Ag center seeks OK for tractor barn, wood shop
Town officials are reviewing a proposal by the Esopus Agricultural Center to construct a wood shop and tractor barn on a site off Dogwood Street.
The Esopus Agricultural Center, or EAC, “is talking about opening up the end of Mountain View Terrace, to Mountain View Court, [and] putting a road down ... connecting to Dogwood Street,” Ulster Supervisor James Quigley said.
The site is just south of the United Healthcare building.
Quigley said a nearby alternative to the site is being considered but approval from neighbors would be needed.
The supervisor said the town has little oversight regarding the equipment storage proposal because the building would be covered under the state’s Agriculture and Markets Law, which exempts farms from many zoning codes. The proposed wood shop, however, would be subject to town Planning Board review as a commercial project, Quigley said.
The application from the Esopus Agricultural Center, which is based on Esopus Avenue in Ulster, states the wood shop “would generate $36,000 per year and provide financial support that would facilitate EAC continuing to deliver the public benefits generated by the farm.”
The application says the possible alternate site would allow both the storage building and wood shop to be screened from nearby homes.
“Siting the wood shop on this section of the farm would enable EAC to collocate the tractor barn in an area situated outside of the flood plain and away from food storage,” the application states. “This building would be visible only from the farm, the [town] sewer treatment plant, the United Health parking lot and the house EAC owns at 1104 Mountain View Court.”
The application also states the alternate site would create less traffic impact and put the wood shop closer to an appropriate zoning district.