Woodstockers hear case for affordable housing

By Norma Jean Howland , Correspondent Daily Freeman Friday, February 25, 2005

WOODSTOCK - About 100 residents filled the Woodstock Firehouse this week to hear a presentation of plans for an affordable housing project that would be built behind the Bradley Meadows shopping center.

Known as Woodstock Commons, the project had initially called for 81 units, but has been scaled back to 63. It would include rental units ranging from one to three bedrooms each, three buildings of units targeted for first-time home buyers, and a separate building for senior citizens.

Kevin O'Connor, executive director of the Rural Ulster Preservation Co., a non-profit affordable housing provider based in Kingston, said income levels for the project would be based on median income for Ulster County, currently $59,300 for a family of four.

Home ownership units would allow household incomes at 80 percent of that figure, and rentals at 60 percent, though O'Connor said there is a chance that number could drop to 50 percent, depending on family size.

"It is designed for working-class folks," O'Connor said.

O'Connor said the plans were revised in response to residents' concerns, including change in the architectural design itself, which is leaning towards the Arts and Crafts style.

"Our goal is to walk away saying 'This is your project - Woodstock's project,'" O'Connor said. "Woodstock, known as a colony of the arts, is becoming increasingly in danger of losing that identity. Struggling artists and the creative community can no longer afford to live here."

O'Connor noted that Woodstock has a housing vacancy rate near zero. "There is a tremendous need for mixed affordable housing," he said.

Although the parcel contains wetlands, plans maintain that more than 65 percent of the land will remain untouched. The parcel contains about 27 acres, of which about 6 acres are suitable for building.

O'Connor said the state Department of Environmental Conservation is expected to issue a permit for wetlands access for the site.

Responding to other environmental concerns, O'Connor said plans call for a geothermal design for heating and cooling for the units, which would mean that no gas or oil would be needed on the site. He said a traffic study is planned this summer.

O'Connor said that a local committee will be put into place to oversee leasing and reach out to Woodstock residents. "We think there will be outstanding representation from Woodstock residents," he said.

Peter Reynolds, the project's senior designer for the project, urged the community to take care of its working-class residents.

"Woodstock is one of the communities that really is only for upper income people," said Reynolds. "This is a terrific opportunity for Woodstock. ... Woodstock can set an example. I don't think this is a project you will regret."

Although many residents at the meeting were in favor of an affordable housing project in the hamlet, some spoke out against it.

"It's too big," said Iris York. "It's a lot of traffic on a very narrow road."

"I'm not against affordable housing, but I am against where it's going," said Harry Castiglione, the Democratic Ulster County elections commissioner, who has lived on nearby Plochmann Lane for 45 years.

Michael Berg, director of Family of Woodstock, urged residents to think about families, noting that 2000 Census figures counted only 205 children under 5 years old living in town.

"If we don't do something, we won't have any young children or families ... that mix that makes the town special," said Berg.

Resident Sam Mercer spoke in favor of affordable housing and shared his memories about the difficulties of finding housing during the Great Depression, when his family took in another family who had lost their home.

"There are still people who have that need," said Mercer. "This is something that is desperately needed."

The project still faces a review by the town Planning Board.

©Daily Freeman 2005

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