Why the shape of a neighborhood matters: understanding cluster subdivisions in New Paltz
June 26, 2025
The Builder.
If you ask most people what a “subdivision” is, they’ll picture a map with little rectangles and new road names. But here in New Paltz, how those rectangles are laid out — and whether we prioritize open space, buffers, and visual harmony — is about more than just aesthetics. It’s a matter of designing our environment in a way that preserves its character.
At the June 26 Planning Board meeting, a proposed subdivision at 50 Horsenden Road was required to submit a cluster subdivision design because the project involved more than four lots and spanned over 15 acres. This stood in contrast to the planning discussion for 420 North Ohioville Road at the previous meeting on April 28. In that case, the application was simply a lot line adjustment — it did not involve the creation of new building lots, so the cluster requirements didn’t apply. That might seem like a small technical distinction, but it reflects a larger choice the Town has made: when a full residential subdivision is proposed, cluster design is not optional — it’s the standard.
So what exactly is a cluster subdivision?
Under Town Code §121-25, a cluster subdivision is a tool to promote smarter development in residential zones. Instead of spreading houses evenly across a landscape — carving up fields and forests into cookie-cutter parcels — the developer groups homes more tightly in one area, preserving the rest as open space, often forever.
Cluster design of residential subdivisions not only look nicer they protects wetlands, steep slopes, scenic views, trails, and even working farmland. They also reduce infrastructure costs by limiting road and utility sprawl. And it helps maintain what people love about New Paltz: the sense that nature is still part of our neighborhoods.
The Town Code actually requires that any subdivision involving four or more lots or 15 or more acres must provide a cluster plan — either as the final plan or as part of the review process. The Planning Board can mandate cluster design when it serves the public interest. And New York State Town Law backs that up.
Why this matters now
New Paltz is growing, it always has and it always will. We’ve all seen the huge buildings going up on Rt 32 and heard about the “annexation”. More development is coming — whether we’re ready or not. How we grow will determine whether we stay true to the rural character and natural beauty that define our identity.
Cluster subdivisions offer a compromise. Developers still get the same number of buildable lots they’d get under conventional zoning — but the land gets shaped differently. Instead of fragmentation, we get flow. Instead of strip-lot sprawl, we get buffered neighborhoods, with space for trees, trails, and community.
It takes a little bit more work and a lot more open mindedness from landowners and developers who hate being told what they can and can’t do. But at the end of the day the long term desirability, livability and sustainability of our Town will pay off. The Town may not have been designed to be what it is today, but preserving what’s unique and special is about design. The decisions our representatives make in the planning meetings — in their review of planning applications — will shape how our town looks, feels, and functions for decades to come.