Letter to the Editor

Over twenty people sacrificed several hours in the middle of a spectacular Sunday afternoon to attend ImagineAmenia's spring meeting at the Amenia Presbyterian Church. Our speaker was Kathy Schibanoff, who is the local liaison for the Dover Knolls Development Co.II. LLC; she described for us the plans for Dover Knolls, the current status of the project, and some of the hurdles that still have to be cleared before construction (which is in fact demolition) can actually begin. Most of these hurdles, interestingly, have been thrown up by the State of New York, which originally built the site as the Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center, was at best a poor custodian of the land, and abandoned most of the buildings when it closed the site some 18 years ago. The DEC wants the (State-constructed) golf course moved away from the Swamp River and the honeysuckle removed from the (900+ acre) site, NYSDOT wants to put a 5-lane highway through the middle of what is planned as a “walkable” community, and FEMA has directed that construction be spread out and directed up hill to avoid a potential future flood plain.

The existing buildings on this site contain more than a million square feet of space, and many of them are crumbling (as in Millbrook's Halcyon Hall, abandoned since the '70s). People in the adjacent communities, including myself, have questioned the impact of an additional 3,000 people on the area, apparently forgetting that Harlem Valley and Wassaic together once housed thousands of residents, and employed many more thousands. Additionally, there is some spectacular architecture on the site, most especially the warehouse/workshop on the west side of Route 22, which is designated for preservation.

Among the various planned developments in Eastern Dutchess Dover Knolls, as an attractive, walkable, mixed-use community, is beginning to appear the most credible. Unlike Silo Ridge, it will be affordable, offering the smaller and “greener” spaces that people are beginning to demand, and will transform an industrial site instead of trashing one of the world's great viewsheds. Unlike the sprawling Durst development in Pine Plains, it will rely primarily on public transportation instead of the automobile. To one whose motto is “preserve, recycle, re-use” this is a powerful attraction.

Implementation of this development plan is still far off, and powerful problems remain… brownfields remediation, permits, site-plan approval, the economy, jobs, attracting businesses to name only a few. But as Durst goes back to the drawing board, Keane Stud is in limbo, and the grass grows high at Silo Ridge (all of which, I must admit, give me hope!) I have to admit grudging admiration for a developer who is willing to put his money on the line, and build a new town which will actually work for the century we're IN instead of the previous one. I will watch the unfolding of this scenario with interest.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth B. Park
Amenia, NY


This letter originally appeared in The Millbrook Independent

To download a Microsoft Word version of the leter, click here

Last updated 5/23/2010