A final public hearing for the project known as Longview Farm, a 27 lot subdivision, was closed on Thursday, June 15 followed by final conditional approval by the Town of Newburgh Planning Board. The subdivision was represented by the firm T.M. DePuy Engineering & Land Surveying, PC.

Patrick Hines of MHE Engineering provided an overview of the project to the public on Thursday night. “This project has been before the planning board since 2006. It got preliminary approval in 2008. It received a conditional final approval in substantially the same form as it is today in 2009. The [planning] board thought it was appropriate to hold a new public hearing in order to allow any new neighbors or any people that weren’t aware that this project was still ongoing to have a chance to review and comment on the project,” said Hines.

Proposed access to the project would be off of Holmes Road, Barbara Drive and Dara Drive. Individual wells and subsurface sanitary sewer disposal systems will service the lots as previously presented. A storm water management plan has been developed and a town drainage district will be established for the site.

The drainage district does not include the current homeowners in the area which engineer Thomas DePuy stated and this would be the 12th drainage district in the town with project approval. DePuy provided several updates from the previous public hearing to address concerns from residents about changes in addresses. “Barbara Drive will be extended all the way through into Merritt Lane. Summer Drive will be extended through and meet up with Dara Drive,” said DePuy. Other details about the project list that it be developed in phases and would involve the disturbance of 87.8 plus -or-minus acres with each lot proposed from one acre or more acres in size. Each of the units proposed would feature three to four bedrooms with the wells constructed to accommodate that number of individuals living there.

During the public comment period, Jared Todisco inquired to the board about the developments as part of the Marlborough School District to which the comment was addressed that the BOCES program had been notified of this subdivision plan.

“I was curious if we can implement any more safety regulations in the neighborhood, like lowering the speed limit on Holmes Road, because Frozen Ridge and Carter [Avenue] both have lower speed limits,” said Heather Todisco. “Also, the intersection of Holmes and Lattintown currently has one stop sign. I was wondering if we could make that like a three way stop sign. We’ve had several drunk driving accidents on our front yard.”

In order to make changes to the speed limit and including a three way stop sign, an engineering study would need to be done in order to seek any recommendations on those changes, according to Creighton Manning Engineering. Requests can also be made to the Town of Newburgh Board.

The Todiscos’ comments about traffic concerns also raised more questions regarding traffic in the area as there has been an increase in residents thus an increase in vehicles, and again the speed limit was requested to be lowered. Another resident also asked if the roads would be paved, which would need to be addressed by the town highway superintendent according to Hines.

“I’m wondering what the timeframe is for this project to commence and where it says it’s going to be done in phases where it’s going to start,” said resident Alyssa Derosa. According to DePuy, the phases would begin on the eastern side of the property in section one of the plans, where Derosa’s property was located, and would continue until the completion of section four. The project would commence three to four months after approval. According to the town code, the project is subject to the architectural review by the town due to having more than 10 lots, and with this review, the town would look to not have each house built look exactly like each other. “It [the building style of these homes] directly reflects on our homes, our neighborhood, our house values, the Town of Newburgh’s image, reputation, everything, it’s all rolled in,” said resident Kevin Bento.

Final comments prepared by MHE Engineering addressed Health Department approval, coverage under the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Construction Stormwater Permit must be obtained; the project must be in compliance with the Tree Preservation ordinance; cost estimates for public improvements need review; town board approval for road names would need to be addressed; an alternate curb would need to be reviewed by the highway department; and a landscape inspection and security fee will be required for street trees for the project. The planning board closed the public hearing and thanked all residents for their comments and input on the project over the course of the hour.