ALL ABOUT PUBLIC HEARINGS

Where and When?

Happening in TWO towns!

Woodstock: Thursday, 10/22 at 6PM, 56 Rock City Road, Woodstock

Ulster: The first Public Hearing was held on 10/13. A second Public Hearing has been scheduled for 11/10. Stay tuned! We will be providing more info about this Public Hearing soon.

Why do They Matter?

Public hearings are our first and only chance to speak to decision makers face-to-face. Comments made at public hearings are entered into the official record and can help us win future lawsuits against Zena Development.

What You Need to Know...

2 - 3 MINUTES are given to each speaker
ALL ARE WELCOME! You don’t have to be from Woodstock or Ulster, but you do have to be physically present at the meetings to make your comment.
ANY COMMENT IS BETTER THAN NO COMMENT!
USE NOTES. You don’t have to memorize your comment.
NERVOUS? KEEP IT SHORT! If you are nervous about public speaking, you can simply state that you oppose Zena Development and read the three specific asks we provide below.
IT’S OK TO REPEAT! Please make your comment even if the community members who spoke before you have already raised your concern. The more voices at a Public Hearing, the more likely town officials are to take us seriously.
COME TO AS MANY PUBLIC HEARINGS AS YOU CAN!

What to say...

INTRODUCE YOURSELF
EXPLAIN YOUR BIGGEST CONCERN.
Comments in Woodstock should focus on Eastwoods Drive, the potential secondary access road, and impacts in Woodstock (not on the subdivision itself). Comments in Ulster should focus on the subdivision itself (not on Woodstock or the access roads).
CLOSE WITH SPECIFIC ASKS:
At the Town of Woodstock Public Hearing
- Deny Zena Development’s Minor Subdivision Application
- Deny Zena Development’s requested waivers
- Keep the public hearing open so everyone can speak
At the Town of Ulster Public Hearing
- Overturn the SEQR negative declaration
- Deny Zena Development’s application
- Keep the public hearing open so everyone can speak

What is the Woodstock Public Hearing about?

Check this section for updates! Our volunteers will be adding more information as we get closer to the Public Hearing.

Zena Development currently has three applications before the Woodstock Planning Board: a Minor Subdivision Application, an application for a Wetlands and Watercourse Permit, and an Application for Site Plan Review. The 10/22 Public Hearing in Woodstock is specifically about the Minor Subdivision Application. Click here to read this application.‍ ‍

The Minor Subdivision application would change lot lines between parcels on the Woodstock portion of Zena Development’s property, combining the two parcels that currently contain Eastwoods Drive with the lower portion of the parcel that contains the airstrip. Click here to see the map that shows how three existing parcels will be combined into two parcels.

This might sound like a small, technical change, but the Minor Subdivision Application is extremely important for two reasons:

1) Zena Development’s lawyers claim that if this application is approved, Eastwoods Drive would comply with NYS Town Law § 280-a. Compliance with 280-a is a crucial step towards the success of their proposed subdivision and access road, specifically mentioned in Section 3.2 of Woodstock’s ex-Zoning Enforcement Officer Butch Hoffman’s 2024 Determination. Of note: Hoffman explains in his determination that 280-a compliance should be achieved either by securing an Open Development Area from the Woodstock Town Board, or by seeking a variance from NYS Town Law § 280-a from the Woodstock Zoning Board of Appeals. Why isn’t Zena Development following the ZEO’s instructions?

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2) The Minor Subdivision application should have included a list of all of the waivers Zena Development is requesting from Woodstock’s Town Code. The required waiver list was never submitted. Zena Development’s recent submission to the Woodstock Planning Board discusses waivers, but does not provide a comprehensive list of all waivers that SZD believes would be required for the approval of Eastwoods Drive. The Woodstock Planning Board is NOT required to grant these waivers; in fact, according to Woodstock Town Code, waivers may only be granted if doing so is in the interest of the “public health, safety and general welfare” of the Town. Read on to learn more about waivers…

EIGHT WAIVERS FROM TOWN OF WOODSTOCK CODE
These are requests the Woodstock Planning Board can grant or deny outright.
1. The blanket request Town of Woodstock Code § 202-32
A road serving eleven or more lots must be built to major road standards. Rather than address each standard one at a time, the developers asked the Planning Board to waive the Section 202-32 road design standards as a whole: fifteen pages of code.
2. Dead-end road length § 202-32.D(1)
The maximum length for a dead-end road is 2,000 feet. The proposed road is more than 7,000 feet, ending in a cul-de-sac deep in the woods. Dead-end limits exist so emergency responders can reach you and so you can get out.
3. Two means of access § 202-32.C
Subdivisions of twenty or more lots must have at least two connections to existing roads. This proposal has one way in and one way out for thirty lots. If that road is blocked by a fallen tree, a fire, a storm, or an accident, there is no second route.
4. Road width and shoulders § 202-32.G(4)
Major roads require 28 feet in total: a 20-foot surface plus 4-foot shoulders on each side. The proposal is roughly 20 feet of gravel with no compliant shoulders. Along the wetland there is no room for a shoulder at all. Shoulders are what let vehicles pass, give responders room to work, and keep people walking the road out of traffic. Widening a gravel road for construction traffic also means dust, at volumes the current road has never carried.
5. Subbase § 202-32.G(19)
Major roads require a 12-inch crushed stone subbase. None is proposed. The subbase is what lets a road carry a fire truck or a concrete truck without rutting or washing out. A road built below standard costs more to maintain, and the homeowners association proposed to maintain it does not exist yet.
6. Paving § 202-32.G(20)
Roads serving more than eleven lots must be paved. Woodstock's own environmental consultant warned that paving Eastwoods Drive would damage the wetlands alongside it. The developers' answer is to skip the paving and ask for a waiver, which leaves the Board choosing between road safety and the wetland.
7. Adequate emergency access § 202-11(E)
Subdivision roads must provide adequate access for fire, police, and emergency medical services. Reviewing the developers' own documents for the Planning Board, consulting engineer Stephan A. Maffia, P.E., called the proposal "unacceptably excessive roadway lengths with regard to safety," warning that a blockage could delay fire, police, and EMS response. He measured the access road at more than 7,000 feet.
8. The access road must be suitably improved NYS Town Law § 280-a; Town of Woodstock Code § 202-29A.(5)
Building permits cannot be issued until the road providing access is suitably improved, and Woodstock requires private access roads to meet public road design standards. The developers have asked to waive nearly every standard that defines what "suitably improved" means. If every standard is waived, what is left of the word?
TWO WAIVERS FROM STATE STANDARDS THAT WOODSTOCK CANNOT WAIVE
The Woodstock Planning Board has no authority to set these aside. Only the New York State Department of State can grant a variance from the Uniform Code.
9. Long dead-end fire apparatus access roads NYS Fire Code Appendix D, Table D103.4
Dead-end fire apparatus access roads longer than 750 feet trigger additional design requirements. This one is more than 7,000 feet, from Zena Highwoods Road to the farthest lot.
10. Two fire apparatus access roads NYS Fire Code Appendix D § D107.1
Developments of thirty or more dwelling units generally require two approved fire apparatus access roads. This proposal has thirty lots and one road.