Hospitality Project with three hotels and two restaurants making plans for Village of Goshen

By Geri Corey

Jane E. Samuelson, professional engineer representing the Goshen Hospitality Project, gave a live presentation regarding the proposed project to the Goshen Village Board at its Feb. 28 meeting.

The Town of Goshen Planning Board is currently reviewing the project planned for the 63.3-acre parcel located at the intersection of Cheechunk Road and 6 ½ Station Road in the Town of Goshen.

According to Samuelson, the Planning Board requested that a meeting with Village Trustees take place to discuss the possibility of connecting this project to Village water and sewer services.

Two drilled wells on the property have been tested and found sufficient to support the project, and plans currently include the construction and use of an onsite package sewer treatment plant.

The onsite plant would discharge into a stream running through the property. Since this is the same stream that is used by the Village of Goshen Wastewater Treatment Plant for discharge, because of the close proximity of the project to the treatment plant, Samuelson requested permission for the project to connect to the village system, which is approximately 3,500 feet from the proposed project.

The Goshen Hospitality project is a mixed-use commercial development that includes three hotels, each with 120 rooms; two 10,000-square foot freestanding restaurants; a property caretaker’s residence; and a 35-foot water tank to service the project. Construction of a water treatment building would be needed as well. For the completed project, daily water usage is estimated at 66,400, gallons per day and sewer usage is estimated at 58,900 gallons per day.

With the property located in the Town of Goshen and the Town acting as lead agency for the project, Village of Goshen Mayor Scott Wohl suggested that a “good conversation” with the Town is needed to find out “how they want to proceed.”

As for the Village, he commented, “My personal opinion, as long as we have the capacity, why not? It makes sense to have less sewer treatment plants.” But before the board can decide whether to allow the project to hook into the Village sewer treatment plant, the trustees will discuss capacity.

Samuelson noted that discussions with the Department of Transportation (DOT) regarding ramps onto Route 17 are taking place.

She said, “The DOT has done robust traffic study for this project to determine what would be the project’s responsibilities regarding this.”

Is there really a need for three hotels? Wohl asked Samuelson. She replied that a survey has shown that Orange County Tourism and Orange County Partnership noted that on summer weekends in this area, it’s difficult to get a room. She sited Amy’s Kitchen, LEGOLAND, and people and their families coming for medical treatment as visitor draws.

“My clients feel this is a great spot for this project because people won’t be traveling through village streets,” said Samuelson.

A Village of Goshen Special Election is scheduled for Tuesday, March 15 in Village Hall, 276 Main Street. On the ballot are Scott Wohl (Mayor) and Molly O’Donnell (Trustee) each for a one-year term; Chris Gurda (Trustee) and Anthony Scotto (Trustee) each for a two-year term.

The next Village Board meeting scheduled for Mon. March 14 has been cancelled. The meeting on Mon., Mar. 28, is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.