Then and now: A look at Silo Ridge's evolution

AMENIA — Just last month residents in the town of Amenia received in their mail the first of a series of newsletters sent from Millbrook Ventures, LLC, the ownership group behind the Silo Ridge Country Club, a club on the brink of becoming a multifaceted, luxury, closed-gate residential and resort community.

The newsletter was sent to inform residents of the project’s current status before the town’s Planning Board (on June 25, 2009, the club’s Master Development Plan [MDP] was accepted and the board also granted the special use permit needed for site plan approval). It was also, undoubtedly, to drum up support for a project that has at times triggered mixed reactions from a town concerned about such a large development making roots in an area that heretofore has been known as relatively quiet and rural.

Town Councilwoman Vicki Doyle said she has her concerns, and her hopes, for what the project could mean to Amenia.

“Its [impact] will be dramatic, especially in this economy, it seems,� she said. “I’m hoping they’re not counting their chickens before they’re hatched, financially at least. That area has the resort development overlay that was created particularly with their project in mind. With the master plan we felt that overall we wanted the balance of preserving open space with Amenia having some economic development. The resort overlay provided that.�

Way back when ...

But there was a time when that opportunity was far from possible, way back, before Silo Ridge ever hosted its first tee time. To get a glimpse of what preceded the well-known club of today one needs to go back a few decades to 1987-88, to when Amenia’s John Segalla looked upon that very same site, and decided he would purchase it for a golf club of his very own. Until this day he still asserts he had a very good reason why.

“The reason was because I was turned down when I wanted to join the Sharon [Conn.] Country Club, I don’t know why,� Segalla said. “I told them they could take their club and shove it. I said, ‘I’ll just build my own.’ Before that Amenia didn’t have a golf course.�

So by April 18, 1992, the feisty Segalla opened the Segalla Country Club, a public course that was open to everyone.

“From day one, the intent was to build a public course that had the amenities of a private course for the people, including women, and all races. There was no discrimination,� his daughter, and one of the club’s vice-presidents, Linda Segalla, said. “It was a par 72 on 152 acres, with a full-service pro shop, two restaurants, banquet facilities and an outdoor pavilion.�

Not a dump

It was also rumored to have been something else both before and after Segalla purchased it: the perfect site for a coal ash dump. The talk about the golf course being a dump site circulated around town for a long while; the Segallas believe it was because they also owned a separate although adjacent site to the south of the country club. That site was a landfill on 88 acres.

“The dump site was completely separate,� Linda Segalla said. “They got confused because the Harlem Valley Landfill was south of the golf course and had nothing to do with it. The golf course itself was never going to be a landfill; it was always to be a golf course. My dad picked this site because of the natural setting years and years ago.�

“I had no intentions [of making that an ash dump site],� John Segalla reiterated. “I didn’t buy it for a dump. That’s the problem, people just listened to hearsay. When I bought that I already had hired an architect to design the golf course.�

Assets and liabilities

And many are glad he did. One in particular is Mike Dignacco, vice president of construction for the Silo Ridge project.

“I think it’s a great asset for the town and region,� he said. “I believe what has prompted that evolution [of the property from Segalla’s club to today’s Silo Ridge] is the fact that we have wonderful amenities in the region, whether they’re agricultural, wineries, the Rail Trail, etc. I think Silo Ridge will become a base for people who come to the region, as there’s not a facility of this quality that can provide access to all those existing amenities.�

During that evolution Segalla sold his club, in September 1997, to Frank Zarro Jr.,  for $14.5 million. That sale went south quickly as Zarro never produced the money, according to Linda Segalla. He lost the property after filing for bankruptcy and it was foreclosed on by a Colorado firm.

“He [Zarro] is the best con artist going,� she said. “We went to court for that and our deal broke [the case] wide open. He did this to [many] other people.�

Zarro is now serving time in a correctional facility for his dealings. Although he was acquitted for taking roughly $9 million from Segalla, he was convicted on 13 felony counts of grand larceny and fraud in 2004.

The plan, the sewer

and the gates

Following that the club was again sold, to Stephen Garofalo, and became what is now Silo Ridge, which is now banking on the fact that the public will want and need the services and amenities this latest project will provide.

The project is described in the newsletter as “an environmentally-friendly residential community and resort.� If all goes according to plans it will include single-family homes and other residential units, a 300-room hotel, banquet facilities, a spa, shops, restaurants, a world-class Ernie Els-designed golf course and more.

“It will be magnificent,� Dignacco said, adding that the newsletter has been a good outreach tool with the public. “We’ve had a positive response and will probably do it on a periodic basis. We like to keep everybody updated.�

One point the community is keeping a close watch on is the sewer system Silo Ridge plans to install. They’ve offered the town of Amenia the opportunity to share in the usage of the facility; all Amenia has to do is find a way to connect to the system.

That’s easier said than done, according to Doyle.

“I think the $64,000 question is whether the town can afford the connection system to hook up to the sewer plant,â€� she said, adding that Silo Ridge arranged with the town to provide the sewer system in lieu of providing affordable housing in the development. “I would have preferred the town to put that money in a fund for affordable housing. In 10  years if the town could hook up the connection system we can build [onto the sewer then] without putting people out of their homes, if the cost is too high now. That’s a safer bet, for Amenia to collect money for affordable housing now. Currently, [the sewer hookup] is not feasible. It’s $10.5 million — it’s too expensive for current residents, and that’s just the connection system. The current hope is to get in on the second round of stimulus money.

“I think we win if we get to hook up to a sewer system and get the downtown benefits,� Doyle said. “I think whatever we gain on Silo Ridge we lose if we can’t hook up the downtown.�

Doyle said another point of concern for her is that the club, once reborn, will be a gated community.

“I’m sorry the golf course will no longer be open to the public. That’s a shame,� she said. “I think the gated community is something we allowed to happen. We gave a waiver about that and I’m sorry about that.�

Linda Segalla was more optimistic.

“Hopefully everything will turn out well for the town. I wish them well and think it could be great, although it could be overwhelming if they can’t find the help,� she said. “But I’m really proud of what my father started — I think it put Amenia on the map.�