Latest Updates
This page is updated around the first of each month with a look at the month ahead, and recaps of months passed. Want this update in your inbox? Sign up for our mailing list at the bottom of this page!
June 2026 Updates
Please Attend - June 9 Meeting in Ulster
7PM Town of Ulster Town Hall
1 Town Hall Road, Lake Katrine, NY 12449
At the Tuesday, 5/12 Town of Ulster Planning Board meeting the Planning Board announced its intent to issue a negative declaration - ending the environmental review of Zena Development’s application - at their 6/9 meeting. Please plan to attend. We will keep everyone updated with our email list and on Facebook and Instagram if anything changes.
Possible Meeting in the Town of Woodstock
The Woodstock Planning Board meets on June 18th at 6PM, at 45 Comeau Drive in Woodstock. Zena Development is not yet on the agenda for this meetings, but we suspect they may pop up. We will keep everyone updated with our email list and on Facebook and Instagram.
Please Join Our Updated Letter-Writing Campaigns
Even if you have written to Ulster and Woodstock before, we are asking folks to follow our new, updated letter writing tutorials and to write again. We are especially hoping that home-owners in the Zena neighborhood will write to the Woodstock Planning Board. If you live in Zena, please speak with your neighbors and direct them to our website! Click here for links to our email-writing tutorials.
May 2026 Recap
Ulster Plans to End Environmental Review
At the Tuesday, 5/12 Town of Ulster Planning Board meeting Town of Ulster Town Planner Max Stach reversed his previously held stance. He explained that he no longer found the forest fragmentation caused by the subdivision to be significant enough to require a positive declaration. (A “pos dec” would require a thorough environmental review of Zena Dev’s project.) He recommended that the Planning Board take two actions at their upcoming 6/9 meeting: issue a negative declaration - ending the environmental review process - and THEN hold a public hearing. This means that the first public hearing held on Zena Development would not impact the Planning Board’s decision in the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR review) process. Click here to watch a recording of the meeting on our Youtube Page.
Woodstock Supervisor Anula Courtis Requests Coordination With Ulster
Woodstock Supervisor Anula Courtis attended the 5/21 Town of Ulster Town Board meeting to make a public comment requesting "direct and serious town-to-town discussion with Woodstock" before action on Zena Development moves forward. Click here to watch a recording of her statement on our Youtube Page.
Zena Development Threatens Woodstock Residents
Zena Development sent Woodstock police to the homes of two outspoken Stop Zena Development volunteers - Zoe and Tana - and sent a threatening letter and invoice to Tana. Click on each news outlet to read more from: Hudson Valley One, The Overlook and The Daily Freeman
Stop Zena Development on ‘Nature Nuggets’
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No News From the Town of Ulster
We expected Zena Development LLC to appear before the Town of Ulster Planning Board in April. We have been waiting for the Town of Ulster Planning Board to issue a “positive” or “negative” declaration in the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process. Although the Ulster website initially seemed to indicate that Zena Development would be at the April Planning Board meeting, they were not at the meeting and no decision was made.
Sold Out Bread & Puppet Performance
Over 300 people filled the Woodstock Playhouse on April 18th for a fundraising performance by Bread & Puppet theater! Thank you so much to everyone who attended, to our event sponsors, and our event volunteers. Funds raised will help to cover Stop Zena Development’s legal fees in our fight to protect 625+ acres of forest.
Volunteers Record Data on Vulnerable Amphibians
Stop Zena Development led 27 volunteers on seven volunteer nights to record data on migrating frogs, toads and salamanders on Zena Highwoods Road. Volunteers counted a total of 1289 live amphibians, and recorded 328 deceased amphibians. The overwhelming majority of amphibians were migrating into Zena Development LLC's property. Nine different species were recorded, including four-toed salamanders, a NYS High Priority Species of Greatest Conservation Need. Click here to read more about this work in Stop Zena Development’s 2026 Amphibian Migration report.