Amenia hears revisions to Keane Stud subdivision plan

Amenia Town Hall on Route 22.
Photo by John Coston
AMENIA — Continuing the process of developing subdivision plans for the Keane Stud acreage, the Planning Board heard a report from the planning engineers detailing a few plan changes at its regular meeting on Wednesday, April 9.
Representing Rennia Engineers, Senior Planner Peter Sander detailed plans for the parcel that stands in two zones: Rural Agricultural and Rural Residential, both requiring minimum lots of 5 acres.
Sander reported that two parcels have been removed from the planning, reducing the acreage from 704 to 605 total acres. The number of lots has been reduced from 27 to 23.
“We’ve enhanced the building envelopes,” Sander noted, having considered concerns about protecting the viewshed. Accordingly, 90% of each parcel will be reserved for conservation; 10% will be able to be built upon, Sander said.
The plans include a no vertical build zone in the area visible from Delavergne Hill, Sander said, adding that deed restrictions will limit the scale of development on each parcel.
Commenting on the plan changes, planning board engineer John Andrews asked that the plan drawings detail the outlined changes to agree with written submissions.
Sander said that the developer is asking for board input as well as comments from George Janes, the town’s visual resources consultant.
One of the visible impacts is the greenery or vegetative screening around each future home, board member Jamie Vitiello commented.
Covenant requirements are important in each instance, Andrews responded, citing lighting, building materials, and plantings that can be specified.
“The visuals flow from the deed restrictions,” Andrews said, noting that each building site plan will need to be considered by the planning board.
Board member Ken Topolsky asked about the permanence of the deed restrictions.
Andrews replied that when properly done, the restrictions run with the land, unless there are agreed-upon amendments. He added that the town will be a party to any such agreement.
“We want to listen to the Planning Board,” said owner-developer Juan Torres. He added that a footprint guide has been sketched on the plans for each future home with the height of each home restricted to between 21 and 28 feet, a protection against visibility. Plans have also specified a maximum amount of impervious surface on each sketched lot.
“If a future buyer wants to build a home, they will need to come before the Planning Board,” Torres noted. “This will help to ensure that the land remains agricultural into the future,” Torres added.
The Planning Board will continue discussion of the revised plans at its next meeting on Wednesday, April 23.
Built in 1820, 1168 Bangall Amenia Road sold for $875,000 on July 31 with the transfer recorded in August. It has a Millbrook post office and is located in the Webutuck school district.
STANFORD — The Town of Stanford with nine transfers in two months reached a median price in August of $573,000 for single family homes, still below Stanford’s all-time median high in August 2024 of $640,000.
At the beginning of October there is a large inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with only six of the 18 homes listed for below the median price of $573,000 and seven above $1 million.
July transfers
79 Ernest Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 6.87 acres in 2 parcels sold to Matthew C. Marinetti for $1,225,000.
29 Drake Road — 3 bedroom/3.5 bath home on 2 acres sold to Harper Montgomery for $850,000.
6042 Route 82 — 4 bedroom/2 bath home on 1.09 acres sold to Spencer Thompson for $795,000.
125 Tick Tock Way — 3 bedroom/2.5 bath ranch on 1.9 acres sold to Fleur Touchard for $475,000.
August transfers
102 Prospect Hill Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on 6.35 acres sold to Karl Creighton Pfister for $565,000.
252 Ernest Road — 2 bedroom/1 bath cottage on .85 acres sold to Meg Bumie for $465,000.
1196 Bangall Amenia Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 2.16 acres sold to Roderick Alleyne for $875,000.
Hunns Lake Road (#759929) — 59.1 acres of residential land sold to Argos Farm LLC for $3,325,000.
* Town of Stanford recorded real estate transfers from July 1 to August 31 provided by Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly transfer reports. Details on each property from Dutchess Parcel Access - properties with an # indicate location on Dutchess Parcel Access. Market data from One Key MLS and Infosparks .Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Harlem Valley area activity reportSept. 18 to Sept. 30.
Sept. 23 — Deputies responded to 1542 State Route 292 in the Town of Pawling for the report of a suspicious vehicle at that location. Investigation resulted in the arrest of Sebastian Quiroga, age 26, for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree. Quiroga to appear in the Town of Pawling court at a later date.
Sept. 30 — Deputies responded to Woodside Street in the Town of Pine Plains for a past-occurred verbal domestic dispute between a stepfather and stepson.Matter resolved without further police intervention.
PLEASE NOTE:All subjects arrested and charged are alleged to have committed the crime and are presumed innocent until proven guilty and are to appear in local courts later.
If you have any information relative to the aforementioned criminal cases, or any other suspected criminal activity please contact the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 845-605-CLUE (2583) or Emaildcsotips@gmail.com.All information will be kept confidential.
Hunt club members and friends gathered near Pugsley Hill at the historic Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia for the opening meet of the 2025-2026 Millbrook Hunt Club season on Saturday, Oct. 4. Foxhunters took off from Wethersfield’s hilltop gardens just after 8 a.m. for a hunting jaunt around Amenia’s countryside.
Joining in the fun at the dedication of the new pollinator pathway garden at The Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4, local expert gardener Maryanne Snow Pitts provides information about a planting to Lorraine Mirabella of Poughkeepsie.
MILLBROOK — Participating in a patchwork of libraries that have planted pollinator pathway gardens to attract insects and birds to their native plantings was one of the accomplishments being celebrated at the dedication of a new pollinator garden at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4.
“A lot of work went into it,” said Emma Sweeney, past President of the Millbrook Garden Club, who started the local library’s initiative two years ago.
The Pollinator Pathway program is a national effort to plant native plants that native insects depend upon for sustenance and preferred plants for their own seasonal reproduction.
Jana Hogan of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Executive Director of the Pollinator Pathway program, was on hand to present a plaque to the library for its successful participation.
“A garden is not just a garden,” said garden designer Andy Durbridge of Wassaic, designer of the library’s garden. “It may serve as a model for other gardens along the line.”
Speaking to the 50 visitors at the dedication, Durbridge said that the library’s garden has a mission, that it is a working garden, planned to serve insects and birds over their seasons. The earliest plants support pollinators, while the full range of plants continues to serve the needs of those they attract, offering habitat, shelter and food.
A pollinator garden is akin to a prairie, rather than a formalized European garden, Durbridge noted.
The garden project was supported by the library’s Friends group using funds raised during the Holiday Silent Auction and ongoing book sale. A grant from the Millbrook Garden Club also provided support.