains and Milan (roughly 2,400 acres) and Stissing Mountain LLC, which purchased more property in the last five years.

The applicant was asked whether he will amend the application to include the additional land.

“No,” Durst said. “We do not intend to. The majority of this land is rural and we don’t know if it fits into the notion of the NND.”

That said, Durst added that his group “really wants your feedback on the plan we submitted and spent quite a lot of money on.”

Plan details

There will be public trails in the new plan — both biking and pedestrian. 

Also, there will be a chautauqua, which is a facility to host artists, performers and other cultural events.  Those are but a few of the amenities, Durst said, that residents and visitors will find at the development.

The new plan calls for the creation of distinct neighborhood settlements. Fifty-seven percent of residential homes will be in the core half-mile radius.

There will also be contiguous open space. 

The Pine Plains hamlet will be linked to the NND, through corridors and access ways, pedestrian and biking trails.

Architecture and building design will be consistent with historical Dutchess County communities and the Pine Plains hamlet.

Green building techniques will be used in construction.

There will be a diversity of dwellings.

There will  be “attractive neighborhood  greens,” said Durst.

There will be community services — with little reliance on the towns of Pine Plains and Milan. 

“We still feel very strongly that these will be predominately second homes,” said Durst, who added the development will generate more tax revenue, which will contribute to the provision of local services. 

The development will have its own water supply and wastewater facilities.

The development will be built in accordance with the town’s design standards, with conservancy lots and open space areas.

“We think it will add significantly to the economy of Pine Plains and Milan,” said Durst.

Developers will work to preserve the site’s biodiversity. There will be ecological protection measures — even the golf course will be maintained with an organic maintenance program. 

There will be wetland buffers and breeding pool buffers “in excess of requirements,” said Durst. 

Sensitive archaeological areas will be protected. Even buildings that had to be torn down have been considered, and old timber has been saved in dehumidified storage units to be reused at a later time. 

Viewshed protection will be prioritized.

“The goal for those driving down Route 199 … is that it’s tasteful and visually appealing,” said the developer.

There will be a focus on open space protection and public access to parkland, hiking and biking trails and recreational resources.

Safety will be prioritized, as noted by improvements that will be made at the Woodward Hill Road and Route 199 intersection, and at the Taconic State Parkway entrance and exit. 

Utility service improvements will include the under-grounding of electrical power lines.

And there will be the adaptive reuse of historic structures, but they “will not compete” with the hamlet of Pine Plains, according to Durst.

Results

In total, Durst said, the community will likely see about $100 million in economic investment and activity.

Jobs will result from the project; real estate agents, architects and attorneys will be needed, as will consultants and construction workers.

“We feel it will likely create 1,000 direct and indirect jobs,” said Durst.

After the presentation, town Supervisor Darrah Cloud asked that all comments and questions about the project be emailed to her before the next meeting, set for Saturday, March 17, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., also at the Community Center. Comments should be emailed to supervisor@pineplains-ny.gov. 

“The purpose of that meeting is for dialogue for the Town Board and Planning Board and developers to take into consideration all the comments from the public,” said Replansky. “Then, if the developer wants to move forward, he can recommence the process in the zoning laws.

“The NND is a complex process, but it’s understandable,” added the attorney. “The environmental review process is the next stage … Once we have approved development plans, it goes back to the Planning Board for site plan approval.”

Replansky then explained that the project’s approval is a legislative act, and the Town Board has “absolute discretion” in granting or denying approval. 

More on the Carvel Property Development application can be found online, at www.pineplains-ny.gov and at www.carvelpropertydevelopment.com.