State buys 208 acres in town of Kingston
The state has acquired 208 acres next to both the Bluestone Wild Forest Preserve and the Route 28 property where a developer wants to build steel and concrete manufacturing plants.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation said the $675,000 purchase, from the Open Space Institute, will “preserve critical open space and expand recreational opportunities to support the local economy.”
Advocates for hiking and other outdoor recreation cheered the news.
“That acquisition ... joins the pieces of the western and eastern sections of the Bluestone Wild Forest, making it this really nice, unified area,” said Maxanne Resnick, president of the Woodstock Land Conservancy. “We were able to have trails built through the newly acquired property that are now contiguous with the existing trails .... ”
In a prepared statement, Resnick said recreational trails “are important components of sustainable, economic development and promote healthy, active lifestyles and communities.”
The 208-acre site has about 2,765 feet of frontage with the property at 850 Route 28, where Thomas Auringer, who owns 4 Kieffer Lane/U.S. Crane in the town of Ulster, wast to build two 120,000-squarefoot buildings for the manufacture of steel and precast concrete bridge decking.
The plan, proposed by the Auringer-led 850 Route 28 LLC, has met with considerable opposition from town of Kingston residents and continues to be reviewed by town officials.
The 208 acres purchased by the state were privately owned by Mamoon Aldulaimi until January 2019, when the Open Space Institute bought the land for $650,000.
Plans for new trails in the Bluestone Wild Forest Preserve include an entrance from Morey Hill Road and walking areas along ridge lines that overlook Auringer’s property.
Auringer has been storing cranes, trucks and other heavy equipment at the site, which used to be a quarry.