A long-running debate over a proposed 30-home subdivision off Eastwoods Drive continues after the state Department of Environmental Conservation confirmed in late October that the Town of Ulster—not Woodstock—will oversee the project’s environmental review. The decision, announced just before the Woodstock Planning Board’s Nov. 6 meeting, leaves Woodstock with authority over road and wetlands permits but none over the full development, frustrating residents who say their town bears the greatest risk.

At the meeting, Woodstock’s consultants warned of data gaps on wetlands, wildlife, and fire access, echoing concerns that Ulster’s Planning Board may advance the project without requiring additional studies. Developer Evan Kleinberg said he believes his team has completed all necessary reports. “We believe we’ve completed all of the required studies,” he said. 

“They just admitted for the first time that they are not just selling 30 parcels of land,” said Zoe Keller, co-chair of the Stop Zena Development community group. “They intend to build those homes and they intend to build single family homes. If that is the case, the application that they have submitted to the town of Ulster is not complete and their application has to be reviewed by the town board, not the planning board.”

Developer Evan Kleinberg defended the process and timeline. “Ulster got named as the lead agency, which we’ve been excited to have that determination one way or the other. We believe that Ulster was the right decision because all the homes are in Ulster,” he said. “We are intending to build them. We’re talking to different design builders locally to build the houses.”

Fire access and emergency response remain another flashpoint. Kleinberg said all homes would include sprinklers instead of adding a second access road through sensitive woods. Keller countered that the plan “will burden the Woodstock Fire Department.”

Andy Mossey, executive director of the Woodstock Land Conservancy, said the land connects key habitat corridors and should remain undeveloped. “This land is far too valuable from a natural-resource perspective,” he said. “If we don’t speak up, a development that’s completely inappropriate will be built in an area that really should be kept wild.”

The Ulster Planning Board is expected to continue its environmental quality review later this month, with public hearings to follow.

This is a developing story.