Residents stuck on the details with Silo Ridge

AMENIA — A public hearing was held Thursday, April 30, for the Silo Ridge Resort Community development’s special use permit application.

The proposed project is on 670 acres of land off Route 22, and would be comprised of up to 369 dwelling units (both single-family homes and condominiums), a resort condominium-hotel containing up to 320 hotel rooms, a spa and fitness center, restaurant and banquet facilities, event and retail space, an improved golf course and a renovated clubhouse.

It was a packed house at the Planning Board meeting as residents who wished to address the board or who were simply curious to see how the night would pan out filed into Town Hall.

The site plans submitted as part of Silo Ridge’s special use permit application are conceptual documents; final site plan approval will occur at a later stage. The application includes the Findings Statement, Master Development Plan (MDP), MDP Set of Plans and the special use permit application itself.

Attorney to the Town Michael Hayes opened the hearing by giving an overview of the project and explaining the four issues he felt would be important for the Planning Board to consider before deciding to approve or deny the application.

Three of those four issues echoed the general consensus of residents who spoke about the project. The first was the phasing of the project, which was changed at the last minute by the applicant.

The original phasing of the project was consistent throughout the project’s history, and was outlined in both versions of the Master Development Plan that were submitted to the board. However, after the revised MDP was turned in, the applicant decided that due to a number of factors, including the housing market, there was a need to rearrange the project’s construction phasing. Public concern was that the village green and project center would be harder to complete, if completed at all.

The Planning Board has discussed the issue with the applicant during previous meetings, and the idea of incorporating construction triggers into the phasing process has been used as a possible solution. That means one phase would have to be completed before the next phase could begin. Triggers weren’t enough to reassure some residents, however.

Mark Doyle said that even with triggers, it would be very difficult for construction to continue on the village green once the hotel was built. He asked that the board “require the most amount of performance from the applicant� and to “absolutely get the core area built first.�

“If the cottages are built on [DeLavergne Hill] and nothing else happens, we’re stuck with a beautiful view that’s ruined,� pointed out Betty Rooney, who argued that the applicant should be held to the original phasing.

However, not all phasing comments were negative. Resident Jeanne Rebillard said the phasing concerns were ones of misinterpretation, and that the applicant was “placing triggers into the site plan that were enough to mitigate the issues� being brought up at the hearing.

The second issue Hayes brought up, which the majority of the hearing’s concerns revolved around, was the applicant’s proposed alternative to affordable housing. In lieu of affordable housing, Silo Ridge has long offered to provide additional capacity in its wastewater treatment plant that the town could use. However, many residents and members of the Wastewater Committee feel that even with the extra capacity, the cost of the town connecting to a sewer district at Silo Ridge would be too costly for the town.

Wastewater Committee Chair Darlene Riemer said that the cost of conveyance is estimated at $10.5 million, too high for the town to cover, even with aid and grants. A simple solution, she said, would be for the applicant to contribute money to an affordable housing trust fund, before the special use permit is approved. Former town Councilman Bill Carroll agreed that the cost was too high for a town sewer plant, but instead said that the applicant should be required to build the affordable housing.

Hayes’ third issue tied into the sewer treatment plant. Two letters were received from the Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development, one several hours before the public hearing, that said the numbers provided by the applicant, in evaluating the cost of providing additional sewer space versus the cost to build affordable housing, were unacceptable for use by the Planning Board. It was DCDPD’s recommendation that a third-party evaluation be performed.

Planning Board Chairman Bill Flood said after the meeting that the letter was a result of DCDPD not having received the third-party evaluation, which was written by engineering consultant Mike Soyka. He said the county’s concerns about the board were cleared up by the time of the meeting.

“The bottom line is, it’s not the numbers,� he said. “They want to make sure that if the sewer doesn’t happen, affordable housing does,� Flood said.

Hayes’ last concern was that a conservation agency had not yet been agreed upon to hold the conservation easement for the applicant.

Another issue, first brought up by resident Pat Nelligan, was the height variances that the applicant is asking for. Nelligan said the applicant originally agreed to leave 80 percent of the property as open space, which would qualify the project for density bonuses. While he agreed with that, he said that exceeding zoning height restrictions on 15 buildings negates the open space, and that the applicant should not qualify for the density bonuses.

He also argued that the hotel is now being classified as a condominium hotel, meaning the units are now considered lodging facilities.

“If they don’t need a 300-room hotel, they don’t need it five-stories tall,� he said. “Height is their way of getting around everything else.�

There were few residents who spoke out solely in support of the project. Evelyn O’Connell, while admitting that she wasn’t interested in getting into the details of the zoning laws, said that Silo Ridge has been working on the project for six years, and they’ve developed a good relationship with the town along the way.

“I don’t see why the project doesn’t go forward,� she said. “It’s the opportunity of a lifetime for Amenia. There’s no industry here.�

Once the public hearing was closed, the Planning Board agreed that written comments would be accepted for another 10 days, until May 11. The board is not required by law to respond to public comments, like it is during the DEIS phase of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process.

The board then settled into its regular meeting for discussion about how to move forward with the project.

“What good is workforce housing without the wastewater treatment plant?� asked board member Norm Fontaine.

Hayes called the dilemma “the reverse of a bridge to nowhere,� saying that the difficult part for the town was finding a way to connect to Silo Ridge’s treatment plant.

Town Supervisor Wayne Euvrard said that the town was working toward applying for a second round of stimulus funding. The deadline for applying is Aug. 1, which many agreed didn’t leave a lot of time.

“It’s a lot of work for the next three months,� he acknowledged, while adding that he believed it could be done. He said the town needed to work more closely with Dutchess County Wastewater Authority on the matter.

“It’s our only shot,� said Flood. Flood also said he didn’t believe hooking up to the treatment plant would end up costing $10.5 million.

“We could never do both,� he said, referring to installing the piping for a sewer district and building a treatment plant. “I’d rather have the plant.�

As far as the phasing is concerned, Flood said that he would like to get the board’s consultants together with the applicant on a weekly basis to get the entire process moving forward.

The next Planning Board meeting is scheduled for tonight, Thursday, May 5, at 7 p.m., at which time the first of three public hearings for Depot Hill’s DEIS is scheduled.