Susan Farkas Aug. 17, 2023 WOODSTOCK — A preliminary proposal for the biggest development in Woodstock’s recent history may be more trial balloon than blueprint at this point, but the opposition is already at the barricades.
The developers, operating as Woodstock National LLC, presented their 620-acre concept to the Woodstock Planning Board on July 20. The preliminary plan includes an 18-hole golf course and 191 housing units, including 90 single-family houses in a “conservation subdivision” that avoids wetlands and buffers, 12 to 24 units of affordable housing, and 77 townhouses.
Both Woodstock National partners are former employees of WeWork. Evan Kleinberg made real estate deals for the company for a dozen years before moving to Saugerties two years ago. His partner, Eddie Greenberg, is a developer. They have made a tentative deal with an entity called Walrus Properties LLC to buy the large forested tract along Sawkill Creek, straddling Zena High Woods in eastern Woodstock and a 100-acre parcel in the adjacent town of Ulster. Realtor Laurie Ylvisaker told the Times Union that “the deal is an engagement, not a marriage yet.”
The developers have until the end of October to determine whether they can build a viable project on the land. The heart of the Woodstock National plan is a “professional level” 18-hole golf course, with a clubhouse, driving range, golf performance center and 16 villas for golf club members who don’t live in the development. A Federal Aviation Administration-approved airstrip on the property may be used as a helipad. The preliminary plan includes an 18-hole golf course and 191 housing units. The prospect of wealthy out-of-towners and golf VIPs choppering in for a few rounds of golf horrifies some Woodstockers.
Woodstock Land Conservancy Executive Director Andy Mossey has called it “an utterly inappropriate project in the wrong location in the wrong community.” Mossey co-chairs a steering committee to oppose Woodstock National’s plans with Susan Paynter, who founded Citizens Against Terramor, a group that helped defeat a 77-acre glamping project in Saugerties on the border with Woodstock. Mossey and Paynter are looking for volunteers to help stop a project that “has the potential to permanently change the Woodstock area, both in environmental quality and community character,” as Mossey put it. Paynter said hundreds of people have expressed interest in joining.
Mossey has met with Kleinberg and said he found him open-minded and ready to listen to the community. But Mossey does not foresee supporting any development on the acreage, which lies between the Bluestone Wild Forest and the Land Conservancy’s Israel Wittman Sanctuary. “We have so many concerns,” Mossey said. “Every environmental concern: forest habitat, aquifer recharge zones, streams that feed into Sawkill Creek, wildlife habitats, traffic.”
The Woodstock Land Conservancy, in partnership with the Open Space Institute, tried to buy the property several years ago in order to donate it to the state for conservation. Mossey said it has “the highest conservation value in Woodstock.” The town of Woodstock this summer designated Zena Woods a “Critical Environmental Area” for its “exceptional and unique environmental characteristics.” At the Planning Board meeting, chair Peter Cross advised the developers that the designation means their formal proposal will need to demonstrate “conservation of the forestry, wildlife habitat and wildlife corridors.” They also have to adhere to a Woodstock wetlands law by avoiding any intrusion into the property’s 55 acres of wetlands and its 111-acre buffer.
The developers will also have to navigate a 300-page zoning code that is being revised by Woodstock’s Housing Oversight Task Force. The task force was set up two years ago to ensure that the code facilitates the construction of affordable housing in Woodstock. Task Force member Jeff Collins said the proposed revisions are very detailed and will soon be presented to a public meeting and then voted on by the Town Board. He doubts much of what Woodstock National has planned will be legal if the revised zoning code passes. For instance, the code would require more affordable housing and fewer residences overall than the current plan. Collins, who is running unopposed for the Ulster County Legislature, said “Every person I know is against the project as it’s designed now.”
Kleinberg said he’s listening, reading and learning. Woodstock National also plans to meet with the Ulster Planning Board for preliminary feedback. “It’s still very, very early,” he said, and plans will continue to evolve. “We really do believe that we’re going to build something that can check all the boxes of what people care about: housing affordability, land conservation and recreation on a private and public basis,” Kleinberg added.