Hudson River Housing invites residents’ views

AMENIA — Hudson River Housing representatives met with residents and neighboring property owners on Tuesday, Jan. 28, to hear residents’ views in advance of an upcoming workforce housing project site plan proposal for property on Cascade Road in Amenia. About 25 residents turned out to offer comments.

Representing Hudson River Housing, a Poughkeepsie non-profit in the early stages of planning for the conservation subdivision, were Mary Linge, Vice-president for real estate development, Project Engineer Peter Sander of Rennia Engineering and Jordan Schinella, community development manager.

Describing the information session as a courtesy to area residents, Linge emphasized that the meeting was not a part of the public hearing process on the subdivision. The present work at the housing nonprofit is to engage in land planning by defining acreage size and conservation and habitat study.

Comments heard from residents will receive consideration when drafting the site plan, Linge said.

Engineer Sander described the ongoing land conservation study phase now underway, estimating the acreage at about 24 acres although actual property boundary lines are still being determined. He noted that to comply with regulations governing land use, half of the acreage — 12 acres — must be conserved to be allowed to plan for 28 smaller hamlet lots sharing communal water and septic systems.

“Once the Planning Board approves the conservation plan, then we design the subdivision site plan showing proposed house lots and roads,” Sander said.

What has been done so far, Sander explained, is to hire the services of a biologist to review any habitats and wetlands, noting that no bog turtles have been discovered. An archeologist has searched for arrow points or evidence of burial grounds with none found.
A traffic study is underway, but so far has indicated no impact, Sander said, explaining that a finding of fewer than 100 trips per day is a finding of no impact. He said that he was conscious of neighbors’ concerns about potential for increased traffic.

To resident Kenny Merritt’s questioning the location of the leach field and its mapped location far to the rear of the development, Sander said that he could look into moving the feature to another location on the map.

Dutchess County regulations mandate that such septic features must handle all of the effluent generated by the development, Sander added.

“We will look into moving it,” Sander said.

To a resident’s question about what makes the site able to handle 28 homes, fearing that the septic feature will be saturated by water run-off, Sander replied that the site does support the needs of the development.

“How do you know if there is enough water?” Housing Board member Gaye Parise asked about water supply. Sander replied that 110 gallons per day per bedroom is the standard, or 440 gallons for four bedrooms. The rate of recharge is also calculated, allowing for storm water treatment and management systems to assist with recharge planning.

Modular homes of varying designs are planned for the development with a minimum of 20 feet between structures. To Merritt’s question about square footage and utilities, Sander replied that those details are yet to be established.

For those decisions, Hudson River Housing would prefer to have the homebuyers identified to allow them to make decisions on design options.

Fire department officer and Planning Board chairman Robert Boyles asked whether the homes will be outfitted with sprinkler systems and learned that home sprinklers would not be likely to be included.

Residents were concerned about the system for finding homebuyers for the development. Linge responded that a lottery system will be utilized to select the families who will be offered the opportunity.

Some residents doubted the need for affordable housing at all. Sander saw it as a moral issue facing many communities.
Wassaic resident Josh Frankel said it had been helpful to hear details.

“I know businesses in the area can’t find people to work locally,” Frankel said.

Other residents favored the plan, finding the location on Cascade Road to be a good addition to the neighborhood.

“We want to build something that’s needed in a way that people are comfortable with it,” Linge said, adding that construction would be planned in four phases, seven homes at a time.

“We are grateful that you’re here,” Merritt commented on behalf of residents, appreciative of Hudson River Housing’s willingness to engage in conversation. He suggested also that local contractors and workers be considered for hire whenever possible for aspects of the construction.