The Borden Condensed Milk Factory on Route 208, after years of deterioration, will finally breathe new life as a boutique hotel after the Town of Montgomery Planning Board approved City Winery’s renovation plans during its March 25 meeting.

City Winery, the applicant, originally submitted plans to the board on March 22; the key developers included Noah Bobrowsky, City Winery’s Design and Construction Associate, Architect Todd Zwigard, and Civil Engineer Larry Marshall. Their goal was to transform the rundown factory into a boutique hotel comprising 43 guest units, a restaurant, a winery, a distillery, and other amenities. The project would include additional accessory uses for outdoor events, retail, and office space.

The project received positive feedback from the community but endured a lengthy review process, to the extent that part of the factory collapsed in the meantime. The biggest hurdle was potential noise; members of Shanti Mandir, an ashram located near the factory, raised concerns about the project’s outdoor events and how they could disturb the ashram’s meditation and other quiet practices. In response, the developers conducted a few noise studies and carefully considered how to host events and music without aggravating their neighbors.

Flash forward to March 25 and Fred Reichle, planning board chairman, presents a negative declaration draft, culminating two years’ worth of reviews, studies, and public hearings. Reichle stated that the project is nearly there but the board needs to look over the neg dec draft once more time before moving forward.

“We’re working towards all the conditions. I believe there’s only a couple of outstanding things which we’ll cover in the document,” Reichle said. “We’ve been working on the neg dec for some time and we’ve had a few days to review and re-review this negative declaration.”

For most of the meeting, Reichle read through the document and listed the project’s various uses and regulations. He noted that the project would not have an adverse environmental impact and that the developers need to apply for a certificate from the town’s Historic Preservation Commission due to the site’s significance.

“The project site is part of the Borden Home Farm Historic District, a national register-eligible district which extends into the adjoining Town of Shawangunk to the north,” he said. “Given the alterations proposed to the site, a certificate of appropriateness is required to be obtained from the Town of Montgomery Historic Preservation Commission.”

Regarding noise, Reichle asserted that the applicant must adhere to the town’s noise ordinance law and implement regulations that would minimize disturbance, including sound parameters, noise-reflective shrubbery, and speaker placement.

“Sound-absorption barriers shall be placed behind the DJ bandstand. The barriers will exist from the ground and reach above and over the DJ or band,” he said regarding barriers. “A berm shall be constructed along the southern border of the proposed tent area and bushes. Hedges and shrubs will be installed to absorb and deflect sound.”

After reviewing the draft and some brief discussion, the board motioned the approve the project’s negative declaration and granted the applicant special permit use and site plan approval. Bobrowsky then shook each board member’s hand and thanked them for approving the renovations.