On Oct. 6, the Marbletown Town Board held its second public hearing on a proposed Hamlet Overlay zoning amendment that would open High Falls and Stone Ridge to “missing middle” housing, primarily along the Route 209 corridor. The first public hearing, held Sept. 15, drew both supporters and critics of the proposal.

One resident, Claire Flemming, asked the board to remove a 51-acre parcel between Cottekill and Leggett Road from the Hamlet Overlay because of environmental concerns.

“It is home to three types of imperiled forests,” Flemming said. “It's the summer roost of our little brown bats, who are also having their own hard time. There's also five mammalian apex predators: the black bear, the coyote, the red fox, the fisher cat, and the mink.”

Flemming said the land is also home to bald eagles, owls, “every type of hawk that’s local,” and a protected trout-spawning stream.

Another resident, Jim Bell, who said he lives next to SUNY Ulster, said he did not believe the area was suitable for housing under the proposed Hamlet Overlay.

“The land has spoken for itself on many occasions. It goes way back to 2007 when they tried to put dorms in, and they didn't have water, and then of course, the firemen training center – I almost blew a gasket over that one,” Bell said. “I know that land very well, and my brothers grew up on that land. My mother and father, my grandfather, and my great-grandfather grew up on that land. And I can tell you right now that it'd be ridiculous to try to build something back there.”

Another resident, Wendy Saul, said she would prefer “a conversation rather than a comment” and thanked Town Supervisor Rich Parete for speaking with her before the meeting.

Saul said she had looked on Zillow before the meeting and found five properties “that you could not build for anything like what they're asking for them.”

“What I've learned is that in terms of green construction, in terms of environmental responsibility, and in terms of moving quickly, the best thing to do was use existing housing,” Saul said. “So I have a hope that maybe some realtor or the town could create something like an affordable housing resource and help people.”

Saul said she believed the board should develop the Filare Property and form a relationship with an organization such as RUPCO or Habitat for Humanity. However, she said, “to conflate density and affordability is really a problem,” and could ultimately make housing more expensive.

Parete kept the public hearing open. He said the board does not have a specific timeline for the next stage of the process but that the town is continuing to evaluate feedback and comments from residents.