Newburgh residents raise traffic, wetlands concerns over Brewer Road project

Residents packed a Town of Newburgh meeting on June 8 and turned the spotlight on a proposed Elkay Partners project on Brewer Road, arguing that the town’s review must prove it can measure and reduce damage before any construction moves ahead. Their focus was not just on a new apartment complex, but on traffic along Brewer Road, wetlands on the site and the possibility of disruption to wildlife already under pressure in the area.

The proposal calls for three apartment buildings totaling 168 units, including 19 units reserved for senior housing, along with a pool, clubhouse, playground, stormwater management, parking and recreation facilities. The site sits between HyVue, or Highview, Drive and Vermont Drive, with access issues still drawing scrutiny as the project moves through environmental review.

Michael Cimaglia told the meeting that traffic on the corridor was already severe and said the development sits within multiple traffic corridors of concern identified in the town’s comprehensive plan. That 2005 plan names Route 9W and Route 32 as major corridors of concern and also flags Brewer Road as a cut-through road that needs closer study. Residents said adding hundreds of car trips there would intensify congestion and erode quality of life.

Environmental concerns were just as prominent. Natalie said the site includes about five acres of federal wetlands, along with drainage problems and the possibility of habitat for an endangered bat species. Town technical review materials say the site contains wetlands and that parts of the property may now fall under New York State Department of Environmental Conservation jurisdiction because of freshwater-wetlands rule changes that took effect Jan. 1, 2025. The current construction footprint is mostly outside the 100-foot state buffer zone, but a small road leading to a parking lot appears to fall within it, which could trigger a DEC permit if that design remains.

The project’s path has already changed during review. The Planning Board issued a positive declaration on Sept. 10, 2025, requiring a Draft Environmental Impact Statement under state review rules, and made the final scope available on Jan. 7, 2026. Earlier technical material says the proposal was revised from an initial 168-unit sketch plan to 156 units in one submission, showing the plan has not remained fixed.

Town Supervisor Gil Piaquadio pushed back on the idea that the project would automatically devastate the neighborhood, saying the town has not destroyed a neighborhood yet and pointing to the master plan update process, which has continued since 2023 through public meetings. He said the development remains in environmental review and that the latest material submitted to the Planning Board was a visual-assessment viewpoint package.

The broader stakes go beyond one parcel on Brewer Road. Residents at the Nov. 20, 2025 scoping session raised sewer, road capacity, stormwater and wildlife displacement concerns, and a petition opposing the project gathered more than 400 signatures by Nov. 24, 2025. The northern long-eared bat, listed as endangered in New York and federally endangered, has been documented in the Town of Newburgh, though not on this specific site. For the Planning Board, the central test now is whether the environmental review can separate manageable impacts from irreversible ones before the project advances.