Daniel Zuckerman is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Catskill Village Planning Board considered the potential environmental impacts of the proposed Catskill Gardens project at meeting held at the Washington Irving Senior Center July 23. Catskill Gardens is a $25 million housing complex for adults with special needs proposed by the Mental Health Association of Columbia-Greene Counties. It would be located on an 18-acre site on West Main Street in the village of Catskill, near the Creekside Restaurant. The three-story structure would contain 90 units, office space for educational programs, community space, a gymnasium and computer room. The environmental assessment form submitted to the board gave the project a positive declaration, but cited three potential environmental impacts: drainage, traffic and community character. “When we talk about something like community character, we’re talking more about the integration of a specific land use and potentially the scale of structure or things like that, not about a specific population, project attorney Corey A. Auerbach said. Concerns voiced by planning board members included whether support staff would be present for special needs and low-income residents; the plan for integrating the project with other local developments; and potential impacts on car and foot traffic. A meeting to gather more information for the draft scoping document will be held 7 p.m., July 30. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.