Category: Meetings

At the Tuesday October 21st Planning Board meeting, SOLO LLC presented their new plan for 9 houses and the newly profiled road. (See the details here)

The engineer presented the new plans, and answered a few questions from the Board. Mention was made that the developers are considering keeping the road as a private road, rather than turning it over to the Town. Should this be the case, the road will have to be bonded.

Also present was the gentleman from SOLO responsible for overseeing the building of houses.

At the end of the presentation, SOLO asked to move to a Public Hearing. The main reasoning was that this property was well-known to the Board, having been before them as part of two other projects over two decades. This request was granted and so the Public Hearing will open at the Planning Board meeting on Tuesday November 18th. This is the start of the Public Hearing portion of the process and the Board may continue it past that meeting or elect to close the Public Hearing once that meeting is over.

It is important that members of the public who have opinions about the planed 9 house subdivision make their opinions known to the Planning Board. Writing a letter or email is a good first step. You can also ask to speak at the Planning Board meeting.

Neighbors contiguous with the property should get formal notice through the mail. This is usually a letter with a return receipt card attached. However, despite the fact that only contiguous neighbors get a formal notice, anyone can submit comments either via mail, email, or in person at the Public Hearing. And, of course, anyone can also do all three.

Some points to think about:

• Wetlands: While the State DEC has issued a Negative Declaration in regards their jurisdiction of wetlands on the site, the ACOE should be informed and will likely have to make a ruling. The Planning Board should be pressed to follow up with this. With the current proposal, developers will already have to mitigate at least on wetland crossing
• Wells: The ways in which drilling 9 new wells may affect surrounding (and not just contiguous) properties should be considered. Aquifers and water flows may be mysterious, but the Board should be pressed to do as much due diligence as it can on this subject. The Board should consider making a well bond/escrow part of a Conditional Final approval. Thus, if there are negative effects on neighboring wells, a sum of money is available for rectifying the issue.
• Private Road: Make sure the required bond for the private road is adequate to cover future issues.
• Future Subdivisions: Some of the proposed parcels are very large. The Planning Board should make a restrictive covenant a part of the Deeds of these new properties such that they may not ever be subdivided in the future. 9 properties and no more
• ADU: If Accessory Dwelling units are permitted in this Zone, the Planning Board should consider making a restrictive covenant a part of the Deeds such that ADU’s will not be permitted for these 9 plots, no matter the size of the house, nor the size of the land
• Drainage: The Board should consider, as a part of a conditional final approval, requiring the new developers to resuscitate the plans (already approved years ago by the Town engineers) for improvements to the drainage of Cottontail Lane. These plans were submitted as part of the conditional final approval for the never completed South Peak project.
• Care of the natural landscape: The Board should consider making it part of the Deeds to the houses that owners may not clear cut the forest on their property. Sensitive management may be allowed, of course, but provision must be made for the majority of the landscape, flora and fauna to be conserved.
• Traffic: The proposed curb cut at Rt. 212 should be examined closely. The sight distance to the West (to the right as traffic leaves the property) is minimal. While the curb cut may have been part of a conditional approval decades ago, it should be re-examined by the State DOT in light of current best practices for a state road having a 55 mph speed limit. The Board should insist that the DOT is on of the outside agencies consulted and that developers get new approval for their proposed curb cut.
• Lighting: Given the nature of the land at present, and wanting to preserve the environment as much as possible, the Board should insist on the minimum amount possible of downward-pointing light on the road and on the 9 properties

Here is a comma separated list of email addresses for the Planning Board. You can use this in the address, CC, or BCC field of an email client like Gmail
chowardpost@saugertiesny.gov, octagon@hvc.rr.com, kbrady@cerestechnologies.com, mmt92080@hotmail.com, robertahlavaty@gmail.com, ajrmasonry@gmail.com, kiniryinc@yahoo.com, brandonschiller@live.com

Here is a semi colon separated list of email addresses for the Planning Board. You can use this in the address, CC, or BCC field of an email client like Outlook:
chowardpost@saugertiesny.gov; octagon@hvc.rr.com; kbrady@cerestechnologies.com; mmt92080@hotmail.com; obertahlavaty@gmail.com; ajrmasonry@gmail.com; kiniryinc@yahoo.com; brandonschiller@live.com

Correspondence intended for the Board should also be addressed to Becky Bertorelli (BBertorelli@saugertiesny.gov), Planning Board Secretary, so that it is included in the Public File.

Physical letters should be sent to:
Saugerties Planning Board
4 High Street
Saugerties, NY 12477

The Saugerties Planning Board has released the agenda for the January 17th, 2023 meeting.

The Terramor informational session is second on the agenda. It is listed under the “Public Hearings” rubric, even though it is very particularly not a formal Public Hearing (that will come later).

As we have noted previously, this informational session will take the shape of speaker slots, each slot strictly limited to five minutes.

Here is a list of subjects which we know will be covered by individual speakers:
1. Sierra Club and will speak about wetlands and habitat loss 
2. Woodstock Land Conservancy and will speak about wetlands and habitat loss endangered species habitat 
3. Hydrologist, will focus on the water issues and the well testing
4. Woodstock Day School and has expressed concerns about pesticides, smoke and traffic endangering the lives of their 200 students
5. Woodstock Jewish Congregation has been confirmed’ and they will focus on wastewater and the sacred pond
6. Representative of CAT will speak about what Terramor will NOT give the Saugerties community
7. CAT attorney has been confirmed as a speaker with topics TBD
8. A Saugerties neighbor on 212 will speak about the gag order he was asked to sign when Terramor wanted to use his property to gain access to the Terramor land
9. Catskill Mountain Keeper will speak.
10. [Redacted] will speak to wastewater treatment
11. [Redacted] will speak about water contamination from the nearby superfund site
12. [Redacted] will speak about traffic
14. [Redacted] will speak as a Woodstock board member and concerned citizen
15. [Redacted] TBD- possibly recreational smoke
14. [Redacted] will share slides showing that tents are not temporary 
15. [Redacted] will speak about broadband

These are only the speakers of which this site is aware. There may be others. This will almost certainly NOT be the running order of the speakers. Some speakers may also choose to use their time to ask questions of the Board.

As always, it is important that all interested parties attend the session, even if they are not on the speakers’ list. The more people showing interest in the session, the more the Planning Board will take notice. Having said that, it is equally important that attendees respect the process and maintain decorum during the session. Outbursts and audible asides will not go down well with the Board and will only delay what will be a long evening for all involved.

We once again encourage interested parties to look at the “Write a Letter” page here (http://southpeaknabe.com/write-a-letter/). Anybody can write a letter to the Board at any time, about any subject. If you did not get signed up to speak, you can write a letter.

Here is the agenda as it was on Thursday January 12th, 2023:
2023-01-12-Saugerties-Planning-Board-Agenda-for-meeting-of-January-17-2023
You can see the agenda page for the Saugerties Planning Board at: https://townsaugerties.digitaltowpath.org:10234/content/Generic/View/144

The Saugerties Planning Board has circulated a letter to interested parties about the protocol for the Public Information Session about Terramor, scheduled for the Planning Board Meeting of January 17th 2023.

The Board requests that members of groups collaborate to minimize repetitions. If you want to sign up to speak, you must do so before January 10th by getting in touch with Becky Bertorelli, Planning Board Secretary, at bbertorelli@saugertiesny.gov

The Board takes care to say that the 5 minute time limit will be strictly enforced. They further note that this is NOT a formal Public Hearing. That will come later.

Below we reproduce the letter and then the formal notice form the Planning Board website

2023-01-02-Saugerties-planning-board-hotice-of informational-meeting-January-17th-2023

At the Saugerties Planning Board meeting on Tuesday December 20th, the Board made a couple of important decisions. After hearing lengthy presentations from Terramor’s lawyers and contractors, the Board voted:
1) to retain as many of their own experts and consultants as needed to properly address the issues raised by the application
2) to have an informational public session at the next Board meeting.

It’s important to note, once again, that this is NOT the formal “Public Hearing” required by law. The Board has not yet scheduled that Hearing. That will come later.

To clarify what we can expect at the January 17th meeting I emailed the Planning Board Chair the following questions (in blue). Below each question is the answer he provided (in red, and lightly edited for clarity)

• Q: Please could you advise on the exact name we should give this event? Is it a SEQR deliberation? Is there a more formal/different name?
  A: It is an informational public [session] for the board to hear public comments and concerns
• Q: Does the Public input portion have a particular name?
  A: It does not
• Q: Is it safe to say that this is an opportunity for the Public to advise the Board on the particular areas that the Public thinks the Board should focus on in the Board’s deliberation about a Positive/Negative declaration and further SEQR scoping?
  A: I would word that differently. The board is quite familiar with the SEQR process and we focus on ALL areas of the process. For the public to “advise” the board would be a reversal of roles. 
• Q: Can we assume that this is also an opportunity for any technical experts to present (in the manner of the experts presenting last night)?
  A: It is a chance for any technical experts hired by the public to speak. They would sign up just the same as the public would and would be allowed to speak with the same time constraint.
• Q: How, exactly, do you see the Public input portion proceeding? You mentioned a sign-up sheet and the desire to reduce the number of repetitive comments. Will the sign up sheet be first come first served?
  A: It will be first come, first serve, with a predetermined time constraint (thinking 5 minutes)
• Q: If you were to write a paragraph describing your ideal description of this part of the process and the Public’s particular involvement, I’d be happy to transmit it to the folks on the site.
  A: The whole purpose of this informational public [session] is for the board to gather comments from the public on any material presented by the applicant to date . We will then take these comments into consideration while going over all material [received] to date. 

(End of answers from PB Chair)

We do not yet know where in the agenda this session might be placed. It’s possible that it might be at the very start of proceedings. It might also be in Old Business. This is left to the discretion of the Board and depends on other factors such as formal Public Hearings. We will find out when the Agenda is published, likely late in the first week or early in the second week of January.

Interested members of the Public should attend, as they did in such encouraging numbers on Tuesday evening. But not all attendees need to speak. While it’s important that the Public’s voice be heard, it’s equally important to minimize repetition. Coordination of speakers and subjects should be managed carefully. Thus, if an expert has already spoken about a particular subject and has eloquently addressed the most important facets of that subject, subsequent speakers should refrain from repeating those very same points. The Board is very well aware of the importance of this project and the Public’s interest in it. They will know that for every person who speaks, there are many, many more who share the concerns of those who have spoken.

This post may be updated with further notes as we learn more.

Terramor Catskills is a large “glamping” project planned for a 77 acre parcel of land stretching from the northeast side of Route 212 near South Peak Vets, around to Cottontail Lane off Glasco Turnpike.

This subsidiary of KOA proposes 75 individual glamping tents. Each tent will be able to sleep between 2 and 5 people and will have its own bathroom and fire pit. The Terramor development will also feature a lodge with restaurant, a pool, grilling stations, an events pavilion, employee housing and various other facilities. The application contains a looped road crossing several wetlands, several wells, a septic treatment plant releasing treated water into a wetland, several parking lots, many stormwater ponds, and many hiking trails.

All of this will be described by the developers in their appearance at the Saugerties Planning Board on Tuesday July 19th, at the Senior Center on Market Street near Cantine Field (map here). The meeting starts at 7:30pm, but the Terramor project is part of “Old Business” and thus is unlikely to happen before 8:30pm. Realistically, it might be later.

NOTE: This is not the Public Hearing part of the process. That will happen at a different, later, meeting of the Saugerties Planning Board. The earliest that a Public Hearing could happen is August 16th.

This is a very large project in a quiet part of Saugerties. It requires careful examination and a lot of scrutiny. It is vital that concerned citizens show up in numbers at this first meeting. This shows the Board and the Terramor developers that community concerns must be taken seriously.


July 19th 2022 Saugerties Planning Board agenda retrieved July 8 July 11, 2022 – includes Terramor (.pdf archived locally July 11th)

Again, while the public is encouraged to attend the meeting, this is NOT the time when members of the public will be able to stand up in front of the Board and air their own views. Members of the public *can* (and should) write to the Board to express their concerns about Terramor over development. If you write to the Board, send an electronic copy to Becky Bertorelli (BBertorelli@saugertiesny.gov), Recording Secretary, asking her to distribute to Board members. To make sure your letter is part of the public record, please say so expressly and particularly.

Edited July 15th 2022
NOTE: If you can spare only one evening out of your week, please come to the Saugerties Planning Board Meeting on Tuesday the 19th. It is very important that we have many bodies in the room on Tuesday evening.
Click here to see more details about the Terramor appearance at the Saugerties Planning Board meeting on Tuesday July 19th
If you do decide to come on Monday, please eat the free food, listen carefully, and be skeptical.

Today, Monday July 11th, Terramor emailed an invite to many members of the community and concerned neighbours. The invite is for July 18th (the day before their formal presentation to the Saugerties Planning board.

This is an open invite. Even if you did not get an invite in your email (check spam and “Promotions” boxes), they say you are welcome to attend. Make sure to RSVP. One supposes that if a large number of folks respond, Terramor may have to move the event.

This will be a preview of the dog and pony show for the following night. But it should also include some new faces from their side. Possibly the manager of the Maine site also.

Given that we will not have the opportunity to ask questions of the engineers and developers at the Planning Board meeting the following night, this could be a good moment to acquire more knowledge and thus more points to use in our own approaches to the Planning Board.

Here is the text of the invite:

Dear Neighbors & Community Members,

Please join us on Monday, July 18, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. to learn more about our plan submittal to the Saugerties Planning Board.

While we had originally planned to host an informative meeting with you on July 26th, after the Town of Saugerties Planning Board had a chance to provide us feedback, we recognize there are some new concerns and unanswered questions from many of or our neighbors. In order to continue our transparent and open conversations, we want to review the plan submittal, discuss findings from our studies, and answer any questions or concerns you may have prior to the planning board meeting.

What to expect:

Review submitted plan
Major findings from studies: traffic, water, sewage, etc.
Operational forecast with tent density
Special events forecast & policies
Hear first hand from Terramor’s General Manager at our Bar Harbor location

Who is attending:

Ahmed Helmi – Real Estate Director
Jenny McCullough – Director, Brand & Operations
Henry Sirois – General Manager, Terramor Bar Harbor

Once again, the event will take place at Cucina. We will provide light appetizers, coffee and tea. Please RSVP to communityrelations@terramoroutdoorresort.com to ensure enough seating.

Hope to see you there,

Jenny McCullough
Director, Brand & Operations
Terramor Outdoor Resort

We are working on a post which includes documents from the formal Terramor submission to the Saugerties Planning Board. That post should be up later this evening, Monday July 11th.

As expected, the Saugerties Planning Board has added Terramor to the agenda (opens in new tab) for the July 19th meeting. Agendas can, and do, change all the time. Go to the link above to see updated agenda.

July 19th 2022 Saugerties Planning Board agenda retrieved July 8 July 11, 2022 – includes Terramor (.pdf archived locally July 11th)
The meeting will take place Tuesday July 19th at 7:30pm in the Frank D. Greco Memorial Senior Citizen Recreation Center, Cantine Memorial Field, 207 Market St, Saugerties, NY 12477

Please note that the Terramor glamping project is last in the “Old Business” section of the agenda. It is *possible* that the Board may move Terramor to the front of the Old Business section if they feel that there are so many members of the public there to hear the presentation. This move is not guaranteed, but it does happen.

The Saugerties Planning Board will hear a presentation from the Terramor engineers and developers. By the time of the meeting, the Board and its consultants should have started their examination of the submissions and all of the content in the public file. They should have their own questions about Terramor overdevelopment and the usual concerns about drainage, traffic, noise, septic, etc., etc.

While the public is encouraged to attend the meeting, this is NOT the time when members of the public will be able to stand up in front of the Board and air their own views. Members of the public *can* (and should) write to the Board to express their concerns about Terramor over development. If you write to the Board, send an electronic copy to Becky Bertorelli (BBertorelli@saugertiesny.gov), Recording Secretary, asking her to distribute to Board members. To make sure your letter is part of the public record, please say so expressly and particularly.

You can also write to individual Board members. We suggest an email to each person (or use BCC)

Fred Costello (Town Supervisor) fcostello@saugertiesny.gov
C. Howard Post (chowardpost@gmail.com) Chairperson
Carole Furman (octagon@hvc.rr.com) Vice Chair
Kevin Brady (kbrady@cerestechnologies.com)
Ken Goldberg (K2535@aol.com)
Michael Tiano (mmt92080@gmail.com)
Len Bouren (labouren@hotmail.com)
Robert Hlavaty (robertahlavaty@gmail.com)
William Creen (willcreen@yahoo.com)
Becky Bertorelli (BBertorelli@saugertiesny.gov) Recording Secretary

Here are the emails formatted for your BCC field using commas as separator:
fcostello@saugertiesny.gov, chowardpost@gmail.com, octagon@hvc.rr.com, kbrady@cerestechnologies.com, K2535@aol.com, mmt92080@gmail.com, labouren@hotmail.com, robertahlavaty@gmail.com, willcreen@yahoo.com, BBertorelli@saugertiesny.gov

Here are the emails formatted for your BCC field using semi-colons as separator:
fcostello@saugertiesny.gov; chowardpost@gmail.com; octagon@hvc.rr.com; kbrady@cerestechnologies.com; K2535@aol.com; mmt92080@gmail.com; labouren@hotmail.com; robertahlavaty@gmail.com; willcreen@yahoo.com; BBertorelli@saugertiesny.gov

We hope to have most of Terramor’s newly submitted documents up on this site soon. Probably by July 12th/13th

From the invite email:

Based off of continued studies and our meeting in March, we are excited to, once again, invite you to see our updated site plan. You should be receiving the attached postcard in the mail in the next few days, but I also wanted to reach out via email to ensure you have more time to save the date.

This next meeting will take place on property, and after we showcase our site design, we will welcome anyone who is interested to stay and walk the property with our team. Please be sure to wear hiking shoes and dress appropriately or in layers.
WHEN: June 7, 5:30pm
WHERE: Meet in front of South Peak Veterinary Clinic

After we asked for some clarifying details we were told “We will have a large site map printed out for the meeting that will call to attention changes. Not a ton of major changes, other than we moved the employee housing and maintenance area further back, away from Cottontail and adjusted the location of the Lodge and pool slightly.”

They also said that they are still shooting for the June 21st Saugerties Planning Board meeting. With regard to that meeting, it would be a good idea for all interested parties to tell the Town that we want the meeting to be in person. The recent meetings, including the May Planning Board meeting have been held over WebEx. This will prove very difficult with the amount of interest which will be generated by the Terramor project. In fact, we asked twice to be given the WebEx details for the May and details were not forthcoming because we did not have business in before the Board. Below are the emails of people who may be able to change the meeting from virtual to hybrid virtual/in person. We suggest an email to each person (or use BCC)

Fred Costello (Town Supervisor) fcostello@saugertiesny.gov
C. Howard Post (chowardpost@gmail.com) Chairperson
Carole Furman (octagon@hvc.rr.com) Vice Chair
Kevin Brady (kbrady@cerestechnologies.com)
Ken Goldberg (K2535@aol.com)
Michael Tiano (mmt92080@gmail.com)
Len Bouren (labouren@hotmail.com)
Robert Hlavaty (robertahlavaty@gmail.com)
William Creen (willcreen@yahoo.com)
Becky Bertorelli (BBertorelli@saugertiesny.gov) Recording Secretary

Here are the emails formatted for your BCC field using commas as separator:
fcostello@saugertiesny.gov, chowardpost@gmail.com, octagon@hvc.rr.com, kbrady@cerestechnologies.com, K2535@aol.com, mmt92080@gmail.com, labouren@hotmail.com, robertahlavaty@gmail.com, willcreen@yahoo.com, BBertorelli@saugertiesny.gov

Here are the emails formatted for your BCC field using semi-colons as separator:
fcostello@saugertiesny.gov; chowardpost@gmail.com; octagon@hvc.rr.com; kbrady@cerestechnologies.com; K2535@aol.com; mmt92080@gmail.com; labouren@hotmail.com; robertahlavaty@gmail.com; willcreen@yahoo.com; BBertorelli@saugertiesny.gov