Silo Ridge - Millerton News

11/27/2008 - Findings Statement within reach for Silo Ridge

Amenia
Findings Statement within reach for Silo Ridge
By CORY ALLYN
11/27/2008

AMENIA — It all seems to be winding down for the Planning Board and the process to produce a Findings Statement for Silo Ridge Resort Community's Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS).

Recently on the Silo Ridge timeline, the FEIS was accepted on Sept. 18. A public comment consideration period lasted until Oct. 24. The Planning Board is now in the position to issue a Findings Statement, the final step before the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) is complete.

Consultants to the board have been working on a draft Findings Statement for a number of weeks now, and the meeting last Thursday, Nov. 20, brought them another step closer to finalization.

According to Planning Board Chairman George Fenn, the last major issue was resolved during Thursday's meeting, and the only remaining step for the consultants is to finish their draft for the board.

That last issue involved a collection of 19 vineyard houses on the north side of Route 44.

"There were worries about the effect of having that construction there on the storm water," Fenn said. "The consultants were concerned about keeping enough of a buffer zone between the houses" and two watercourses that make their way through the area.

A plan was produced which favored the "reasonably successful attempt," as Fenn put it, to redistribute the houses. Fenn stated that it seemed they had been able to include enough buffering to protect the watercourses.

Although it was not a unanimous board decision, the majority of the board felt that it should move ahead with that proposed plan of action. The next step will be for the consultants to draft the Findings Statement; Fenn speculated that the "new model [Silo Ridge has] presented is going to be the basis of the final plan. "

Once a draft is submitted to the Planning Board, it is the board's job to look the document over and revise it accordingly. Fenn said he hopes the document will be submitted at the next board meeting on Dec. 4, although he acknowledged that some consultants "gnashed their teeth at the idea. " The Planning Board will ultimately take ownership of the final copy.

"I would hope that by the next meeting we can put this thing to bed," Fenn concluded, saying if a draft is prepared by Dec. 4, the Findings Statement could be completed at the Dec. 18 meeting.

The next Planning Board meeting is scheduled for Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.

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