Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Tuxedo Reserve topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Tuxedo Board approves amendments to Tuxedo Reserve, adopts SEQRA Negative Declaration
Summary
The Town Board adopted amendments to the Tuxedo Reserve Special Permit and Preliminary Plan, concluded SEQRA review with a Negative Declaration, and attached conditions on native plant lists and cell tower placement; the resolution passed unanimously.
The Town of Tuxedo Town Board on Jan. 14, 2026 adopted amendments to the Tuxedo Reserve Special Permit, substituting updated pages into the 2024 approvals and adopting the resulting documents as the 2026 Special Permit and 2026 Preliminary Plan. The board found, after reviewing a 2025 SEQRA Technical Memorandum, that the proposed changes would not create any new significant adverse environmental impacts and adopted a SEQRA Negative Declaration under 6 N.Y.C.R.R. § 617.9(a)(7).
The amendments—submitted by US Home, LLC (dba Lennar) by letter dated Nov. 3, 2025—addressed site adjustments including shifting roads and building locations for grading, maximum cul-de-sac length, authorizing specified wireless communication facilities in a Utility District location, delegating approval of limited "field changes" to the Building Inspector, and clarifying allowable plant types. The board’s resolution conditions approval on an updated list of native plants consistent with a memo from Karen Arent, Landscape Architect (KALA) dated Jan. 14, 2026, use of that memo as landscape guidance, and a requirement that the applicant consult local nurseries first if specified native plants are unavailable.
The resolution also authorized use of a cell tower and appurtenances within the UD transect zone adjacent to the water tank as shown on the project's regulating plan, subject to Planning Board approval and Town Board approval of any alternate locations outside that UD area. The Town Clerk was directed to file the resolution and report the action to the Orange County Planning Department within 30 days. The resolution took immediate effect after a roll call vote of 5 Ayes, 0 Nays.
Resident Michele Lindsay spoke during the public hearing and urged prioritizing "the use of native plant species rather than cultivars," saying native plants "are better suited to the local ecosystem and will help support wildlife and pollinators." The board recorded that the Planning Board had taken no position on plant types but asked to receive copies of any approved field changes, and the Orange County Planning Department characterized the matter as a local determination with advisory comments on road grade and steep slopes.
The board’s action sets process conditions (Planning Board notifications and landscape guidance) but does not change other unchanged terms of the 2024 Special Permit. Any future proposed cell-tower locations outside the specified UD zone will require separate Town Board approval.
Provenance: The topic was introduced and discussed in the meeting record beginning with SEG 013 and the resolution, conditions and roll call vote appear through SEG 021–023.
