Amenia Planning Board approves amended site plan for Silo Ridge condos

AMENIA — Following months of consideration, the Planning Board at its regular meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 27, approved changes to the Silo Ridge site plan that will substitute ten condominium units for the originally planned 13 townhouse units.

The vote was unanimous from the Planning Board members who were present. Absent from the meeting were chairman Robert Boyles, Jr. and member Lyzzette Bullock. Member Jamie Vitiello was present, but he abstained from the vote due to his work with Silo Ridge management.

Terming the site plan change a “minor modification,” Silo Consultant Patrick O’Leary said there is no visual impact to the change. The townhouse lots will be combined into a single lot upon which the condos will stand.

“We’ve worked through the workforce housing issues, leaving the matter to Planning Board Attorney Paul Van Cctt, O’Leary said.

Van Cott explained that the workforce housing law was revised in 2023, and that the application to change the site plan needed to comply with the new law.

The Town Board and Silo Ridge have reached an agreement on the applicability of the law in regard to a required fee schedule, Van Cott said, referring to the law’s provision for payment of a fee to the town in lieu of providing workforce housing for a development the size of Silo Ridge.

The Planning Board has the responsibility for establishing the fee schedule, Van Cott said, adding that the Planning Board must also acknowledge that the fee schedule needs to be provided.

“The Planning Board is not in the middle of this; it is a Town Board matter,” Van Cott said. “Submission of a revised fee schedule will settle the matter.”

Discussion continued about the Siland Recreational Facility being developed within an area adjacent to Route 22 in the southeastern acreage adjacent to the Silo Ridge development.

Town Engineer John Andrews indicated that the proposed changes to the plans are minor with no proposed changes in use. In effect, Andrews said, the developer is taking elements that were outdoors and moving them indoors, in a phased plan.

“This is still a recreational facility,” Andrews said, adding that if there is no substantial change in use, the planning board can approve the change in plans without a public hearing, although that is a decision for the Planning Board.

A new environmental impact review must be provided, Andrews noted.

The Planning Board agreed to direct Siland to prepare a detailed response to the discussion.

Silo Ridge continued review of its Master Plan of Development as part of a series of workshops at Planning Board meetings. A public tour of the Silo Ridge property was held on Monday, Aug. 18, attended by most Planning Board members and a few members of the public.

O’Leary’s detailed Master Plan review, or which the tour was a key element, is intended to inform the Planning Board about future plans for development within the Silo Ridge community.

Continuing work to create a visual impact analysis in connection with plans to develop the Keane Stud acreage, visible from DeLaVergne Hill, was reviewed by George Janes, the board’ visual consultant who is coordinating with the developer on behalf of the board.

Recent meetings have sought procedural clarification in the preparation of a “reasonable worst case scenario with variations” and the creation of a model representation, Janes reported. The developer is also seeking to identify local comparable properties, with plans to take photographs in November to show late fall views of the Keane Stud acreage.

Once the model is created, the Planning Board will be able to review it, Janes said.