Planners update on Cementon Redevelopment Project

CEMENTON―Years from now, Greene County’s southern riverfront could look very different.

Once a lively hamlet, Cementon sits in the shadow of a massive ramshackle cement plant that was the center of its economy for decades. Now, county officials are eyeing the community for future redevelopment and in the process of conducting an environmental review.

“It's about 4,400 acres that are amassed in the project area. Different owners, 1,700 is owned by Peckham,” said Nina Peek, planning practice lead at EDR, a Syracuse-based environmental and research firm hired by the county.

“There are others with active mining operations―Holcim, AmRize, Heidelberg, all property owners, [and] another private property owner,” added Peek.

Last summer, the county was awarded a $400,000 state Focused Attraction of Shovel-Ready Tracts New York (FAST NY) grant that will cover 50% of the cost for EDR. The scope of services that EDR would provide include project management, site conceptual master plan, public engagement, and State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) evaluation.

“We have amassed a consultant team that are helping us with the environmental review,” Peek told county lawmakers at a recent meeting, adding that the process is expected to take about 18 months.

Cementon boasts not only large land parcels but it is bordered by the Hudson River with a deep-water dock. The New York State Thruway runs to the west of the hamlet that is bisected by State Route 9W and CSX railroad tracks.

“There's some constraints,” Peek said. “There's narrow tunnels, there are active industrial operations, life of mine permitting. But there's also brownfield tax credits and opportunities to secure additional funding once the environmental review is complete.”

“Once that is secured, once we go through this process and develop a concept plan, the site will be positioned to get additional funding, potentially, to actually do the work and develop the site, and generate jobs, and all the things that we're really trying to do,” she added.

The goal is to get much of the costly and time-consuming environmental review work completed, making the site more attractive to potential developers.

“That's the reason why this project is being forwarded,” Peek said. “To get new business, new industrial development on the site, new commercial development, create new jobs for the community.”

There are already active operations on the site, she noted.

“It's to their advantage to see this project move forward and help them look down the road and see what they may be able to do with the site and develop it in more meaningful, revenue-generating, job-generating [ways],” Peek said.

“Primary growth industries that we're looking at, potentially, in the concept plan [include] light industrial, advanced manufacturing, and related industries,” she added.

Back in May, the county and EDR hosted a public meeting in Catskill to discuss the rebirth plan and gather feedback. Peek said they are currently sorting through about 150 comments.

“Some of the things that we heard: the site is underutilized and degraded. Not a surprise. The general consensus was support for redevelopment of the site in ways that generate jobs within these specific industries,” Peek said.

“Common concerns―any kind of development―it's gonna create a lot of traffic. There's a lot of environmentally sensitive lands on this property. There's wetlands, there's the Great Vly [Wildlife Management Area], there's the proximity to the Hudson River, there's undisturbed forest. All of those things are considerations that will be analyzed and studied and evaluated in the environmental review process,” she explained.

“Everybody was really enthusiastic about the project but also was mindful that there's a process. We're very careful, we're very mindful of the assets that are already there, and the residential neighborhoods around it, and being transparent,” Peek added.

Legislator Michael Bulich of Catskill inquired whether there has been any interest from new businesses to set up shop in the area.

“Not specifically, but we've been very forward about―whether you're a business looking or you're a community member―that we don't have a final end use. We don't know where the most buildable site is down there yet,” replied James Hannahs, Greene County's director of Economic Development, Tourism and Planning.

“Early on, when we first started bringing this to the State's attention, we had some general inquiries, but we quickly felt that we weren't ready to properly field them,” Hannahs said.

“Would you say that the existing landowners are looking to expand their operations or to begin a new type of operations on the lands they own?” Bulich asked.

“Expanding their current operations, both Heidelberg and Peckham have brought that to our attention. Heidelberg, especially, is looking to reactivate the quarry,” Hannahs said.

Heidelberg is one of the companies Greene County Legislative Chairman Patrick Linger said he is dealing with on the northern end of the county where State Route 144 is impacted by significant truck traffic coming out of the Port of Coeymans.

“One of the things that was missed from the beginning on that project was just transportation in and out of that port. It's brought heavy truck traffic through the Village of Ravena, through the Town of New Baltimore, through the Town of Bethlehem, that has absolutely destroyed roads,” said Linger.

“So, I would be very cautious as to how that gets planned out. That site is just under 300 acres so we're 10 to 12 times bigger. I would just say, keep that in mind as we're looking to build this out, let's make sure the infrastructure is in place to get this material in and out of there―whatever it may be,” Linger added.

Some years ago, Bulich pointed out, New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) looked at rerouting State Route 9W around the narrow bridges and overpasses in and around the hamlet.

“I believe, at that time, they did draw up plans. I don't know if they still exist. Obviously, they got shelved but it might be worth it looking into,” Bulich said.

“I agree,” said Hannahs. “If anything, this project gives us a great opportunity to reevaluate and engage with DOT on some of that route.”

Cementon, also known as Alsen and Smith’s Landing, is the southern gateway into Greene County. At one time, the hamlet had its own school, church, railroad station, post office, five grocery stores, multiple hotels, and a sportsmens club.

Many of its once 800-plus residents worked for the Alsen American Portland Cement Company that opened around 1902. The plant was acquired by LeHigh Cement in 1939 and shut down in the early 1980s.

As manufacturing declined and plants closed, Cementon lost job and economic activity, leaving many properties underused. According to 2020 census data, Cementon’s population is now around 164.

Peek noted that any rebirth of the hamlet wouldn’t happen overnight.

“It's obviously an enormous site, unlikely that it's going to get developed all at once,” Peek said. “So, making sure that we have a plan in place to logically develop the site over the course of, you know, it could be five years, it could be 10 years, it could be 20 years.”

“But making sure that there's a plan in place to make sure that that happens very carefully and intentionally,” she added.