Progress in Pine Plains: Developer "Starting Over" on Carvel Proposal

The June 4, 2008 meeting of the Pine Plains Planning Board marked a major turning point in the ongoing saga of plans to develop the former Carvel property. In response to the public comment process -- including an ecologic assessment by Scenic Hudson -- representatives from the Durst Organization and Landmark Land Company announced that significant revisions are being made to the original large-scale development proposal with conservation as the focus.

In the Scenic Hudson study, Dr. Michael Klemens demonstrated that the original proposal's 951 widely-spaced units would be "ecologically damaging" and would cause widespread harm to important habitat and wildlife species by permanently fragmenting of over 2,200 acres of rich Hudson Valley open space. Additional details -- including links to download Dr. Klemen's report -- are available here.

Developers are now reconsidering the original plan to spread 951 units throughout an ecologically-sensitive landscape in Pine Plains/Milan.