The Woodstock Town Board has dropped a proposal to spend $15,000 in federal pandemic relief money from the American Rescue Plan Act on an affordable housing design competition, leaving officials to decide how to use the town’s remaining $60,000 before the end of the year.
The Housing Committee proposed the competition at the board’s Aug. 18 business meeting. Architects would have been invited to submit affordable housing designs for two town-owned sites: the Mountain View parking lot on Rock City Road, where the weekly farmers market is held, and an 11-acre wooded property off Zena-Highwoods Road.
“The idea with getting the drawings of potential housing types was to be able to show the community what it could look like,” said Katherine Tegen, the committee’s co-chair.
The board concluded there wasn’t enough time to organize the competition and spend the money before the Dec. 31 deadline, Tegen said.
“Awarding the prize by the end of the year so we could use those ARPA funds would be pretty tough,” Tegen said. “So it was just about a time crunch.”
The committee had not established a submission period or other deadlines because it was waiting for the town board to approve the funding, Tegen said.
“We’re really wanting to do something that is going to move housing forward this year,” Supervisor Anula Courtis said. “I’m in favor of something a little bit more concrete.”
Courtis said the town should instead work with a consultant to conduct the necessary surveys of the sites.
The town allocated $200,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act to affordable housing initiatives in 2023 and hired Rochester, N.Y.-based Fisher Associates to conduct a three-stage evaluation of five town-owned properties.
Fisher completed the first two stages, which examined the properties’ environmental conditions, development constraints, and buildable areas. The third stage was expected to include site plans, architectural renderings, estimated unit and parking counts, and cost estimates for one or two sites.
In a 2025 review, Fisher described the Mountain View lot as an “excellent site for an affordable housing development,” citing its location, zoning, and topography.
The Zena-Highwoods Road property had fewer environmental limitations than the other rural sites under consideration, according to the review. The property lacks municipal water and sewer service, however, meaning development would require wells, septic systems, and “significant tree clearing.”
Fisher eliminated its architecture group earlier this year before completing the third stage.
“It was disappointing,” Tegen said. “I was really looking forward to the design part of the process.”
The committee ended its contract with Fisher in the spring, leaving about $60,000 from the original allocation, and began considering less expensive ways to obtain architectural renderings. The design competition emerged from those discussions.
Officials were uncertain, however, whether competition expenses would comply with the restrictions attached to the town’s ARPA allocation, which had been committed to engineering studies and concepts for possible affordable housing sites. Courtis said concerns about the intellectual property rights of contest entrants and the potential cost of acquiring the winning drawings also contributed to the board’s decision.
The town will instead consider hiring a new consultant to prepare and solicit bids for surveys of the two sites selected by the Housing Committee and a third property known as “Three Mile.” The 31-acre, heavily wooded property is municipal parkland east of Diandria Road off Zena Road.
Courtis said the town also needs to conduct percolation tests to determine whether the properties’ soil can support septic systems. Fisher had not completed the tests before its contract ended.
Courtis said the town board is listening to concerns from residents that developing the Mountain View lot could reduce downtown parking and displace the farmers market.
“All three properties are on the table, including bringing back Three Mile,” Courtis said, before adding that the board will eventually narrow the list to two properties.
Woodstock’s 2018 comprehensive plan identified affordable housing as a priority, citing zoning limitations, high development costs, strong demand, and the growth of short-term rentals as pressures on housing costs. The Housing Committee, formed in 2019, has reported that the problem worsened during the pandemic.
The board expects to discuss its next steps publicly at its Sept. 8 meeting.
Isabella Schoonover is a staff reporter for The Overlook covering Woodstock, Saugerties, Hurley, and surrounding Ulster County communities. Send correspondence to isabella@theoverlooknews.com.
