Silo Ridge - Harlem Valley Times

9/07/2007 - Silo Ridge design concepts presented

Amenia
Silo Ridge design concepts presented
9/07/2007
By: Darryl Gangloff , Editor

Millbrook Ventures LLC, the developers of the proposed Silo Ridge project, recently gave a presentation to the planning board to discuss the architectural style and visual impacts of the development in an attempt to make the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) easier to understand for the public.

Mike Dignacco, the vice president of construction for Millbrook Ventures LLC, and a team of architectural and environmental planners met with the planning board at its Aug. 30 special meeting to explain in detail the overall atmosphere the buildings will add to the site.

At this stage, the proposed residential resort community will include 359 single-family, townhouse and condominium residences, as well as a 300-unit condominium-style hotel, spa, restaurants and a renovated golf course redesigned by U.S. Open and British Open Champion Ernie Els.

Architectural discussion

Paul Whalen of Robert A.M. Stern Architects began the presentation by showing the members of the planning board a map of the proposed development, as well as photos of various buildings that resembled the type of architecture that will be seen on the site.

"The concept is a resort built around a golf course. The buildings will be a part of the topography and will be placed naturally around the course," Whalen said.

Whalen said the project will focus on a strong, village-like center, and that other buildings will "sputter out into the landscape" around it.

"It won't be a real village center," Whalen noted.

"We want it to have the same character that small Northeastern towns have," he said.

The village green will be defined on one side by the hotel and club house, and on the other side by a series of retail stores. Whalen explained that these stores will not be large businesses, and will resemble the type of retail shops that are made for people staying in a hotel.

"The fact that this is not on a main road means it could not support big retail," Whalen said.

According to Whalen, the hotel will be the main focus of the resort. It will be four to five stories tall, but will be broken into various parts to give it a human scale.

"The roofs will be prominent on the hotel. They need to be interesting. We want it to be an icon and memorable," Whalen said.

The houses that spread away from the hotel will be made of materials and colors that will make them look natural with the landscape, such as stone and brick bases with shingles that could be weathered to blend in with their surroundings.

"There will be natural colors at the edges of the golf course, and they will get lighter and brighter in the center," Whalen said.

Robert A.M. Stern Architects will most likely not design all of the houses, but the owners will be given architectural guidelines.

The board agreed that this presentation was adequate to describe the flavor and feel of the architecture and asked that the photos of similar homes be placed in the DEIS, along with written descriptions to accompany them.

The board felt that including detailed architectural drawings of each type of home at this stage for a project this size was unnecessary, and that such blueprints would not be needed until further along in the process.



Visual impact

During the architectural discussion, the board expressed some concern with various elements regarding the visual impact of the project on the town, including the height of the proposed buildings.

"It's very difficult to understand the consistent height of a story, since it varies in the document," said board member Nina Peek.

"The character of the project is fine. It seems you're trying to provide a rustic and traditional model. What I'm concerned with is the visual impact and how high we're going," said board member Jim Walsh.

Mike Camann of the Chazen Companies told the board that the section of the DEIS involving the height of the buildings will be rewritten with new information, especially with the new photos of the property that were recently taken with a 55-millimeter lens.

According to Camann, these new photos will replace ones that were previously taken with a 35-millimeter lens since they are "more representative of what you will actually see" on the landscape.

The Chazen Companies took photos from four different views, including looking down from DeLavergne Hill, which will be used in various planting plans and simulations to show what the visual impacts of the project may be when completed.

"We tried to use trees 12 feet in height at planting," said Camann, noting that the trees will grow in the future.

Dr. Michael Klemens, the planning board's ecology consultant for the planning board, asked for more information regarding how much steep slope is disturbed on the property, especially regarding any disturbances in the 38 acres that will be added to the golf course.



Habitat study

According to Melissa Mascali, a planner with the Chazen Companies, the updated habitat study found no rare or endangered bog turtles or amphibians on the site.

Two birds of special concern were found, but they have no nests on the property since they were not found during the breeding birds survey in June.

Klemens asked that more analysis be added to the lists of animal and plant species observed in order to draw some analysis from these findings.

"I see lists, but I see no analysis," Klemens said.

"Are there parts of the development that have more critical species than others?" he asked as an example of a further question that could be explored in the document.

Klemens noted that the studies were thorough and that the Chazen Companies did a good job overall.

At the end of the presentation, the board asked for more information regarding the number of people who will be employed at the hotel, as well as how traffic will be affected on Route 22 by the entrance to the resort.

The board voted to hold a special meeting at its workshop meeting on Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. to further discuss the DEIS. Peek and board member Gina Mignola voted against the special meeting because they felt it was unfair treatment to one applicant.

"I feel that it's unacceptable that we always grant one applicant a special meeting," said Mignola.

"If we don't have extra meetings, we're never going to get done with it," said board member William Flood.