Better than Hearsay - Windham Sets Historic Public Hearing on Zoning

WINDHAM - The numbers are earth-shattering as Windham government leaders prepare to host what will be an historic public hearing on the potential adoption of zoning legislation.

Town council members have set the citizens input session for April 30, at 6 p.m., at the municipal hall in the hamlet of Hensonville.

Helen Budrock, the hired consultant for the painstaking project, is slated to be on hand to help answer any questions and guide the process.

The gathering follows three years of intense work by a Zoning Commission comprised of town residents, and a public information meeting that unfolded last summer.

At that time, pros and cons on a draft zoning document were offered by community members and collected by Budrock for addition to, or subtraction from, the final regulations.

All of those comments were reviewed by town officials and Budrock whose efforts are financed through a New York Department of State grant.

Some tweaks were made, according to town supervisor Thomas Hoyt, and what could become the new law will be presented next month.

Between then and now, town leaders will submit the papers to the Greene County planning board for required overview and acceptance, which is anticipated, and serve as lead agent in a mandated SEQRA study.

If no major changes emerge from the April public hearing, the proposal will get one last look-see from town officials before being enacted or rejected, likely occurring in late May or early June.

Thus far, there have been no significant objections raised by government leaders or the citizenry to making zoning the rule of the land.

While that was not the case in the not too distant past, when mere mention of the “Z” word caused a ruckus, “the world has changed a lot,” Hoyt says.

“What I’ve mostly heard, since we started this zoning idea, is that this should have been done twenty years ago,” Hoyt says.

“This is the world we live in now,” Hoyt says, referencing numbers provided by Delaware Engineering during a council get together, last week.

Delaware Engineering principal John Brust shared facts and figures on “current [Windham] planning board projects,” as of March 12, 2026.

“There are currently 13 “in-flight” land development projects in various stages of review and approval,” Brust stated.

Those projects, “represent a total of 255 residential units,” Brust stated, further breaking them down as follows:

—56 units are in multi-family developments, 199 are owner-occupied units, in both condo/townhouse-type and detached single family units;

“All in all there are about 111 new residential building lots (again a mix of condo/townhouse-type and detached single family),” Brust stated.

“A majority of the projects are occurring along the Route 296 and South Street corridors,” Brust stated. 

Eight of the projects have not received any planning board decision. The balance has received either conditional or site plan approval, with all grandfathered in terms of any future zoning impacts.

Brust further pinpointed the proposed developments thusly (in part):

—19 South Street, Windham [Mountain Ski Center] Master Plan, residential subdivision to create 66 building lots (detached single family homes);

—O’Neill 234, South Street (40 owner-occupied townhouse units), O’Neill 332, Route 296 (20 multi-family residential units) and O’Neill 291, Route 296 (14 owner-occupied townhouse units);

—380, Route 296 development, (20 owner-occupied condominium units) and 433, Route 296 development (8 owner-occupied residential units);

—County Route 10, Windham Skye Major Subdivision (residential subdivision for 30 building lots, detached single family homes);

—46 Mill Street (a Workforce Housing Proposal, 18 multi-family residential units) and Mitchell Hollow Road (Windham Pines subdivision, 6-lot residential subdivision for detached single family homes).

The multiple investments, “show you Windham is consistently growing,” says Hoyt. “With many entrepreneurs looking into building that many properties, it shows we must be doing something right.”

Adopting zoning would be, “all about responsible growth while preserving neighborhoods and what brings people here ” Hoyt says.