The owner of a parcel of land comprising 139 acres on Cedar Hill Road in the Town of Wappinger in Dutchess County wants to subdivide the property for a residential development. The project would consist of either 88 single-family homes or 22 multi-family buildings with four units in each. The owner is asking that the town consider making zoning changes that would be required for the multi-family development. The residential subdivision has been named Joey Estates. The developer is Mid Hudson Development Corp. owned by John Goetz and based in Hopewell Junction.
Amy Bombardieri of the Wappingers Falls-based firm Day Stokosa Engineering PC, described the 88-lot single-family subdivision as being as-of-right. She said if the town allows multi-family buildings the residences could be sold for about half of the price that would have to be charged if the project went ahead on an as-of-right basis. A section of the Town of Wappinger’s Zoning Code that Bombardieri cited allows modification of minimum lot sizes and the approval of conservation or cluster developments.
“The as-of-right development includes extensive infrastructure costs and as a result the projected starting price for a single-family home in the proposed as-of-right development is upwards of $950,000,” Bombardieri said. She added that with zoning changes a project could be built with home prices projected to start at $450,000.
Bombardieri held out the prospect that townhouses, condominiums or apartments would help meet the changing needs of the community. She said there would be less impact on the land from a project with multi-family buildings.
“The subdivision application presents a dwelling unit count of eighty-eight. Water will be provided through a private water supply system. The subdivision will be serviced by 1.94 miles of road, storm water management and infrastructure features,” Bombardieri said.
She explained that the use of Town Code §240-19 to permit multi-family structures would benefit the environment by reducing of the length of the internal road that would have to be built from 1.94 miles to 0.28 miles.
Bombardieri said that if single-family homes were built there would be about 46 acres left as open space while the layout of 22 multi-family buildings would leave up to 117 acres of undisturbed land.
Other claimed benefits of the multi-family approach to the project include saving water and generating less traffic. Bombardieri cited engineering calculations indicating that the multi-family concept would result in approximately one-third fewer road trips than would the single-family layout.
Bombardieri pointed out that the town’s Comprehensive Plan says, “Very few alternatives to single-family detached homes have been built in the town over the past 20 years.”
