Public hearing set for Ogden Village Pines proposal

Village Pines, a project that has been in the planning stages with the Town of Ogden for more than 18 months, will be the subject of a February 23 public hearing.

Jack Crooks, Ogden's building inspector, said the project has been through the concept phase with the planning board and is now heading for the town board to address re-zoning issues. Developer of the Village Pines project David Wohlers will be seeking a change in zoning from single family residential to a SC Senior Citizens Housing District.

The project before the board, as proposed by developer Wohlers, is the construction of 78 single family homes for senior citizens.

Town of Ogden Supervisor Gay Lenhard said when the project was first proposed it was for both single family and senior housing. The original proposal called for 21 single family houses and 71 townhouses. Drainage and density issues were raised during the course of the conceptual plan discussions.

"The new project is better than a single family residential one and that's partly because of the strain a single family project could put on our school system," she said. "The senior housing would be the best of both worlds - development for the area but no population growth for the schools."

If approved, the project is slated for construction on the north side of Route 531, west of the existing Timber Ridge community.

Now that the planning board feels it can work with the project, Crooks said it is up to the town board to see if they can work with the "bricks and sticks" of the proposal and the re-zoning issues inherent in development.

"The developer will be going to the town board to request re-zoning of the 33-acre parcel," Crooks said. "If the board approves the request it comes back to the planning board."

If the proposal makes it through the board's re-zoning, planning board officials will begin the process of scrutinizing details such as drainage, density and road layouts.

"The project would have to be fine-tuned to make sure there is no adverse impact on the community or environment and if there are, the developer would have to look at ways to mitigate them," Crooks said.

Calls to Wohlers were not returned prior to deadline.

The public hearing begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Ogden Community Center.