GARDINER -- The developers who have proposed building 349 homes on the slopes
below the Shawangunk Ridge cliffs have formally appealed a decision that
threatens to derail the project.
Gardiner ruled this month that a sewage treatment plant could not be built under
town zoning law. Without a plant, fewer homes could be built.
Chaffin/Light Associates, the developer for the 2,660-acre Awosting Reserve and
its owner John Atwater Bradley, filed an appeal with the zoning board of appeals
Oct. 23, Deputy Town Clerk Jewell Turner said.
In the appeal, the developer argues that provisions in county and state law
should allow review of the development to continue under the state Environmental
Quality Review Act, rather than being derailed by a ''technicality,'' said Roger
Beck, president of Awosting Reserve project.
''The local zoning law is in conflict with the state and county law, and we
think that the state and county law should take precedence here,'' Beck said.
The proposal to build the gated community and golf course triggered an outcry
from some residents in the region, led by the group Save the Ridge, which has
littered the landscape with campaign-style signs opposing the project.
''Not only is the Awosting Reserve against the master plan, it's also against
the zoning codes,'' said Amy Little, coordinator of Save the Ridge. ''It's a
no-brainer. They should not grant the appeal.''
The Gardiner zoning board of appeals meets Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the firehouse
on Route 44/55 in Gardiner.
