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Awash in flowers within the Piecemeal Farm booth at the season’s first Amenia Farmers’ Market were vendor Ross Pforzheimer, left, with Town Supervisor Leo Blackman and NECC Food Program Coordinator Katie Cariello.
Photo by Leila Hawken
AMENIA — Brimming with colorful fresh seasonal produce, a pop-up farmers market welcomed shoppers on Friday, June 27 at the Town Hall lower parking lot. Choices were varied, including seasonal harvests of leafy greens and flowers, cheeses and meats, French crepes, and plants, all accompanied by live music and crafts for youngsters.
Sponsored by the North East Community Center and the Amenia-Wassaic Community Organization, the event will repeat on the second and fourth Fridays of each month through Sept. 5. Hours are 3 to 7 p.m.
“I’m excited to see it,” said Town Supervisor Leo Blackman. “We’ve been meeting with the NECC for a long time.”
Having brought playful black lab puppies to the season’s first Amenia Farmers’ Market on Friday, June 27, Mark Hussey was pleased to show one particularly patriotic puppy that was a big hit.Photo by Leila Hawken
Pleased with the collaborative effort between the sponsoring organizations, Danielle Mollica of the AWCO said that the pop-up market idea was a great way to bring the community together.
Vendors who wish to participate at the farmers market should contact Katie Cariello, Food Programs Coordinator at the NECC. For information, go to katie@neccmillerton.org or phone 518-407-7030.
For general questions about attending the farmers market, call 845-863-4862 or email danielle@ameniawassaic.org.
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Amenia Town Hall
Photo by John Coston
AMENIA — Following months of meetings and significant discussion at the regular meeting of the Planning Board on Wednesday, June 25, the board voted 5-1 to approve Hudson River Housing’s conservation analysis document in connection with the Cascade Creek affordable housing project.
Planning Board chairman Robert Boyles cast the negative vote.
Senior Planner Peter Sander of Rennia Engineering asked the planning board to approve the conservation analysis that he indicated had been revised to accommodate conservation concerns.
“We feel that our plans provide benefit to all involved,” Sander said of the conservation analysis. Board member Ken Topolsky questioned the definition of “benefit,” leading Sander to reply that “benefit” indicated “no impact.”
Planning board member Foz Bullock asked how utilities can co-exist with conservation interests.
“Because the utilities are sub-surface, there is no visual impact, no impact to wildlife, and no soil removal. The bottom line is that what they are proposing agrees with code,” planning board engineer John Andrews said.
Topolsky asked about grading and erosion control at the Cascade Creek site. Sander explained that those elements are to be detailed within the preliminary subdivision mapping phase of the application process, the next step coming up.
“This is preliminary,” planning board attorney Paul Van Cott explained. “Beyond the non-binding conservation findings will be the subdivision planning phases.
Explaining the order of the process, Atty. Van Cott said that preliminary mapping will provide project layout that will address such issues as drainage, stormwater runoff, and State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) requirements.
“All of that comes before a public hearing,” Van Cott said.
“We’re here to listen,” Sander said. “We will address your concerns within the next set of plans,” Sander said.
In a process that began in January with preliminary plans described by Sander of Rennia Engineering, and a determination from planning board engineer John Andrews that a conservation analysis was needed, several meetings ensued. One of the meetings was a listening session in which HRH met with neighboring property owners and residents to hear their concerns. Those concerns led to revised conservation planning, presented to the Planning Board in March.
In May, a public hearing about the revised conservation planning was held with many residents’ comments focusing on site development rather than conservation planning.
Silo Ridge
In other action on Wednesday, June 25, a public hearing invited comment on Silo Ridge plans to revise its official plans to eliminate 13 townhouses and substitute ten condominiums in the same space on a single lot.
Of concern to planning board members was the likely tax receipt impact where the town would lose $48,000 in tax revenue based on the change to the site plan.
Silo Ridge consultant Patrick O’Leary agreed to provide more information explaining that the tax impact would be offset by new homes being planned for future construction.
The public hearing was held open until the next planning board meeting on Wednesday, July 9, awaiting O’Leary’s information.
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Amenia Town Hall
Photo by John Coston
AMENIA — Reporting that the conservation analysis in connection with the Keane Stud project remains incomplete, the developers sought advice from the Planning Borad at its regular meeting on Wednesday, June 25.
Representing the Keane Stud developers was attorney Diana Kolev, Partner of DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise & Wiederkehr, LLP, of White Plains. She indicated that she was following up on the discussion heard during the previous meeting on Wednesday, June 11.
Discussion focused on process involved in meeting the request made by the board’s visual impact consultant George Janes for a “reasonable worst case development” as a help toward preparing a Declaration of Covenant document and measuring visual impact on the viewshed.
Kolev reported that Janes had met with Senior Planner Peter Sander of Rennia Engineering.
“The discussion was fruitful,” Janes reported to the planning board.
“The applicants are creating a list of comparables,” Janes said, reporting that so far they have identified seven examples of homes, largely in the Smithfield Valley, that could provide models for the type of homes that might be constructed within the Keane Stud development as the proposed 10-acre lots are sold.
Janes advised that it may be more important to get the right examples, even if they are not located in Amenia.
The next step, Janes said, will be for the planning board to look at the comparables. Then the Keane Stud developers would set about preparing a three-dimensional model of the site proposal and the visual impact.
“How can the public be brought into the process,” asked board attorney Paul Van Cott.
Janes commented that the board needs to decide how much it wants to be involved.
“We talked about Covenant,” said board member Ken Topolsky, seeking assurance that any Covenant “will have teeth in it.”
“The view from DeLaVergne Hill has no comparability,” said resident Sharon Kroeger during the public comment portion of the meeting. “It is in history and folklore.”
Current plans for the Keane Stud subdivision came under planning board discussion beginning in October 2024, when Keane Stud owner Juan Torres indicated that a new site plan for the property was being prepared.
In early April, Senior Planner Peter Sander of Rennia Engineering detailed changes to the plan for the planning board. Later that month the planning board detailed various concerns, emphasizing the need for establishing Covenant restrictions.
Meetings in June have continued to seek to measure visual impact to the DeLaVergne Hill viewshed.
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