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Neighbors press town on large clearcut at 442 Pleasant/Crescent Avenue; DEC and planning board cited
Summary
Residents told the town board they are concerned about a large logging operation next to homes at 442 Pleasant/Crescent Avenue, citing missing permits, potential wetland impacts and loss of privacy; the town said planning board review and DEC oversight are the appropriate processes.
Residents from the neighborhood near 442 Pleasant/Crescent Avenue told the town board they are alarmed by heavy clearcutting on a privately owned parcel that they say was subject to a town stop‑work order earlier this spring.
Michael Hollick and other neighbors said the work appears to have resumed without required permits and that tree removal is encroaching toward mapped wetlands and private property lines. "It's like it used to be an old growth forest. Now it looks like the surface of the moon," one speaker said, asking whether the town conducted a SEQRA environmental assessment and what permits were approved for the site.
Town staff said the planning board and the town engineer reviewed the matter; the board reported that the town engineer did not recommend a SEQRA review based on his judgment that the logging operations used only a limited footprint for landings and not a development that would trigger a full environmental review. The board also said it had received correspondence from a DEC wildlife biologist (Weston Mason) indicating the work was outside a known threatened and endangered species zone, and directed residents to follow up with the regional DEC office in New Paltz for the DEC's biological determination.
Neighbors pressed for clarity about wetlands buffers, potential pollution from runoff and the timing of work during nesting seasons; the board and staff repeatedly advised residents that the planning board is the proper forum for formal review of permits and environmental studies, and offered to provide copies of DEC correspondence on request.
What happens next: Residents were advised to submit concerns to the planning board and may FOIL DEC correspondence; the town said it would confirm permit and bonding status (letter of credit or certified check for a required bond) before the next meeting.
