mark zip - South Peak Nabe - "Monthy Woodstock Nine" - West Saugerties / Woodstock / Shultis Corners NY

March 25, 2022August 29, 2022

KOA/Terramor have made their first formal application to Saugerties Planning Board – Public file documents within

Edit: the title of this post should probably read “KOA/Terramor have made their first formal APPROACH to Saugerties Planning Board – Public file documents within”. Application may be too formal of a word in this particular context.

On March 15th 2022 KOA/Terramor made their first formal appearance in front of the Saugerties Planning Board. As of this writing (Friday March 25th 2022), draft minutes of the meeting were not yet available. Prior to the meeting, Terramor submitted initial documents about the proposed glamping operation in West Saugerties / Shultis Corners to the Board. These documents included:

In addition to the above items from the developer, the public file also includes a 5 page memo from the Planning Board consultants and the Boards own declaration of lead agency.

The most interest part of the whole public file is the memo from the consultants (pictured below). It includes many notes about issues raised by the project and the application. It also takes care to draw attention to a few shortcomings of the initial submission and mentions missing or yet to be submitted articles.

Below you will find photos of many (but not all) items in the Public file as of noon Friday March 25th 2022. Click each thumbnail to see a larger version of the item. You can also download a zip file of all pictures at this link.

Pictures of the Consultants Memo to the Planning Board. Click each picture for larger version.

Terramor Memo from Consultants to planning board Page 1 of 5

Terramor Memo from consultants to planning board Page 2 of 5

Terramor Memo from consultants to planning board Page 3 of 5

Terramor Memo from consultants to planning board Page 4 of 5

Terramor Memo from consultants to planning board Page 5 of 5

Pictures of the application cover letter from developers. Click each picture for larger version.

Terramor application cover letter page 1 of 2

Terramor application cover letter page 2 of 2

Pictures of the general site plan application from developers. Click each picture for larger version.

Terramor general site plan application page 1 of 2

Terramor general site plan application page 2 of 2

Pictures of the project description from developers. Click each picture for larger version.

Terramor Project description page 1 of 2

Terramor Project description page 2 of 2

Picture of the project site plan. Click picture for larger version.

Pictures of the traffic study from developers’ traffic consultants. Click each picture for larger version.

Pictures of notes from earlier workshop meetings. Click each picture for larger version.

Terramor first workshop notes 03 24 2021

Terramor second workshop notes 06 23 2021

Terramor third workshop notes 09 29 2021

Any interested party can view all of these documents and more at the Town of Saugerties Planning Board office. Please email Becky Bertorelli, Planning Board Secretary (bbertorelli@saugertiesny.gov) and ask for an appointment. Ask for the “Terramor Catskill file”

March 18, 2022August 29, 2022

March 18 2022 – KOA/Terramor set date for informal “get-to-know-us” gathering 6pm March 29th in Woodstock

Immediate neighbours of the proposed development have received an invite from KOA/Terramore.
They have asked that we publicize it widely.
Here are the contents of the invitation:

Meet Terramor
Tuesday, March 29 at 6:00pm
Cucina. 109 Mill Hill Road, Woodstock

Join us to learn more about Terramor Outdoor Resort. Chat with our team, view a preliminary site design, enjoy delicious refreshments, and get to know your new neighbor.

Please RSVP and send preliminary questions to communityrelations@terramoroutdoorresort.com

Not available to attend in person? Please email us for a live digital link

Please let your friends and neighbours know about this date and plan to come along if you can.

It’s important to note that this an informal “get-to-know-you” at which the developer will doing their best to put their best foot forward. This will be very different from the formal Public Meeting of the Saugerties Planning Board, which will come later.

Once again, we stress that this website, SouthPeakNabe.com, has no association with either KOA or Terramor or the Saugerties Planning Board. It is merely an informational website attempting to keep neighbours and other interested parties up to date on developments in and around the South Peak area of West Saugerties / Shultis Corners.

January 7, 2022January 8, 2022

January 7 2022 – KOA has officially acquired the land

According to records at the Ulster County Clerk, KOA has now completed transfer of the deed to the land in question. The price was $950,000.
Here are some very rough screen grabs of the deed transfer document. Click on each for a slightly larger version. You can find better resolutions by making your own search on the Ulster County Clerk’s Land Records IQS page (https://www.searchiqs.com/NYULS/SearchAdvancedMP.aspx) and using the search term “Saugerties Developers LLC”

November 23, 2021March 23, 2022

November 23, 2021 – Introductory Letter from KOA/Terramor

Immediate neighbours (we assume those who have property contiguous with the South Peak properties) have received a letter, dated November 15th, from Jenny McCullough, Director of Marketing & Brand Experience, Terramor Outdoor Resort. The letter was drafted November 8th and was adjusted after some written and spoken input from at least one neighbour.

Below is the text of the letter. You can also download the .pdf here: http://southpeaknabe.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Teramor-Saugerties-Introductory-Letter-final-as-sent-11-15-2021.pdf

This site solicits your comments and reactions. Please also send suggestions for follow-up questions for KOA/Terramor. If you send a question to KOA yourself, please tell us about it and tell us about any response you get. Information sharing and transparency will help everyone in the long run. Site admin for SouthPeakNabe.com can be reached at: mark@southpeaknabe.com
OR
845 418 6947 (wait for screening message)

——————–
Full text of letter sent to neighbours:

November 15, 2021
Sent On Behalf of Terramor Outdoor Resort
An entity of Kampgrounds of America, Inc.
Jenny McCullough

Dear Neighbor,
We want to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves to you and help answer any questions or concerns you may have while we are in the process of purchasing the 75.12 acre of land located within your neighborhood on Route 212.

We are Kampgrounds of America, Inc., known mainly as KOA. Historically, KOA is the largest camping brand in the world, with over 500 campgrounds across North America. While our KOA campgrounds service RVers, tent campers, motorhomes and more, the intent for this property is to expand our new venture focused on introducing individuals to the great outdoors in an elevated and comfortable way.

In 2020, KOA launched a new brand called Terramor Outdoor Resorts in Bar Harbor, Maine. Terramor, which means “love of land,” is a new concept with custom made canvas and hard-sided tent accommodations. Our Terramor properties include:
* Central Lodge with a small kitchen, concierge desk and check-in
* Heated outdoor pool and hot tub
* Communal pavilion for onsite activities
* Nature trails throughout the property
* Designated parking areas, encouraging our guests to walk to their accommodations and around our campus
* Canvas and hard-sided tents, located a minimum of 50-feet form one another
* Privacy and noise-scaping to help prevent noise both on and offsite

We take our ‘love of land’ name seriously. Our properties are designed to have limited impacts on the land; utilizing one or two central septic systems, creating unpaved roadways, participating in recycling programs and more. All of our tents are built on elevated platforms to minimize destruction to the land and are pushed back into the forests to provide privacy. In our flagship location, we replanted over 1,000 trees to the property and worked with the Acadia National Park’s landscape architect to use local flora and fauna and rebuild the natural ecosystem for our guests to enjoy.

The property in reference is zoned for a campground with up to 50 sites. While we do not close on the property until late December, we anticipate this site to have 50 tent accommodations. Our design plan is to build the luxury campground off of Route 212, tucked into the acreage so it would not be visible from the road. While we will have an access road on Cottontail, this road would not be a main entrance and serve more for emergency vehicles. Terramor Catskills would operate on a seasonal basis for 7-9 months a year.

We are committed to being a high integrity, respectful and quiet neighbor. We institute a strict quiet hours policy at our property to ensure our guests get to experience the sounds of nature. Terramor’s brand exemplifies both the love of land and love of locale, which means we work hard to be a strong community partner. We work to source much of our food and beverage locally, sell locally made products and gifts in our store, promote local businesses, guides and tour operators and help educate guests on the importance of outdoor conservation.

We are currently working with the city and county to ensure required and recommended studies, procedures and licensing is taking place. In the meantime, please take a moment to get to know us a bit more by visiting our website, www.terramoroutdoorresort.com.
If you have any further questions, you are welcome to send me an email at communityrelations@terramoroutdoorresort.com. We look forward to becoming a member of your community!

Sincerely,

Jenny McCullough
Director of Marketing & Brand Experience
Terramor Outdoor Resort
406.670.7511
— ends —

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November 4, 2021November 22, 2021

November 04, 2021 – Very short update

A busy couple of days. A few updates:

Neighbors from the Raybrook development have been in touch. They also raise concerns and will be part of the process.
KOA/Terramor confirm that they have not formally acquired the land.
Because of that, they cancelled/postponed the preliminary and informational Zoom call they had scheduled. I wrote them and expressed disappointment. There may be informal follow-up there.
Saugerties Planning Board confirms once again that there is no formal application or any other paperwork in front of the Board.
Still working on questions to be raised with developers and Board. Please advise your own.

November 1, 2021November 23, 2021

South Peak – A Different Tack – First Activity in Years – November 2021

KOA Terramor South Peak Saugerties Proposal

November 01, 2021

Neighbors of the South Peak Saugerties property may have noticed activity on the hill over the last few weeks. This is the result of a early-stage proposal for new development on the property.

While there has been no formal application to the Town, and it is very early in the process, we do know a few details:

The “Terramor” division of KOA is exploring siting a glamping operation on the site.
Surveyors have spent at least three days on the site. They were re-surveying the site to see if anything had changed since the last survey undertaken in 2003/2005. This is often a due-diligence requirement before properties formally change hands.
The well drilling folks were on the property to clear paths to the old test wells on the property. We do not know if any testing has yet taken place.
As far as we can tell, the Ulster County Clerk has not yet recorded a formal sale of the two lots. They appear to still be in the hands of the most recent owners of record.
While there has been no formal proposal to the Town, the KOA people have attended at least one informal Planning Board workshop. This is usually an informal opportunity for developers to understand the Town’s planning process and to ask the Board preliminary questions about the proposal/approval workflow.
An initial outreach to the KOA folks yielded a relatively positive response, including an invitation to join the Director of Acquisitions and the Marketing Director at KOA/Terramore for a Zoom call with members of the Planning Board.

We are formulating a series of questions for the new developers and the Planning Board. Not surprisingly, these revolve around the same concerns expressed years ago when the proposed sub-division was under discussion and achieved conditional final approval.

It’s important to note that this is a very different proposal (“special use” vs. “subdivision”) and so some efforts required of the developers will be different. Additionally, some very particular facts about the immediate neighbourhood have changed and these changes affect certain parts of the Planning Board’s considerations.

Site admin for SouthPeakNabe.com can be reached at:
mark@southpeaknabe.com
OR
845 418 6947 (wait for screening message)

We welcome any constructive input and, especially, questions and concerns which can be raised with the developers and Planning Board.

It should go without saying that this website, SouthPeakNabe.com, has no association with either KOA or Terramor or the Saugerties Planning Board. It is merely an informational website attempting to keep neighbours and other interested parties up to date on developments in and around the South Peak area of West Saugerties.