Hunter officials said they’re looking into how to add affordable housing to a 140-acre proposal for vacation homes, a hotel and restaurant, the town’s largest in decade, amid criticism of the plan that was unveiled last week by a Windham developer.
Supervisor Sean Mahoney said at a Town Board meeting that the town may seek ways to make 10% of the 114 homes affordable. Windham homebuilder Eric Vaughn said last week that they were “not going to be inexpensive” and that most buyers would probably be those seeking second homes.
“There was definitely some public sentiment that I read, and to some extent, agree with,” Mahoney said. The project, on State Route 23A in the village of Hunter, west of Scribner’s Catskill Lodge, would also include a 45-room hotel and 100-seat restaurant.
“Four Seasons Hunter” would require the village to annex 127 acres of town land that Vaughn owns, adding to the 13 acres of village land that he also owns. That would let Vaughn access the village municipal water and sewer systems and would place the entire project under village jurisdiction.
“My thought is that, as part of that annexation request, that there is language and possibly some sort of a covenant, if that is able to be done, that makes a portion of that development affordable housing,” Mahoney said at the June 23 board meeting. “I did some research. This is actually part of code and part of site plan review in other towns.”
The median asking price for single-family homes in Hunter is $355,000, according to Realtor.com. Homes with a Tannersville address carry a median price of $575,000.
The Town of Hunter has a median household income of $66,827, compared with $40,083 in the village, according to a 2024 American Community Survey. In the Village of Tannersville, the median income is $78,750, the survey showed.
“When we have a development like this, we should encourage that a portion of those housing units be devoted to a portion of the area median income,” Mahoney said.
Town Councilperson David Kukle said similar stipulations exist in other communities with large tourist populations, particularly in the western U.S.
“If you were in Aspen, Colorado, or Snowmass, Colorado, or any of those, you would have exactly what the supervisor has laid out,” Kukle said. “There would be a small percentage.”
Affordable housing would help workers at the proposed hotel and restaurant, Kukle said.
“Where else are you going to get the employees?” he said. “This way, you can help build your community and protect that infrastructure. These are the kids that go to our schools.”
The proposed townhomes would be a good site for affordable housing, he said.
“I kind of saw the affordable side of it there being in the townhouse complex, because the four-bedroom homes, that’s a whole different market,” Kukle said. “The four-bedroom homes have their own entrance off Scribner Hollow Road. It’s a gated community.”
Mahoney said he also wanted to consider a way the board could ensure that if the annexation is approved, the land is actually developed.
“You have developments in this town that go through the review, go through all of the hard work and then for a long period of time, they make no progress,” he said. “And yet in many of these projects, the earth gets scarred, roads get built, infrastructure gets partially developed. And then, essentially, you have an abandoned development that’s in our town.”
Mahoney said the board would discuss the possibility of including language focused on affordable housing in any annexation petition voted on in the future. “On this annexation, we need to exert some influence,” he said.
Mahoney said he didn’t anticipate an annexation vote for several months. If the town votes in favor, the project will then be reviewed by the village.
Connor Greco is a staff reporter for The Overlook covering Windham, Hunter and surrounding Greene County communities. Send correspondence to connor@theoverlooknews.com.
