Senior housing versus traffic – residents say it’s too risky

Village of Woodbury residents and nearby communities took to the podium during the May 23 Woodbury Village Board meeting to speak out against a proposed zoning change that would enable a senior housing development to be built on land alongside Route 32 near Timber Trail.

A proposed local law, village attorney Kelly Naughton explained at the start of the public hearing for the proposed zoning amendment, would allow for a senior housing district to be located over certain village property. The law would result in some lot-line shifting, change some zoning, and resolve split zoning issues.

Project delays

Addressing the board, a representative for the applicant commented that the process has been ongoing since 2017. He claimed that in that time there has been a thorough review of the project including studies of wetlands, water supply, traffic, and rattlesnakes.

The representative mentioned that the project was assessed by the state department of environmental conservation in 2022 to address the wetlands issue. He said that this analysis led to the relocation of the planned stormwater pond.

Another representative for the project presented an overview of the property, highlighting proposed zone changes and location of senior housing. He explained that the property would consist of two buildings with a total of 84 two-bedroom units. He commented that he understood the area’s flooding history and offered assurances that there would be no increase based on this property.

Resident concerns

Despite the attempts to ease concerns about flooding issues, several residents spoke out against the project. One such resident, John Keller, said that the developers are not going to care about what happens outside of their property. He was among residents who were particularly concerned about a nearby mobile home park which has been devastated by flooding in the past.

“All you guys are going to do is worry about your building. You’re not going to care about people in the trailer park,” said Keller.

He implored the board to think about putting senior housing in another area. He also addressed the developers and told them to find another piece of property and start the process over again.

Residents were also concerned about the quality of life for the seniors inhabiting the proposed development and cited traffic safety issues and a lack of nearby amenities.

Robert Hunter commented that in the last 20 years the traffic on Route 32 has gotten ridiculous and that seniors cannot reasonably walk around the area.

“You expect senior citizens to walk in and out of this place? It’s not going to happen. They’re going to die. You need to look at this traffic; you need to control it,” said Hunter. He further commented that the village needs better traffic control and to be more pedestrian-friendly.

“I wish we had a walkable community, but we don’t. We don’t have proper sidewalks, we don’t have proper markings, and there are no stop lights where they should be. That has to change because the community is changing,” said Hunter.

Addressing some of the traffic concerns, the traffic consultant for the proposed senior housing project said the most recent study was conducted in 2020. He commented that the driving patterns of the residents would not likely align with typical peak traffic hours. He also spoke to concerns about the number of parking spaces needed and said that they can build a certain amount of parking in the first phase of the project and determine if additional parking is needed ahead of the second phase. Doing so would reduce the amount of impervious surface in the development and lessen the amount of water that comes off the site, the consultant said.

One of the project representatives spoke to the concerns about pedestrian safety and ease of getting around and shared that they were looking into providing a sidewalk to run along one side of Route 32 connecting to Ford Avenue. He also mentioned what he thought was the availability of a local dial-a-ride service, however the mayor confirmed that this was no longer available from the town of Woodbury. In response, the representative said to research county programs.

Next steps

After hearing from the applicant and the public, the board determined it could not vote on the proposed local law to amend the zoning code because the law was not in the hands of the trustees for enough time. Furthermore, the public will have another chance to share their input on the project, as the public hearing was extended until June 13.