Why Wallkill's Blue Chip Farms Is Planning Its Own Development Before It Sells

"Blue Chip Farms has not been economically defendable for several years," owner Tom Grossman told the Wallkill Valley Times in an article published October 7, 2026. The farm sits at 807 Hoagerburgh Road. It covers 700 acres and has bred horses since the late 1960s. Grossman plans to keep about 200 acres in farming and develop the other 500 acres or so.

Grossman is not selling the land and letting a buyer work out what to build. He has spent five years taking a plan through the Shawangunk Planning Board so the land can be sold with that work already done. For anyone weighing property in Wallkill, that order matters. On a parcel this large, the approval file shapes what comes next more than the land market does.

A Healthy Business on Land That Costs Too Much to Keep

The horse business is not the problem. The Harness Racing Museum says the Kimelmans founded the farm in 1969 "to take advantage of the $3 million New York Sire Stakes program," and built it into a breeding and boarding operation of more than 600 acres. Grossman's interview with Harness Racing Update was published three days before the local article, and he sounded upbeat. He pointed to a "healthy surplus in the Sire Stakes account," to New York now allowing shipped semen, and to new stallions Back Of The Neck and Cannibal joining longtime resident Chapter Seven.

The trouble is the cost of the land. He told the Wallkill Valley Times that hay shipping, payroll, and insurance have all climbed, with insurance rates tripling, and that "just maintaining a 55-mile long fence has become extremely expensive." So the farm is shrinking to fit its business. Grossman told the Planning Board on September 1, 2026 that a horse farm of 200-plus acres would still be "bigger than most of my competitors."

Why Land Without Approvals Draws Different Buyers

Grossman's first idea was a plain land sale. When he tested the market, he told the Wallkill Valley Times, the people ready to buy the land outright before any approvals were not the owners he thought the town would want controlling 500 acres. The buyers he did want, he said, "don't play in the game until there's significant progress or full approvals."

The economics behind that are simple. A large parcel with no approvals carries every unanswered question with it: water, wastewater, traffic, wetlands, noise. Someone has to pay to answer those questions and take the risk that the answers come back badly. Buyers who will take on that risk price it in. Buyers who won't take it on simply wait. When the seller pays for the studies himself, he sets the terms of the sale, and he also shapes the plan the next owner inherits. Grossman told the paper he is "deep in discussions with a few really high-end development partners."

The Plan Is Still a Range

Since this plan is built to attract a buyer, its numbers have shifted with each version. These are the figures in the public record so far:

Grossman told the Wallkill Valley Times that the original figures are "at the maximum." He said the three partner plans he has seen each use different numbers, with golf courses of 12 holes, 18 holes, or none. At the September meeting, engineer Chris LaPorta of Passero described four sections. The existing farm, called Blue Chip 2, would sit on the east side under a conservation unit. Hospitality and recreation uses, including a terrace restaurant open to the public, would go west of Hoagerburgh Road. The housing would be a conservation cluster built on two-acre lots. The formal SEQR documents list Elixir Design Build LLC as the applicant and the Planning Board as lead agency.

A board member asked what happens if operators who sign on later want something different. LaPorta said a significant change could require a supplemental environmental review. That review is the town's control over the gap between the plan that gets studied and the plan a buyer eventually builds.

The Water Question Reaches Neighbors' Wells

Water is where the plan meets the homes around it. The property has about 19 wells, and the project depends on whether they can supply it. LaPorta told the board, "We are preparing to do a test which will determine if this project works." The Ulster County Department of Health approved a 72-hour pumping test on wells 13 and 9, which currently serve nearby houses. Mailers went to properties within 1,200 feet of the test wells, and Miller Hydrologic planned to meet with affected owners and look at their wells.

Frank Getchell of Weston & Sampson, the board's special consultant, said the test also measures "extent of influence," meaning how pumping affects existing wells, streams, wetlands, and ponds nearby. The test was planned for the end of September. LaPorta said the results would be included in the draft environmental impact statement, which the public will be able to read. As of mid-October, no public record of the results had appeared. Plans to irrigate a golf course would use captured runoff or reclaimed wastewater instead of well water, and board members noted that irrigation would need a separate DEC water withdrawal permit.

The Grasslands Down the Road

Directions from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service take visitors up Hoagerburgh Road past Blue Chip Farm to the Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge, which protects 597 acres. The agency calls it one of only two Hudson Valley sites big enough to support the full range of northeastern grassland birds, including Short-eared Owls, Northern Harriers, and Bobolinks. According to the applicant, the retained farm would border the grasslands. Grossman told the board he would like to place conservation easements on the farm acreage so it cannot be developed later.

Those easements answer a concern raised early on. At the 2023 scoping sessions, the Wallkill Valley Times reported that residents raised wastewater near the Dwaar Kill and effects on the refuge's wildlife and water. Later coverage that June added turtles, stormwater runoff, traffic on Albany Post Road, and the overall scale. One resident asked, "why can't it be minimized?" The board's adopted scope lists habitat and wetlands, traffic, water supply, wastewater, stormwater, noise, and lighting among the subjects the environmental impact statement has to cover.

When the Public Gets Its Turn

Grossman told the Wallkill Valley Times his team is aiming to finish the draft environmental impact statement by the end of November, "though there could be some slippage." From there, New York's SEQR regulations at 6 NYCRR Part 617 set out the steps:

1. Completeness review. The Planning Board has 45 days to decide whether the draft is adequate for public review. If it is not, the draft goes back with written deficiencies.
2. Public comment. Once the draft is accepted, a Notice of Completion opens a comment period of at least 30 days.
3. Optional hearing. A hearing is at the board's discretion. If one is held, it must be noticed at least 14 days ahead, start 15 to 60 days after the Notice of Completion, and leave comments open for at least 10 days afterward.
4. Final EIS. The final statement is due 45 days after a hearing closes or 60 days after the draft is filed, whichever comes later.
5. Findings. After at least 10 days, the lead agency issues findings that weigh environmental impacts alongside social and economic considerations.

If the draft arrives on schedule at the end of November, the board's 45-day deadline for an adequacy decision falls around mid-January 2027. The comment period could open sooner if the board accepts the draft quickly, or later if it sends the draft back. The pumping test, traffic counts, noise modeling, and visual analysis described in September will all be in front of the public for the first time during that comment period.

Reading Property Near Hoagerburgh Road Right Now

For an owner selling nearby, the useful question is less about the resort and more about what the record says, and when it will say more. Buyers can read the scoping document and the September minutes today. Owners within 1,200 feet of the test wells received notices, and the board chair asked that participating homeowners receive their results for their records. A seller who keeps those documents on hand can show a buyer which version of the plan is currently under review.

For a buyer comparing Wallkill, the project is still a proposal. Its size can still change, and the formal public review has not started yet.

Questions Owners Ask About Blue Chip Farms

Is the development approved? No. The Planning Board issued a positive declaration in April 2023 requiring a full environmental impact statement, As of early October 2026, the applicant was still aiming to finish that draft by the end of November.

Will the horse farm close? The stated plan keeps about 200 acres operating as Blue Chip 2, the retained farm placed under conservation protections.

Would the project tie into town sewer? Both options are under study: an on-site membrane bioreactor plant or a connection to the town's wastewater treatment plant.

If you own property near Hoagerburgh Road and want to plan around the coming review, Kathryn DeCrosta can help you organize what the public record says and time a sale around it. Call or Text to Connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.