Pawling & Dover Meeting

Joint informational meeting at 7 p.m. on August 30 in Pawling

Presentation of possible development of land in both communities

County map:
http://geoaccess.co.dutchess.ny.us/parcelaccess/

By John M. Benson
August 17, 2007

A joint Pawling & Dover informational meeting was approved by the Pawling Town Board at its meeting on August 15, to take place at 7 p.m. on August 30 in the Lathrop Center at Lakeside Park.

Pawling Supervisor Beth Coursen told the Pawling Town Board and the public audience that the meeting will concern a possible development of land that is in both Pawling and Dover. She said the joint meeting will include the Pawling Town Board, the Pawling Planning Board, the Dover Town Board, and the Dover Planning Board.

When asked if she could elaborate on the subject of the joint meeting, Coursen told this reporter, “The meeting on August 30th is an informational meeting. The Pawling Town Board, Planning Board, Dover Town Board, Planning Board will be hearing the developers ideas about a project that is in both municipalities. There is no formal application. The meeting will provide information about concepts of what the developer would like to build in our communities.”

On Friday afternoon, August 17, Dover Supervisor Jill Way confirmed that the Dover Town Board and Dover Planning Board and interested parties are being invited to join the Pawling Town Board and Pawling Planning Board at a joint meeting on August 30 in the Lathrop Center at Lakeside Park in Pawling.

The Dutchess County government has provided a remarkable resource for residents, a page on the website where residents can research all land and properties in the county:

http://geoaccess.co.dutchess.ny.us/parcelaccess/

Review both Pawling and Dover, and search by the owner name "Starkdale" to locate the property now owned by Starkdale Farm, Inc.

A review of that resource shows that a property that could be involved in a development in both Pawling and Dover/Wingdale would be the former Starkdale Farm on West Dover Road.

The Pawling/Dover town line can be recognized on West Dover Road as the point where the speed limit sign marks the change in the speed limit, with the limit at 45 mph in Pawling and 55 mph in Dover.

What was the Starkdale Farm is now titled the Starkdale Farm, Inc. Much of the former family farm is now part of the Applachian Trail. There are four lots of the former farm property that remain in private hands. The three lots in Pawling cover a total of 216.053 acres, and the one lot in Dover/Wingdale covers 417.37 acres.

The property lies on both sides of West Dover Road. The original Stark family home and the barn complex, all visible from the road, are all located in Dover/Wingdale.

The community is waiting with avid anticipation for this meeting, as rumors have circulated for some time about an imminent development of the former Starkdale Farm property.

Most prominent among the rumors is that the development may be an upscale golf course and resort. That could be confirmed or corrected at this August 30 meeting.

A golf course and resort could be an ideal use of this land in the view of the local community, as it might keep much of the property green and open, might not involve a saturation of the property with single family residences, and might involve employment opportunities for local teenagers and other residents.

A subject of deep concern for the Pawling community has been that while much of the land of the former Starkdale Farm and all of the currently active family Dykeman Farm is located in Dover/Wingdale, all of that land is located in the Pawling Central School District.

The Pawling Central School District runs all the way north to the tree line that marks the north end of the Dykeman Farm.

Pawling taxpayers have been concerned for years that the property might become a residential subdivision, which could bring a deluge of new students into the Pawling Central School District.

If the property were to be used for an upscale golf course and resort, while the development might involve some residences, the possibility of the entire property becoming a residential subdivision would seem to be eliminated.