Region's Largest Open Space Faces Pavers
Sterling Forest Corporation recently released its Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS) for the proposed development of 17,500 acres of woodland in southeastern Orange County, NY. The owners of one of the largest private tracts of undeveloped land in the tri-state region are an ever-changing amalgam of foreign and American investors. The Corporation has hired Lou Heimbach, a former Orange County Executive with extensive experience overseeing suburbanization of rural land, as chair. It wants to build 13,170 residential units -- from estate-size on down -- and over 8 million square feet of commercial and light industrial space. The "planned community" for 35,000 would be spread throughout much of Sterling Forest, fragmenting the woodlands. Sterling Forest currently has just a few rural roads; development would require extensive paving and widening of these roads, as well as construction of new main roads, access roads, parking lots, and so forth. The DGEIS pegs road improvements at just over $40 million, but analysts suggest the real cost to the region would be two to three times that amount. The DGEIS contains low estimates of increased traffic and vehicle miles traveled based on the following unrealistic assumptions: the estimate of 20,000 extra cars and 1.5 million vehicle miles per day assumes 1) half of the people working in Sterling Forest will also live in one of the five "hamlets" to be created there; and 2) residents with access to a proposed jitney will use the service for 75% of trips made to points along its proposed line. It is questionable that the density of the development would support a jitney system at all; evidence from similar developments have shown such projections to be very shaky. Furthermore, no details on financing the jitney's operation are offered. Assumptions about the close-proximity jobs available to new residents are also problematic, especially the notion that construction of new residences and nearby employment opportunities will emerge hand-in-hand. Despite the influx of auto and truck traffic expected, and southern Orange County's designation as a Clean Air Act non-attainment area, ozone pollution from vehicle emissions is not analyzed.The promise of more sprawl development, road construction and elimination of one of the metropolitan region's last large open areas has led numerous officials, citizens and environmental groups from NY and NJ to call for the creation of a reserve (which would essentially link NY's Harriman/Bear Mountain area state parks with the watershed preserves in the Ringwood, NJ area). A community survey about development issues conducted by the Sterling Forest Corporation has not been made public. New Jersey has taken the lead toward preservation: it has spent $9.2 million to acquire over 2000 acres in Passaic County, and has appropriated $10 million more that is conditional upon NY allocating matching dollars, with the NY/NJ total to be matched by the federal government, for land purchases in New York. Governor Pataki wants to reduce the funding available from NY's Environmental Protection Fund, but New York's final intentions on the matter are unclear. Comments about the DGEIS can be made at three upcoming public hearings (see calendar) or by writing the NYS DEC. Call the Tri-State Transportation Campaign for the address. For additional information, contact John Gebhards at Sterling Forest Resources, 914-294-3098.
