Winston Farm development intensifies water supply concerns in Saugerties
Developers want to add 10,000-seat amphitheater, adventure park and more to iconic 800-acre land parcel and former site of Woodstock ‘94
by Alexandra Zissu
April 27, 2022
The Village of Saugerties is approaching the 1.8 million gallons-per-day maximum its reservoir can provide, sharpening concerns about large-scale developments in the village that could further strain the water supply, such as the proposed Winston Farm project. The issue was among those discussed at the Saugerties village board meeting in early April.
The historic 800-acre farm, a rare unfragmented parcel with ties to George Washington, Woodstock ’94 and a wide range of wildlife, sits atop the aquifer. In 2020, the farm was sold to three local businessmen — John Mullen, Anthony Montano and Randy Richers — for about $4 million. In 2017, the property was listed for over $10 million.
The trio has proposed rezoning and developing the land into a $600 million mixed-use destination venue that would include a 10,000-seat amphitheater, adventure park, multi-unit housing, technology park, campgrounds, and hiking trails. The Winston Farm project was presented to the Saugerties Town Board in September, and developers filed a zoning change request to create a planned development district.
Any actual building on the property, which sits adjacent to the NY Thruway exit at the intersection of routes 32 and 212, is still years away; an 18-to-24-month State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) is required and will commence shortly, says a spokesperson for Winston Farm. But the battle over the use of the land rages on today.
“The two biggest things are the water issues and the habitat destruction. And this is just the tip of the iceberg,” says Kate Hagerman, program manager at Catskill Mountainkeeper. “The developers are envisioning a massive commercial development that would destroy intact habitats on the site and could impact drinking water, species of concern, and communities further downstream to the Hudson.”
“They asked for the moon in the initial plan and are seeing what’s going to stick and what they can get,” says Ken Devine, a Winston Farm neighbor and member of Beautiful Saugerties, a group of about 200 local citizens concerned about the scale of the proposed project.
Scoping will be the first step in the environmental review process and will begin soon, according to a Winston Farm spokesperson.
History of fighting proposed uses of Winston Farm
Three developers have proposed rezoning and developing Winston Farm into a $600 million mixed-use destination venue that would include a 10,000-seat amphitheater.
The Ulster County Office of Economic Development
This is not the first time development plans for Winston Farm have spurred community action. None of them, including a casino, have ever come to fruition. There’s even a mural in town depicting triumph over a proposed landfill on the property. Fighting Winston Farm proposals is in Saugerties’ DNA.
“There is a deep-rooted history on the property,” says Fred Costello, Saugerties Town Supervisor. James O. Winston, who the farm was named after, was the primary contractor on the Ashokan Dam. George Washington was said to have spent the night at the farm during the Revolutionary War. It’s where Woodstock ’94 was held.
Most recently, the parcel was owned by a family, the Schallers, for about 40 years. They sought economic uses for their land but were frequently rejected by the town. Frustrated, they worked with the town to find out what the community would accept — a laborious process that took place over a decade ago.
“People wanted public access and open space,” recalls Costello, plus local jobs and non-intensive use of the land. The next step for the Schallers would have been to rezone the land to a planned development district — as the current developers are seeking to do — which would have triggered a costly environmental review looking at impacts on water, habitat, traffic, and more. The Schallers declined and eventually sold the property.
The new owners are picking up where the Schallers left off. “It is their want to finish the zoning change and … go through this process to create (something) the community agrees would be more representative of highest and best use of the land, celebrate historic features, and create open space that the public hopes to see in that development,” Costello says.
Local owners: we would construct a wellhead
At a media briefing in March, and at an Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce meeting on April 20, the Winston Farm ownership trio shared their plans to develop the land in a “responsible” way, saying that the proposed ideas are a range of things they are contemplating at this early stage. While everything is on the table, they said, the environmental review will ultimately winnow the ideas list.
Still, Costello likes the amphitheater concept. “The science we collect will define what the impacts of traffic and noise might be.”
Considering traffic and water consultants and legal fees, the review will likely cost the developers millions of dollars, says Costello. The town will be the lead agent on the review, which raises public concern that Saugerties officials have a vested interest in working with the developers to see the site prepped, rezoned and sold off.
Costello makes no secret of wanting the rezoning. Under current zoning, the owners could build homes and retail, which does not address the community’s desires for jobs, affordable housing and open green space, according to the 2011 review process with the Schallers.
“I can’t speak for everyone in town, but a high percent think that would be a failure on everybody who can make a differences’ part,” he says.
This may all be moot; environmental impact could undo any plans. “There are statutes in place for air pollution. With all the wildlife that lives there, how in the world can they legitimize the destruction of the woods and the fields?” says Marjory Greenberg-Vaughn, a Winston Farm neighbor and member of Beautiful Saugerties, referring to birds, bears, bobcats, turtles, salamanders, and pollinators currently living in unfragmented forests and intact meadows.
Water appears to be the most obvious potential dealbreaker. Saugerties is facing a looming crisis in terms of its water supply, and Winston Farm sits on the aquifer. It’s possible Saugerties could partner with private developers for water, which begs more than a few questions about public resources.
On the Winston Farm website, the developers say they would “construct another wellhead, water treatment facility and distribution network on the Winston Farm property to provide a much-needed secondary source for the village and potable water for the Winston Farm project.”
“Even a fairly extensive development of that property could lead us to more water resources than we started with. That’s rare. You don’t see that often. We don’t know the answer yet. It’s a possibility,” says Costello.
Murky waters
Devine, who is turning 50 acres adjacent to Winston Farm into a farming start-up — that parcel was used for Woodstock ’94 camping and parking — is certain water puts the developers in a precarious position. One of the developers, Richers, is also involved with a car wash proposal that would be built near Winston Farm.
All three properties are inside an “environmentally sensitive aquifer overlay district which is why nothing too untoward can happen here,” says Devine.
This project — called Denier car wash — triggered a 2020 hydrological study that concluded that every effort should be made to protect the water and that alternate project locations outside the aquifer overlay district should be considered. A car wash is a lot smaller in scope than the Winston Farm proposal.
“I can’t believe the town hasn’t thrown it out yet. They have opened this Pandora’s Box and put water back on the table as the key issue. This is like when New York State was considering fracking. New York didn’t go through with fracking. Pennsylvania did. Those people are still drinking bottled water,” says Devine.
Any pollution entering the aquifer — from a car wash or a total revamp of Winston Farm — would be hard to undo.
On an environmental assessment form, the three owners show plans to build 200 acres of impervious surfaces (roads, roofs, and parking lots), as well as 175 acres of lawns, and would fill in an acre of the Beaverkill stream corridor.
“This is important because stormwater picks up the pollution that’s on the blacktop as well as pesticides and herbicides, which they have said they plan to use, and will all flow into the Beaverkill Stream … which flows into the Kaaterskill Creek which eventually feeds into the Hudson River,” says Hagerman.
Clearcutting of trees also negatively impacts the amount of water available to the aquifer as well as water quality. Hagerman wishes the developers would withdraw their zoning petition and “consult with independent hydrologists and ecologists to assess the natural assets.” Then they could re-propose a smarter project that treads lightly on the aquifer and wildlife.
“If the process is successful we aren’t going to make everyone happy,” says Costello, noting that there will be no shovel in the ground until 2024 — “if we are lucky.”
“I probably won’t be here by the time they put that shovel in the ground, which would be okay with me,” says Greenberg-Vaughn, who is 77. “Do you remember Tiananmen Square? I’m going to lay down. Let them run over me.”
