WOODSTOCK – The Rural Ulster Preservation Company can now move forward with the construction of 53 units of affordable housing in Woodstock now that the town planning board has granted a special use permit.

RUPCO Executive Director Kevin O’Connor noted the Tri-County Housing Study last year said Woodstock should have 108 new rental units before 2015.

“It’s a great first step. We haven’t really had any affordable housing built in Woodstock outside of the 24 units at Woodstock Meadows in the late 80s, so this will be the first affordable housing in Woodstock,” he said. “It’s an intergenerational campus of 53 units for seniors, working families and artists.”

First proposed in 2005, Woodstock Commons is designed to meet US Green Building Council’s LEED certification for new construction.