Planning board wants 23 answers

New Broadacre plan still draws local ire

By Marge Feuerstein | Manor Ink Mentor

Livingston Manor, NY – The saga of the proposed development initially called Broadacre Farm continues.

In August 2020, as the county was in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic, Manor Ink reported that a “unique housing development” combining private homes and a working farm was being planned for the 117-acre former farm property at the top of Hoag Rd. in the hamlet.

In September, the paper interviewed two of the principals behind the project, Joseph Satto and Stefan Martinovic. Satto owns Fresh Air Realty, located in Accord, while Martinovic described himself as a real estate developer based in Westchester. The plan they were preparing for the Hoag Rd. property would be a blend of private homes and a working farm that would preserve the rural nature of the Manor.

Originally envisioned as three clusters of nine houses, with much of the rest of the property given over to a small farm and community grounds, the project would also include a retention lake to contain runoff that frequently cascades down the hillside during spring snow melts and heavy summer rains. Because the developers planned to construct the project’s homes off site, they contended that there would be relatively little noise or disruption to affect residents adjacent to the property.

Those residents, however, disagreed.

Original plan sparked concerns

Immediately after the Broadacre Farm article appeared, the project’s neighbors began to voice their concerns. Zintis Muiznieks, a home owner on High St., said he and his neighbors on Hoag Rd. had never been contacted by the developers regarding the plan. Two other neighbors, Helen Williams and Nia Augello, also voiced their concerns about drainage, potential flooding, increased traffic and poor road access.

When Manor Ink relayed these concerns to Broadacre’s Joseph Satto, he said he then contacted property owners on High St. and Hoag Rd. to “ allay their fears” and to clarify the proposed plans. High St. was subsequently removed as a road to be connected to the development.

That change required a reworking of the original development configuration. To facilitate other changes, hydrologist Paul Rubin of HydroQuest Environmental Consulting in Tivoli, NY, was retained to advise the developers on storm water design. Randall Ardent of Greener Prospects in Brunswick, ME, a conservation consulting firm, was added to help “substantially improve the perilous runoff conditions the site experiences.” With all the reworking of the site plan that was required, the project going forward, according to Sacco, would be “moving at its own pace.”

A revamped vision

After more than a year, the new plan was presented. The design for a reconfigured Broadacre Farm, now called Livingston Farm, was unwrapped at the Town of Rockland Planning Board meeting on Nov. 3. The new plan calls for only 16 single-family houses and two detached duplexes, made up of a mix of for-sale or for-rent units. New to the design is a complex of what the builders refer to as their “hospitality component,” including a ten-room inn, a ten-room guest house and 21 cabins. In addition, they envision having a 60-seat restaurant which they refer to as a “3-meal, farm-to-table” dining facility.

The hospitality component would be located on the eastern side of the property, with an entirely new road coming off Creamery Rd. as the entry into the development. The High St. connection has been eliminated entirely, and Hoag Rd. is envisioned as an egress only. Still included is the small farm.

After the presentation of the new proposal, the board heard from Patrick Hins, an engineer with MHE Engineering in Milford, PA, who had reviewed the plans for the board. He had scrutinized the entire project and had 23 points that he felt needed to be addressed before the application could be considered. Those ranged from things that needed to be changed, modified or eliminated, to issues that required submission to various governmental agencies. With that number of issues in question, it seems unlikely the Livingston Farm plan will be brought back to the planning board until sometime next year.

Residents voice objections

Present at the Nov. 3 meeting were some of the proposed project’s neighbors, many of whom have expressed concerns. They and others are still doubtful about the effect Livingston Farm will have on what is already a difficult flooding situation. They also have real concerns that the increased traffic caused by the development will create problems on Hoag and Creamery roads. Many are worried that the project could substantially alter the rural nature of the community.

“None of the principals has experience with agricultural projects, and I don’t think they have a good grasp of the problem,” Nina Augello said. Because her property fronts on High St., she is primarily concerned about increased runoff.

Another neighbor, Joy Oriol, whose family has owned acreage adjacent to the Livingston Farm property since 1986, feels the answer to the question of whether the hillside is a suitable place to build is an emphatic no! “If the project isn’t scaled down dramatically, we should assume the goal is profits for the developers vs. the community’s well-being,” she said.

“It’s too much, too fast,” said Jamie Helper who lives on Creamery Rd. Because she lives directly down hill from the proposed development and has never been contacted by the builders, she feels her property is in “a precarious position.” She fears increased flooding and possible mud slides.

Zintis Muiznieks has been an outspoken opponent of the project since its inception. “We have no faith or trust in [the developers’] experience to navigate this type of project. We are in a reactive mode,” he said. He added that the hamlet has been responsive to his concerns.

Residents are not alone in their doubts. Originally retained by the Broadacre team as a landscape designer, Karin Ursula Edmondson of Karin Ursula Landscapes, stepped away from the project several months ago. Recently, the developers reached out to her again to “get this across the finish line,” but she declined to rejoin the project. Regarding the new version of the development, Edmondson did not mince words.

“Broadacre is Disneyland – campsites, farm, restaurant, houses, etc. The planning process has been Disneyland since its inception. Constantly changing, trying to fit an angle, all angles, many angles – a free-for-all,” she said. “Broadacre aims to turn Livingston Manor into a suburban home-owners-association hell. This is how soul-killing suburbs begin.”

“During an early iteration of the plan, we invited Karin to consult on a limited basis with respect to a single aspect of the project – landscaping,” said developer Joseph Sato in reply. “She was never part of the Broadacre team and was not privy to any discussions regarding the larger project. After a brief period of time, it became clear that she lacked the necessary landscaping expertise and understanding of sustainable development to assist any further.” Sato added, “That said, we believe that by implementing an organic, regenerative farming operation on what was, for decades, a fallow and neglected farm, conserving a large portion of the 117 acres in its natural state and developing the property with minimal site disturbance and a net zero carbon footprint, the project embodies the exact opposite of what she describes ... We hope that both guests and residents alike will feel the same excitement that a child might experience on their first trip to Disneyland.”