A proposed senior housing development brought Wawarsing's town board, planning board and their attorneys to the table to discuss a zoning change requested by Wawarsing Estates developers and their attorney, Gerald Jacobowitz, who joined town officials to provide further clarification.

Wawarsing Estates, designed for active adults, 55 and older, will consist of approximately 182 units in 7 buildings, and will be located on property near the intersection of Routes 209 and 44/55. The zoning change, written by the developer's attorney, increases the allowed height of the buildings from 2.5 to 3.5 stories for this project.

Planning Board Attorney Mary Lou Christiana said that it is perfectly legitimate for the project developer to propose legislation specific to the project but, "you [the town board] can change it however you want."

She said the proposed zoning applies to the whole town (to avoid the appearance of "spot zoning"), but village officials may prefer to limit the extended height requirement to the Rte. 209 valley corridor.

Chazen Company engineer Larry Boudreau presented a modified rendering of the planned construction that he said used vegetation to screen the buildings, reduced the number of buildings from 10 to 7, and mitigated flooding and loss of wetlands.

Boudreau said the fact that the project is in a flood plain dictates putting parking below the living space. With underground parking, the 3 floors of living space would be about a foot above the flood plain designation, and reach a height of about 50 feet, including the roof line.

The Kerhonkson sewer district is about to get a costly overhaul, and Dolaway said the added revenue from this project would help defray costs to current users. The developer would pay for the necessary extension of water and sewer lines from the Kerhonkson district.

Tom Geelan expressed concerns about the project becoming low-income rental units if they didn't sell after being built. Jacobowitz said the condo units would be sold at market rate, and lenders would fund each phase of the project depending on the pre-sale of a percentage of the units.

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