Increase in traffic, neighborhood safety, site construction and loss of town character were brought forward during discussions on the proposed Monarch Woods Senior Housing project in the Town of Newburgh. On the evening of Thursday, July 7, the Town of Newburgh Planning Board held a public hearing for residents to speak and comment on the proposed development project.

Ross Winglovitz, representative of Engineering & Surveying Properties [ESP], PC, appeared before the public and planning board to speak on the project. This is not the first time that the project has come up before the planning board. “I recognize a lot of faces,” Winglovitz said.

The project proposes the construction of 102 new residential senior housing apartments. The constructed apartments are a mixture of one to two bedroom units. “There’s 78 two bedrooms and 24 one bedrooms,” said Winglovitz.

Amenities for the project include a proposed clubhouse and pool. Parking areas and a stormwater management facility are to be included on the site. The proposed project would also be served by town municipal water and sewer. The living development will only be available for senior residents of the town as per town code.

Planning Board documents indicated the proposed project is to be built in a section of wooded area at the intersection of Route 52 and Monarch Drive. Access to the property would be via a boulevard driveway into the site.

The site plan had originally featured a commercial bank but that facility was ultimately removed in the final site plan design. “There was a bank at this location. As part of the wetland delineation that was done, that bank was removed,” Winglovitz stated.

Previously proposed heights for the buildings would be 46.5 feet high, which makes the structure three stories. However, residents raised concerns about their privacy for their properties and with the community not being heavily lit, light pollution was also a concern should the site be built.
Other concerns from commentators were in regards to protection of the remaining wooded areas if the site were built, builder accountability and help with visual difficulties along Route 52 that can be seen from Patton Road.

Resident Brian Bodnar, who lives along Monarch Drive, raised concerns about the traffic coming into the area, the environmental impact and the feeling of loss of a sense of community.

“Living on Monarch Drive, I’m greatly concerned because we have a lot of kids in the neighborhood that walk to Stewart’s Shop [corner of Monarch Drive and Route 52] especially during the summer to get ice cream,” Bodnar said. “Monarch Drive, Patton, all that area is single family homes. You are taking a single family home neighborhood and turning it into a development site.”

Bald eagles, owls, hawks and falcons, which had been identified by Bodnar, are said to be living in the wooded areas along Route 52 and in the surrounding area.
Resident Heather Freilich directed a question for the planning board about not building new single family homes while instead, there is more construction of residential development properties here in the town. “Why are we letting all these commercial big properties come in and not have single family homes where we can own them? We can’t own this,” Freilich said. “People are moving up to New Paltz, up to Gardiner, because they don’t want to be in this area. My property value is going down because of stuff like this.”

Michaela Cummings of Monarch Drive asked what the timeline is for the project. “From start to finish, are you going to give us an estimated amount of time for the project,” Cummings said. The response provided was that the project would take about two to three years to complete.

Other comments that came up were for a review of the traffic along 52 and to ensure builder accountability on the project.

Planning board members thanked the commentators for attending the meeting and also thanked the applicant for following the town codes very thoroughly during the planning board process. Landscaping reviews, review of emergency access routes, a stormwater facilities maintenance agreement, cost estimates for water and sewer, and additional permits and technical comments from Patrick Hines of MHE Engineering will need further clarification and review. The project will appear before the zoning board and town board and await a final approval and vote decision.