The city’s Planning Board has granted final approval to a 164-unit affordable housing development at the former site of the Ulster County Jail on Golden Hill.

On Monday the board voted unanimously to recommend the Common Council grant a zoning change necessary for project to move forward, and okayed the project design.

Demolition of the former jail is currently underway. When it’s complete, plans call for developers Pennrose Community Builders, to construct 164 units of “intergenerational, affordable mixed income housing,” a daycare center and community space in six buildings spread over a 20-acre parcel. Eighty units in one building would be reserved for senior citizens. Some units would be set aside for special populations, including the frail elderly and domestic violence survivors.

Four nine-unit townhouse style buildings will include one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments priced to be affordable to people making between 30 and 130 percent of Area Median Income. The sixth building would house a daycare center operated by social services nonprofit Family of Woodstock, a community room, a fitness center and onsite health services. The plan approved by the board on Monday also includes walking paths, a playground and other amenities intended to create a pedestrian-centric community at the site.

The Golden Hill proposal emerged from a 2020 plan developed by former county executive Pat Ryan and Ulster lawmakers to address to address the area’s housing affordability crisis. The report called for developing affordable housing on county-owned land, starting with the former jail which has stood vacant since 2008. To facilitate the effort, Ryan and the County Legislature moved to transfer the property to the quasi-public Ulster County Housing Development Corp. UCHDC in turn issued a Request for Proposals to develop the site in line with the county’s affordable housing goals. The Penrose proposal was one of five submitted in response to the RFP.

The proposal has faced opposition by some neighbors from the beginning. Those against the new development, which is surrounded by single-family homes, said that the project would contribute to longstanding drainage issues in the neighborhood by increasing stormwater runoff. Residents also predicted that the project would lead to traffic jams, change the character of the neighborhood and potentially lead to an increase in crime.

On Monday, City Planner Suzanne Cahill urged board members to turn aside a final effort to delay the project — a request to hold off making a recommendation on a proposal to change zoning at the site from single family only “RRR” to an O2 zone that permits multi-family dwellings — until the Common Council had an opportunity to hold a public hearing on the matter. But Cahill said that there was no requirement that the planning board wait for the council’s public hearing before issuing a recommendation.

Cahill noted that the zoning issue had been identified at the start of the approval process and there had already been multiple opportunities for public input. “I feel that the board has ample opportunity to vet this project and as part of this review process we have recognized all along that this rezoning would be necessary for the project to move forward,” said Cahill. “At this point, I don’t see any reason or need for you to delay this recommendation.”

The board then voted on a series of preconditions for the zoning change, affirming that the action was consistent with the objectives and purpose of the project and would not have a negative impact on the surrounding area or any existing public facilities. Following the zoning recommendations, the board moved on to a final resolution approving the site plan for the project.

A timeline included in Pennrose’s proposal calls for beginning construction next summer. The complex is expected to open to residents in the fall of 2024.