“I’ve lived in a lot of places, but this is the first place I've ever truly felt home. A lot of it is this amazing community, but a large part of that feeling comes from the surrounding forest…We come here for the forest, wildlife, quiet roads, natural beauty, and many of us choose to make our homes here for exactly those reasons. You can drive through the Catskills today and see the remnants and ruins of earlier tourism booms…those buildings remind us that economic trends come and go, but the decisions we make about the land can last for generations. I worry that if we continue to trade away the very landscape that draws people here, we will eventually loose something that no amount of redevelopment can replace. Some of my neighbors hunt deer; others, like me hunt mushrooms. We may have different interests and beliefs, but we're neighbors, and we all live here on purpose.”

“I have a quote from a kind of unlikely source, and that would be Andy Warhol. He said, ‘Having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could find.’…what keeps us going is stubborn and unflagging hope, hope that you guys will hold the line, hope that this board understands that keeping this land intact and wild for future generations would be your most significant and enduring legacy. And because honestly, there is absolutely no value add to the town of Woodstock if this development gets green-lighted. Once those bulldozers start rolling in, where and when will they stop?”

“I live across the road from Eastwood Drive, that minor dirt and gravel road that would be the sole access to Zena Home. The proposed building site are a 30 lot subdivision, up to 52 residential units, on 106 acres in the middle of a large swath of unfragmented forest, vernal pools, and wetlands, an area which abuts the Israel Whitman Sanctuary. We've already heard that this has been consecrated as a Critical Environmental Area. It's one of the top 10% forests in the area. The CEA provides valuable services to the local ecology by filtering water and air pollution, protecting the water supply, storing carbon, and increasing flood resiliency…this is a vibrant, vibrant ecosystem, a wildland corridor that depends on unfragmented land. Animal populations are already adversely impacted by towns and traffic, and would suffer even more from years of heavy trucks logging and blasting through the bedrock...”

"…WLC is dedicated to the protection of open space, forest, water resources, wildlife habitat in Woodstock and the surrounding communities. We own and manage Israel Wittman Sanctuary…it’s 210 acres in size and actively growing. It directly borders the proposed development on multiple sides…We remain concerned about the impacts on surrounding natural habitat. Eastwoods Drive passes through sensitive landscapes with forests, wetlands, and wildlife habitat connected to Israel Whitman Sanctuary. Widening and extending this road will require additional clearing, grading, and culvert work that would disrupt wildlife movement and affect ecological resources WLC actively works to protect."

“…trying to avoid vernal pools and wetlands and marsh in that 500 acres is impossible. You build a road across it, you're separating all the migratory routes. This is one of the last large parcels left in this area…I know that a person who owns a piece of land has a right to use that land generally, but not at the cost of destroying an irreplaceable resource. So I hope that you take into consideration the very strong feelings of your community tonight.”

“…That's the issue for most of us. There's core habitat here that's destroyed when you punch into the middle of it and put your subdivision there in the core of the forest. That's the most valuable habitat for rare species and for all the local species. The bigger the habitat, the better it is for the animals…”

“I lived in the Hudson Valley and the Catskills for 18 years. I came back when I was having my daughter because I don't think there's a more beautiful place in the world to live. I've been to every state in this country, I’ve been to 40 countries in the world, and I think what we have here is really rare and special, and it's rare and special because there is community like this. And I don't think this is about being opposed to the developers. I think it's about standing for what we love and what we want to protect…The land that we have here, that's still wild, is really precious, and I think it's a choice that you can make that your children, grandchildren, descendants, far down the road, will look back and say thank you for protecting us. No one will say thank you for approving a development that is clearly going to cause harm at every level.”

“[The developers] cited Eric Kiviat of Hudsonia in their presentation, but didn't mention the fact that Eric himself said that he would need to do much more detailed and long-term assessments to get a real idea of the biodiversity that is present in this forest. Zena Development has not done this, and they don't plan to…They claim that the widening, paving, and extension of Eastwoods Road will only affect a small part of the ecosystem, but that is inaccurate. While yes, the physical footprint of the road itself is smaller than the subdivision, that does not mean that the effects will be limited to the road itself. A forest is not made up of separate sections and percentages. The trees, mosses, soils, water, rocks, amphibians, wildflowers, fungi, birds, and mammals in a mature forest like the Zena Highwoods are all connected and rely on each other in ways that we have yet to fully understand…When one part of the ecosystem is harmed, all of it is.”

“If they are allowed to use the Eastwoods extension to access the proposed subdivision, as many of my neighbors and comrades have shared tonight, the noise pollution from road construction and the increased traffic could profoundly harm the ecosystem, the wildlife, the plants that inhabit the area…and that construction could bring species such as knotweed, such as stilt grass…into this critical interior forest habitat, this pristine habitat, threatening sensitive wildlife, including my friend, hopefully your friend, the four-toed salamander. This is a tiny, sweet little guy that is very rare, and in March, Zoe and I got literal firsthand experience when we got to carry these tiny little guys across the road. This is a New York State High Priority Species of Greatest Conservation Need…They were documented crossing several times the road right near the intersection of Eastwood Drive. It was pouring, blinding rain, and Zoe and I were the only people out there. I personally carried 188 toads across that road…I was deeply impressed with how well this project complied with the New York State DEC's Amphibian Migration Road Crossing Surveys. This wasn't just a bunch of random volunteers. This is serious science that requires much more serious survey and understanding of the environmental impacts of these proposed waivers…”

“When they say they're adding additional acres for conservation and then hide in the fine print that they will allow sheds, fences, mowing on these conserved acres? These tactics feel manipulative and purposely misleading…Particularly as we will continue to face the impacts of climate change, our forest neighbors and our relationship to it will be of the utmost importance. How many trees can we afford to cut? Remember, stewardship is part of our ethos. How many pollinators can we afford to endanger? How much water can we afford to pollute? What about the aquifers? That's thinking pragmatically for the entire Ulster County community.”

“…This property is at the margin of the town, like many other lots of all of our dead end roads. There's large lots out there, and if you set this precedent that you can build a mile road in before you get to your first house, that says something to investors who want to buy those other lots...”

“The Woodstock land that this road crosses is part of the Zena Woods Critical Environmental Area. It was not just identified by the WEC, but it was designated by our Town Board in 2022. Woodstock created that designation because this landscape deserves more care than ordinary review. A road through the middle of it divides it for good, forever. And this decision isn't only about 30 houses. The developer owns more than 500 acres in Woodstock. Whatever this board waves for this road becomes the starting point for everything that might come after.”

“I’m also concerned there's no guarantee that the other 500 acres owned by Zena Development will not at some point, be developed, especially if a road goes through. After all, this is an outfit whose initial plans included a golf course and helipad. So, allowing this project to go forward could be the thin edge of the wedge and result in a Levittown in the woods. The Town of Ulster would get tax benefits if this project were to go through, but Woodstock would get nothing. Our forest and wildlife would be harmed. Our first responders would be stretched, and the nature of this precious rural community would be forever degraded and changed.”

“…Why would we let a corporation come in and destroy our environment, jeopardize our first responders and residents and pave over paradise? Zena Development wants to do just that. They want to destroy our unfragmented forests to build houses that start at $1 million on one-acre lots, completely out of character with our town, and more like the suburbs of New Jersey than the Hudson Valley…”

“In the opening presentation that the developers gave, one of their representatives used the word ‘factual.’ So if they want to talk factual, let's talk factual. So it's factual that luxury developments often result in the driving up property taxes for local working-class families in an already stressed economy…It's factual that many of these homes will likely have a price point of at least $1 million, and therefore factual that this exacerbates the cost of living crisis and affordable housing issues are already plaguing our communities…Make no mistake, and let the record show, this development is not for local community or to address housing concerns. This is for the benefit of investors and people to have second, or in some cases even third, homes.”

“I’d like to read two sentences from the Town's Woodstock Subdivision Law, Section 202-32. First: ‘Subdivisions containing 20 or more lots shall have at least two connections with existing roads.’ Second, a dead end road ‘shall be restricted to a length of 2000 feet to facilitate effective police, fire, and related emergency protection.’ This plan puts 30 lots on one road with one way in. From Zena Highwoods Road to the furthest lot, that road runs more than 9,000 feet. That's more than four times the limit that the code asks for…I ask the board to hold this application to Woodstock's own standards.”

“The developers are requesting multiple waivers…including waivers for the use of Eastwood Drive as a single 9,000-foot-long access road when for safety reasons Woodstock regulations limit a single access road to a maximum of 2,000 feet. You should not grant that waiver. The alternative proposed by the developers is even worse, as it sends a new road through the heart of Woodstock's Critical Environmental Area with devastating consequences…The developers might be disappointed that they purchased property that doesn't support the access required for a development, but it is not your job to bail them out...The Woodstock Planning Board represents the town of Woodstock, which will see no future benefit and certain harm, including increased burden on emergency services and stress to the CEA. The citizens of Woodstock are counting on you to represent our interests.”

“I believe the developers did not do their due diligence before buying this land and planning their project, and they are now asking you for waivers to fix the results of their lack of due diligence. They have created their own problems. They should have known the property was basically landlocked. They should have known the town rules concerning expanding or changing Eastwoods Drive. They should have known that they would be building in wetlands, etc, etc, etc. If they didn't know, well, shame on them. If they did know and they just expected to be able to get the town planning board to roll over and grant them the waivers to get around their mistakes, then shame on them twice. Please stand your ground.”

“I just want to say that something that the [Zena Development] attorney mentioned tonight just really struck me as so bloody hypocritical, is that they were concerned that if they had to put a secondary road in, it would create irreparable damage to the wetland and the forest. Now, why didn't they think of that when they bought this property? Why didn't they do their homework and realize that they could not develop this property without waivers and expect to get the waivers from you guys? So I would ask you to please deny these waivers, and I think that the intention of these developers was clear from the beginning. It was all about money…”

“As we've been saying from the beginning, the road is the development. Once Eastwoods becomes a street, the developers clear the legal hurdle to build on it. ..The forest is 625 acres. Approve this plat and the road into it is open for business for developers who came to town with a vision of 200 homes, an 18-home golf course, and a helipad, or as Senator Hinchey put it last week about another Catskills project, ‘a playground for the 1%.’”

“A recent Daily Freeman article cited that area wells went dry in Jockey Hill recently, leading one to question the sufficiency of our area aquifers to supply water for any and all development.”

“The town of Ruby is tiny. We do not have the resources to provide any kind of fire rescue for you. I know that road. I drive that road. It is tiny. You're expecting fire trucks to get from Ruby to that road on Sawkill quickly? Timely? People are going to die…and I just want to say that we had to re-drill our well in 2019 to go deeper to reach more water. What are you going to do about the groundwater levels as they go down? And you're expecting all of this fire to actually be prevented by some sort of in-home [sprinkler] system when our wells are definitely draining?”

“…They want to build homes where there is just one way in and one way out in the middle of the forest. This is not only a violation of zoning laws; it jeopardizes Woodstock first responders. They are the ones who are going to be expected to respond to emergencies in an Ulster development. It also jeopardizes Woodstock residents as their first responders may be responding to calls from other towns…And the studies they referenced? They’re flawed. They did a traffic study when Sawkill was closed.”

“In the future, it is possible that Zena Homes could petition our commissioners to make Woodstock a district of protection for this development. Then the burden would fall upon my company, Company Four, since we are the closest….we are aging. Most of our members are over 50. In fact, I'm in my 80s. And many others are in their 60s and 70s. And we still respond to calls…to go into this development where there is no access for returning without turning all the way around could be very difficult. The other thing I want everyone in the room to understand is that we are a volunteer agency. No one in this has been paid, and yet we continue to do our duty.”

“It's critical for you to understand how dangerous the roads are in and around the proposed Zena Development, making them some of the most dangerous in Woodstock. Last year in 2025, the Zena-Sawkill-John Joy Roads experienced 10 accidents, with vehicles leaving the road and hitting guardrails, utility poles, trees, and going into ditches. One car went 1,200 feet into the woods, and in another accident, the school bus was side switched…This year, we have already had 11 accidents, with three accidents with injuries…with eight of those accidents happening right at the Zena-John Joy intersection…Facts don't lie. Zena Highwoods Road, a narrow, winding carriage road, is in no way designed to manage the increase in traffic this development will bring, especially the huge volume of construction vehicles needed to develop the exclusive urban jungle in the middle of a pristine forest…”

“I am an EMT, and I have been for four years, and I love this community, and I serve as a volunteer with Woodstock Fire Department Company Three, currently the President, but I'm not speaking on behalf of the Fire Department. I can't do that. That's what the commissioners do. But…I want to put in my two cents. I think it's ridiculous that all the specific requirements for an EMS response, and lots of water be available for structural fires, has not been addressed adequately, in my opinion.”

“Having Eastwoods Drive is the only access road to this development is an impractical solution, given the unpredictability of the climate nowadays, the potential for forest fires and falling trees. Access through the town of Woodstock would put enormous strain on our already overloaded fire and police departments, as well as our first responders, placing an unfair burden on Woodstock. These developers do not have our best interest in mind with this project. Woodstock should not put out a welcome doormat for this destructive and ill-advised high-end development that will do nothing to serve our town or the cause of affordable housing.”