Group Home Omitted from environmental application for their 122-unit housing project by Dominican Sisters of Sparkill in their push for zoning law change
September 9, 2023For Immediate Release
Lasher House - proximity to project
SAUGERTIES, New York – Saugerties residents reported, at a Town Board public hearing on September 6, that the Lasher House group home, on Spaulding Lane, was omitted from the Full Environmental Assessment Form application, FEAF, submitted over a year ago by the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill. They selected “No” and failed to identify the facility in the question asking, “Are there any facilities serving children, the elderly, people with disabilities (e.g., schools, hospitals, licensed day care centers, or group homes) within 1500 feet of the project site”. They seek a zoning law change required to build their 3-story, 122-unit apartment complex at the end of Spaulding Lane.
The Lasher House group home, owned by the state and run by Cerebral Palsy of Ulster County houses 8 full-time adult residents with severe developmental disabilities and 12 employees. The facility, now Wraparound Services of the Hudson Valley, has housed residents since 1978 and shares a 3-acre property line with the Dominican Sisters property. Besides the four 3-story buildings, the proposal outlines one of two 59-vehicle parking lots in front of the residents’ outdoor nature deck and removing 162 mature trees. Staff at the home say the deck, recently replaced, is one of the activities offering residents peace and enjoyment. Residents are wheelchair bound but they enjoy the sound of the birds and watch the animals in the woods beyond the deck.
The FEAF application omission was reported by property owner Cathy Anderson whose property abuts the group home and the apartment project. Anderson became concerned about the impact of the development project on the group home behind her property when managers of the Lasher House weren’t aware of the project as of just a few weeks ago. “While I’m unhappy about this monstrous building that will be built next door, I was shocked to learn that the sisters omitted critical information about the group home. The view of the woods and nature, that’s all these residents have, it’s why the home is here, for peace and tranquility. Now they’ll be looking at parked cars and breathing in fumes,” said Anderson. “I’m also shocked and confused how the sisters didn’t even care to consider these disabled residents right next door.”
Anderson and over 150 property owner along Spaulding Lane, Spaulding Court, Terri Drive, Carpenter Lane, Simmons Street, and Meadow Court have signed a petition against the apartment complex project citing concerns about the size being too large for the quiet, dead end street, safety due to an increase in traffic getting in and out of 9W and driving up and down the lane, a lack of infrastructure to support it and more.
The Saugerties Town Board has scheduled a second Public Hearing for Tuesday, September 26th at 5:30pm at the Saugerties Senior Center, 207 Market Street, Saugerties, NY. The public hearings are scheduled prior to the board voting on the zoning law requested by the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill and their developer.
The Lasher House group home, owned by the state and run by Cerebral Palsy of Ulster County houses 8 full-time adult residents with severe developmental disabilities and 12 employees. The facility, now Wraparound Services of the Hudson Valley, has housed residents since 1978 and shares a 3-acre property line with the Dominican Sisters property. Besides the four 3-story buildings, the proposal outlines one of two 59-vehicle parking lots in front of the residents’ outdoor nature deck and removing 162 mature trees. Staff at the home say the deck, recently replaced, is one of the activities offering residents peace and enjoyment. Residents are wheelchair bound but they enjoy the sound of the birds and watch the animals in the woods beyond the deck.
The FEAF application omission was reported by property owner Cathy Anderson whose property abuts the group home and the apartment project. Anderson became concerned about the impact of the development project on the group home behind her property when managers of the Lasher House weren’t aware of the project as of just a few weeks ago. “While I’m unhappy about this monstrous building that will be built next door, I was shocked to learn that the sisters omitted critical information about the group home. The view of the woods and nature, that’s all these residents have, it’s why the home is here, for peace and tranquility. Now they’ll be looking at parked cars and breathing in fumes,” said Anderson. “I’m also shocked and confused how the sisters didn’t even care to consider these disabled residents right next door.”
Anderson and over 150 property owner along Spaulding Lane, Spaulding Court, Terri Drive, Carpenter Lane, Simmons Street, and Meadow Court have signed a petition against the apartment complex project citing concerns about the size being too large for the quiet, dead end street, safety due to an increase in traffic getting in and out of 9W and driving up and down the lane, a lack of infrastructure to support it and more.
The Saugerties Town Board has scheduled a second Public Hearing for Tuesday, September 26th at 5:30pm at the Saugerties Senior Center, 207 Market Street, Saugerties, NY. The public hearings are scheduled prior to the board voting on the zoning law requested by the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill and their developer.
View from Lasher House Deck