The moratorium on development in the gateway area of town near the Thruway in New Paltz is likely to expire before any new zoning regulations are passed, because Town Board members agreed last week to close the public hearing with no intention to vote on the code as written.
As the development freeze for projects in the vicinity of the Thruway interchange comes to an end, town planners once again take up the Wildberry Lodge, a 90-unit hotel and butterfly conservatory.
Developers for the CVS/Five Guys project have reportedly already spent nearly a half-million dollars.
With two large projects on pause, Paltzonians gathered to discuss what sort of development they’d like to see in the town’s gateway.
The town’s decision to pause development in the Thruway area has had a negative impact on the Wildberry Lodge, a proposed resort and butterfly conservatory.
The nine-month moratorium will affect two major projects in the vicinity of the Thruway exit: Wildberry Lodge, introduced as a large water park and now a butterfly garden, and a combination CVS drugstore and Five Guys Burger and Fries development.
The proposal would last nine months and affect pending projects in the Thruway area, including the CVS/Five Guys development. The moratorium would allow the town to tweak its zoning laws, which might exclude projects now on the table.
The gateway moratorium is a nine-month period during which planning and building along Route 299 from South Ohioville Road to the ShopRite plaza would be limited while new zoning for this gateway into the community was written and passed.
The question of whether to halt development near the Thruway for nine months so that the zoning code can be rewritten has been controversial.
Council member Jeff Logan believes that, despite claims to the contrary, the moratorium proposal was intended to target the proposed CVS store.