WOODSTOCK, N.Y. — The Woodstock Land Conservancy has filed suit in Ulster County Supreme Court challenging a Town of Ulster Zoning Board of Appeals decision that would let a proposed 30-lot subdivision off Eastwoods Drive proceed without review by the Ulster Town Board. The petition, filed September 11 under Article 78 of New York's Civil Practice Law and Rules, names the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Town of Ulster Building Inspector, the Town of Ulster Planning Board, and the developer, Zena Development, LLC, as respondents. It asks the court to annul the ZBA's August 12 determination and return the matter to the board for a properly noticed public hearing. At issue is who reviews the project. Under the Ulster Town Code, site plans require final approval from the elected Town Board except in a short list of narrow cases—among them, plans for new structures of less than 2,500 square feet. The Building Inspector determined, and the ZBA affirmed, that the proposal falls within that exception because its recreation and fitness building measures 2,400 square feet. The Conservancy argues that reading looks at one building and ignores the development around it: 30 residential lots, a recreation facility, septic systems, and subdivision infrastructure across 106.6 acres of woodland in the Town of Ulster. The project is identified in town filings as Ruby Woods. “A thirty-lot subdivision on more than a hundred acres of forest is not a small project, and the code does not treat it as one," said Andy Mossey, Executive Director of the Woodstock Land Conservancy. “We are asking the court to make sure a proposal of this scale gets the www.WoodstockLandConservancy.org P.O. Box 864, Woodstock, NY 12498 / 845-679-6481 / info@woodstocklandconservancy.org review the law requires, and that the residents who will live with the results get a real chance to be heard." The petition also challenges how the appeal was handled. The Town designates two official newspapers, the Daily Freeman and Hudson Valley One; notice of the July 13 hearing was published only in the Daily Freeman. The meeting agenda listed the appeal under “New Business" rather than under “Public Hearing," the section where two other applications appeared that same evening. At the start of the discussion, the chairman announced that participation would be limited to legal counsel and designated representatives, and that no general public comment would be taken. The board reversed course later in the meeting and took some comment, but by then some residents had left, and the petition says others still in the room were cut off before they could speak. Several residents who later wrote to the ZBA said they had not known a hearing was scheduled at all. Mossey and Kevin Smith, the Conservancy's board chair, asked the board to hold the hearing open to its August meeting so that the public could be heard. The board declined and voted to accept written comments only. A month later, at its August 12 meeting, the board again declined to schedule a new hearing. It closed the written comment period and issued its determination that evening. This is the Conservancy's second Article 78 proceeding against the Town over the project. In February, the Conservancy asked the Town for a formal interpretation of which board holds site plan authority. The Town declined to respond, and the Conservancy went to court. On June 2, the court held that the Conservancy was entitled to an answer and directed the ZBA to decide the request. The Building Inspector's determination followed six days later. The Woodstock Land Conservancy owns and manages the 210-acre Israel Wittman Sanctuary, which shares a property line with the project site. The Conservancy is represented by Rodenhausen Chale & Polidoro LLP of Rhinebeck.

As part of its year-long programming focus on “Ecologies of Water,” the Woodstock Land Conservancy is partnering with local experts to ask “How is the Sawkill?” and launch a new stream literacy program. The free event is March 14 at 5 p.m. at Mountainview Studio in the heart of Woodstock.

The Woodstock Land Conservancy, in partnership with KATrail.org and CPW: The Center for Photography at Woodstock, sponsored the Happy Trails photo contest to celebrate the Ashokan Rail Trail (ART), and the public is invited to the exhibit opening and awards ceremony March 7 from 3-5 p.m. The winners in the three categories as well as Best in Show will be announced at the opening event.

The Woodstock Land Conservancy will be showcasing artistic scarecrows while sprinkling in environmental activities at its signature fall festival, which will be held Sept. 20. The Conservancy is pleased to host its 4th annual Scarecrow Fest on the Comeau’s Shakespeare Lawn in the heart of Woodstock from 1-4 p.m. “We’re always excited to celebrate fall, a bountiful season where nature literally shows off its incredible color palette,” Miranda Javid, WLC’s program manager, said. This year, however, the celebration will also include eco-themed workshops, multiple arts and crafts stations with activities that highlight environmental protection, and exhibitors who will help attendees get engaged in their local communities.

An advocate who has spent the last two decades working to protect the Hudson Valley's environment and co-founders of a seed company focused on the art, culture and improvement of open-pollinated and organic seed are this year's William R. Ginsberg Stewardship Award winners. Rebecca Martin and Hudson Valley Seed Company co-founders K Greene and Doug Muller will be honored May 17 at the Woodstock Land Conservancy’s 13th annual Vernal Fling.

There have been several news articles and at least one editorial focused on the threatening email we received in February. As we noted in a previous statement, the Woodstock Land Conservancy received an email with the subject line “Catskill Mountain Rail Trail” Feb. 12. The email began by stating “if you do anything to the railroad in that area….” It continued with a threat of mass murder and suicide.

It’s 65 acres of pristine unfragmented forest near the top of Mt. Tobias in the Town of Woodstock and, thanks to generous donors who contributed between $5 and $105,000, the Woodstock Land Conservancy will ensure it remains protected forever. The Conservancy recently announced it had secured the $310,000 in funding required to acquire the property.

Woodstock is known around the world for its commitment to the arts and the environment. Those two passions will be combined July 12 when the Woodstock Land Conservancy hosts its first Poetry Meet Up at Zena Cornfield.