From Joel Tyner on March 9 2008:

Hi all...
Why couldn't our County Legislature itself actually pass a resolution to send a strong message to the Durst Organization (and public officials in Pine Plains and Milan) that the planned golf resort development planned needs to be completely rethought-- with stewardship of the natural environment the guiding principle of site planning and design?...
No reason whatsoever...(in my humble opinion, at least)...
So I just submitted the resolution below for our County Legislature to pass tomorrow night or next month-- requesting "that the Planning Boards and Town Boards of Pine Plains and Milan reject the Durst Organization's proposed golf resort development in Pine Plains and Milan on 2,200 acres of the Carvel property as currently proposed, as the entire project needs to be rethought with stewardship of the natural environment the guiding principle of site planning and design"...
Help get it passed with a letter to countylegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us...
Even better-- feel free to come to tomorrow night's full board meeting of our County Legislature to speak out on this-- Monday 7 pm in the Legislative Chambers on the sixth floor of our County Office Building at 22 Market Street in Poughkeepsie!...(pass it on)...
The Dutchess County Legislature itself shouldn't be afraid to stand up for Dutchess County residents (the ones who elected us)-- instead of sitting by idly while deep-pocketed developers from NYC rape and pillage our countryside...
Enough.
Joel Tyner
489-5479
876-2488
The Resolution:

WHEREAS, public hearings on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Durst Organization's proposed development are under way in Pine Plains and Milan; Durst claims the planned golf resort community they have proposed on the 2,200 acre Carvel property will support rural character, but the planning process for a rural development should begin by studying and mapping the land's sensitive areas before making any decisions about development; in this case the developer came to the table with the golf course already laid out on some of the prime development area, and then proceeded to design around it, and
WHEREAS, Durst's proposed development has all the characteristics of suburban sprawl and fails to protect meaningful open space; what it does protect is land otherwise unsuitable for development; Durst has shown an insistence to do things only its way; it fought vigorously to avoid some of the required environmental studies on sensitive species; it objected for months to fully completing the archeological review committed at the beginning of the project, and
WHEREAS, only after the Pine Plains planning board made it clear it would stand its ground, did the applicant complete the work; as a result, additional historical resources were found and some proposed home sites were relocated; the project is also not consistent with the comprehensive plans of Milan or Pine Plains and is insensitive to the interests of both communities, and
WHEREAS, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement ignores local zoning and open-space requirements; in Milan, for example, Durst proposes 67 dwellings where less than half that appear justified; on the Pine Plains side, the applicant overlooks the town's proposed zoning with a similar result, and
WHEREAS, Durst refuses to properly size the project; it proposes a "Planned Recreation Community" zone to get around their failure to comply with comprehensive plans and zoning; the recently adopted comprehensive plans of both towns would require change to accommodate such zoning, corrupting the values citizens embraced, and
WHEREAS, the size of this project is the significant issue, driving other concerns; Durst proposes 951 dwelling units, as many houses as are in either Milan or Pine Plains today; this would have a devastating effect on rural character locally; nearly 1,000 homes on 2,200 acres, subtracting a golf course and its amenities on 198 acres, is one home for every two acres, a very high density for a rural community; today the density of Milan is approximately one home for every 20-plus acres, and
WHEREAS, meaningful open space cannot be expected when developing a project with such density; Durst's claim it is creating 50 percent open space is nothing more than a claim; Durst counts backyards as open space, as well as utility lots and golf courses; this compromises and fragments open space, destroying much of the natural resource value it is designed to protect, and
WHEREAS, according to Dutchess Land Conservancy Executive Director Rebecca Thornton, compact or "green" developments contain large contiguous areas of open space and forest habitat, protecting scenic viewsheds, broad landscapes, important farm soils, steep slopes and ridge lines; in a green development plan, these areas are determined first; next, the development is designed to fit into the landscape, preserving large areas of important resources; to be environmentally sensitive, the development would be compact, occurring on 20 percent of the site, leaving 80 percent as open space, with only a few new roads, and
WHEREAS, according to Dutchess Land Conservancy Executive Director Rebecca Thornton, instead, in the proposed Carvel plan, what's proposed is housing with an average density of 1 1/2 acres per house (in a rural area typically zoned five-acre minimum), spread out pretty evenly across 1,500 acres, distributed cookie-cutter style along 25 miles of roads, 310 acres reconstructed into golf courses, and the only open space so broken up it's useless as habitat; seventy percent of the land will be developed into homes, 14 percent into golf courses and although 25 percent of the land has severe constraints, we still only see 16 percent of it as greatly fragmented open space; with the plan as proposed, the scenic views, wildlife habitat, farmland soils, ridge lines, water and open space quality of the land will be irreparably ruined, and
WHEREAS, according to Scenic Hudson, a recent ecological assessment conducted of the proposed Carvel Property Development in Pine Plains concludes the project would irreparably fragment an important wildlife habitat, contributing to the loss of rare species; in testimony before the town planning board on Friday, Feb. 29, Dr. Michael Klemens, Scenic Hudson's director of conservation science and a renowned conservation biologist, stated that while the proposal by the Durst Organization and Landmark Land Company for the 951-unit development is touted as being environmentally sound, it actually is "ecologically damaging" and reflects a lack of pre-planning to protect the site's important natural resources, and
WHEREAS, according to Scenic Hudson, the proposed development plan for the Carvel property does not meet criteria for sustainable development in a rural context; a project of this scale and design causes widespread harm to important habitat and wildlife species through irreparable fragmentation of over 2,200 acres of rich Hudson Valley open space; Dr. Klemens presented a conservation analysis that delineates the ecologically significant aspects of the property and offered to meet with the planning board at greater length to further explain his analysis and conclusions, and
WHEREAS, according to Scenic Hudson, although the Durst Organization has publicly claimed that 76 percent of the site is dedicated to open space, Dr. Klemens found that only 446 acres (or about 20 percent) are actually dedicated as open space, with much of this consisting of wetlands that could not be developed; this land is scattered throughout the development and carved into small parcels, diminishing if not extinguishing its conservation value; in fact, half of the project's open areas are 10 acres or less, and none is larger than 62 acres; as a result, the project destroys much of the habitat that rare species depend on at different stages of their lives, as well as the vital connections between those habitats, and
WHEREAS, according to Scenic Hudson, under the proposed development scenario, the ecosystems of the overall site are so fragmented as to virtually ensure the extinction of all the extant populations of amphibians and reptiles on that site designated by the state as species of special concern; such species face increasing risks, making it likely they eventually will be designated threatened or endangered; this unacceptable loss of significant native biodiversity is a result of the lack of any rigorous ecosystem-based pre-planning analysis to guide the proposed development; the developers seem to have assumed that the natural resources of the site would magically rearrange themselves around their design, and
WHEREAS, according to Scenic Hudson, the property provides important habitat for at least four species of special concern: the Jefferson salamander as well as box, spotted and wood turtles; the protection of box and spotted turtles on this site is most urgent because the land is on the northern edge of the reptiles' native range limit; this means they are best adapted among their species to colonize further northward as temperatures rise because of global climate change; all of these species have become increasingly scarce in the southern Hudson Valley because of sprawl and over-development, and therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature requests that the Planning Boards and Town Boards of Pine Plains and Milan reject the Durst Organization's proposed golf resort development in Pine Plains and Milan on 2,200 acres of the Carvel property as currently proposed, as the entire project needs to be rethought with stewardship of the natural environment the guiding principle of site planning and design, and be it further
RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Pine Plains Town Board and Planning Board, the Milan Town Board and Planning Board, and the Dutchess County Planning Department.

 

 

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