Developer pitches new luxury hotel, retirement community to town board

A new large, luxury hotel and 55-and-over community was proposed to the Goshen Town Board at the May 28 meeting.

Representatives of Big Sky Farm, the LLC behind the proposal, said “We want this development to be cutting edge and beautiful.”

The total project consists of 47 acres, which would be divided into three parcels, including the currently operating, small working farm. Developers promised to use solar and geothermal energy to help power the project. They said the retirement community would be targeted at empty nesters and the price range of homes would be $750,000 to $900,000.

The developers said Orange County planners have expressed the need for new hotel space in the county. They plan on creating a “large, luxury hotel.” They cited the location in Goshen as being central to many attractions as the reason it is ideal for development.

In order to move forward with the project Big Sky Farm needs to gain a special permit from the town board, which is why they were presenting to the town board and not simply going through the planning board process. They have begun the planning board process, as well, representatives said.

No vote was taken on the matter at the meeting.

Town extends battery energy storage systems moratorium

In other news, the town board voted to extend the town’s moratorium on battery energy storage systems by another six months. The issue came to the fore after a December fire in the village of Warwick. The board noted that an investigation into the impacts of that fire found no environmental contamination left behind, but the board said they are still in the process of gathering information on the topic and voted to extend the moratorium.

The board also voted to forward a copy of the 2025 Town of Goshen justice court audit by Nugent & Haeussler to the Internal Control Liasion Section of the New York State Unified Court System.