Our latest alerts & and updates
We’ve gotten word out about the issues we care about to Town Board Members, the press, and the public.
Share your voice!
400+ individuals turned out in historic numbers at the March 4th Town Board meeting to protest egregious zoning amendments. Over 60 residents spoke with the vast majority raising issues about water, sewer and overdevelopment as well as legitimate legal reasons to reject zoning changes.
Thank you for taking your time to express your opinions to the Town Supervisor and the Board. This time they had no choice but to hear you. Unfortunately, these issues are not yet resolved.
Legal representation is now scheduled to meet with the town lawyer to try and mutually agree on the zoning changes. For now, the Town Board has postponed the vote on the amendments. But as a community, we must remain active and alert!
A group of individuals, many who spoke at the March 4th meeting, are in the process of organizing the community to make sure our views continue to be heard and to put pressure on the Town Board to take into account the wishes of the full time residents.
A survey has been created to gauge what issues you feel are most important.
To be successful, we need volunteers to aid in this effort. If you feel like you would like to be engaged, even in a small way, please take a moment to complete the online survey.
Take the Survey!!
In addition to the high turnout and thoughtful citizen comments at the Public Hearing, the effort to fight the zoning amendments has also been made possible by engaging legal support.
If you wish, you can support the Fallsburg Legal Defense Fund to help continue the fight.
Please Donate Today!
https://www.catskillmountainkeeper.org/snc
Your donations are tax-deductible. You can contribute via Catskill Mountainkeeper
You must write “Fallsburg Legal Defense Fund” in the Honoree Line.
Thank you and let’s keep going, Fallsburg!
March 4th Public Hearing
On Tuesday, March 4th at 6 pm, the town of Fallsburg is holding a Public Hearing at the Hurleyville Performing Arts Center, 219 Main St concerning proposed changes to the Town Zoning Code. The venue seats 400 people. There will be no zoom accessibility. The proposed zoning changes will allow “religious” building on property now zoned AG. Fearing lawsuits, the town lawyers have chosen an expansive interpretation of the Federal RULIPA law which offers protection against "substantial burdens on religious exercise". Complying with State codes and local zoning regulations is not considered a "substantial burden".
As well, non-conforming bungalow colonies will now be allowed to become legal and expand by 50% by enabling owners to make renovations based on town code. If these zoning changes are allowed in their current form, it will over ride the 2018 Town Comprehensive Plan and our rural landscape will be changed forever.
These proposed zoning changes are a Type 1 actions under the State Environmental Quality Act {"SEQRA"}. Type 1 actions carry a presumption that the action is likely to have significant ADVERSE impact on the environment {water, aquifer, water distribution systems, wastewater treatment, more clear cut forest, increased demand on the electrical grid, over crowded roadways, community character} that would require an Environmental Impact Statement {"EIR"}.
The Town Board is entertaining these zoning changes without taking any of the above into consideration.
The County has denied Fallsburg from enacting these changes with a Section 239 review, meaning that the changes are violating the Town Comprehensive regulations. “The proposed zoning changes could increase non conforming uses, strain natural resources, agricultural land, and infrastructure and negatively impact the Fallsburg Agricultural District and the greater County Agricultural District #1 and potentially violate RULIPA.” - 239 review from the County.
A large public turnout will send a message to the developers that a compromise would be in their best interest. The hearing is your only chance to have the Town Board hear your concerns. Please come early. Sign up to speak and give the Town Board a copy of your comments. The meeting will start at 6 pm.
More Background on Water Crisis prior to Public Hearing on March 4
Dear Friends,
Here is more information on the technical concerns about Fallsburg’s water situation. We are sharing it in advance of the Town Board Public Hearing on Tuesday, March 4, on the changes in the zoning laws, which would put even more stress on our water resources.
In 1982, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Public Water Supply Protection conducted a study "Atlas of Eleven Selected Aquifers in New York. This study is 247 pages and very detailed. Attached is one page titled South Fallsburg-Woodbourne Area.
Fallsburg’s Future and other community organizations have been asking the Town Board to undertake a study of the Town’s aquifer. Last year we gave the Town Supervisor and each Board member copies of the Delaware River Basin Commission reports. The Commission report, dated February 9, 2022, states:
The docket holder's { Town of Fallsburg } projected peak day and monthly demands exceed the system's combined well capacity and allocation approved by this docket. The docket holder shall conduct a groundwater availability assessment to determine the extent and capacity of the aquifer{s} in the area that may be utilized for additional water supply. The results of the assessment shall be submitted to the Commission within three years of approval date of this docket. The assessment shall provide information relating to the extent and water supply capability of the aquifer{s}, a hydrologic water budget, update water demand projection, and a plan and schedule of the development of additional sources determined to be necessary to meet the future water demands."
We just learned from David Kovach, Project Review Manager at DRBC, that the Town has not submitted the required groundwater assessment which has a March 9 deadline. He said that he has sent at least two reminders for Town compliance to support their request for increased water allocation.
The Town of Fallsburg is about to make major changes to the zoning regulations that were established in the Town’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan. Among these changes are areas of farmland, now zoned “Ag” for Agricultural land, that would be open to building "for Religious Purpose".
If the Town Board adopts these zoning changes as written without further study of the impact these changes will have on the Town’s infrastructure and its aquifer, hundreds of private wells in the Town could go dry, we would face the huge cost of building a new wastewater treatment plant, the increase in your property taxes, NYSEG’s ability to provide electric power. Our struggling farmers could lose their wells, costing them thousands of dollars to replace. Not to mention the increased traffic on dangerous rural roads. The list goes on.
There is a Public Hearing at the Hurleyville Performing Arts Center on March 4 at 6 p.m. We are asking the Town to ensure that Zoom facilities are available for residents who cannot make it to Hurleyville. You can still express your concerns to the Town Board. Your comments should be in writing, so they are included in the public meeting minutes. Call the Board Member who you may know. Tell him/her what your concerns are.
Fallsburg's Future is a community network of concerned Fallsburg residents established in January 2016. Its Mission is to help guide the urban development of the town of Fallsburg and its five hamlets, to promote its sustainable economic development, protect the fragile beauty of its natural habitats and enhance the opportunities and quality of life for all its residents and visitors. We hope to curb the suburban sprawl that is threatening to overwhelm the town’s physical infrastructure and destroy the natural beauty that the area depends on for its future development. See us on Facebook and our website Fallsburgsfuture.com. If you want others to be on our mailing list, send their names and emails to office@fallsburgsfuture.com. You can also post your comments on our Facebook page at Fallsburg’s Future as well.
Important Zoning Changes Debate Tuesday Jan 21
Dear Friends,
Fallsburg's Future wishes you a happy new year. It will be happier if we stay organized and keep informed.
In this spirit, please find our first Alert of 2025 regarding an important proposal to change our zoning laws that will affect us all. In the file attached below, you will see the Planning Board letter with its recommendations to the Town Board.
We hope you can attend, in person or by Zoom, the public hearing on the proposed zoning amendment with the Fallsburg Town Board this Tuesday January 21 at 6:00 p.m.
The precedent set by the Town Board’s response to these zoning changes can affect land use issues throughout all of the hamlets in Fallsburg district and in all of Sullivan County. It's an important hearing.
For those of you who are not familiar with the issue being tracked by members of the What the Hill group in Hurleyville among others, you can also attend the Hurleyville meeting when the zoning amendment hearing is finished. Jennifer Grossman, the well-known activist attorney, will speak on the issue. Jennifer will also meet with the Loch Sheldrake group of residents on Tuesday, February 11th at 7:00 p.m. Zoom/in person TBD.
It's very important to have a large presence at this Town Board Public hearing. The more people the more impact! Please come and speak up.
You can attend the meeting in person in the meeting room 19 Railroad Plaza behind the Town Clerk's office in South Fallsburg. Walk around outside of the building to the back and you will see the walkway to the entrance.
You can also attend the meeting by Zoom.
For more information, contact Mary at 917-816-3551 and
Email: Townmatters12759@gmail.com
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION RELATED TO PROPOSED ZONING AMENDMENT
The Public Hearing is this Tuesday, Jan 21st at 6:00 pm. There is one other public hearing that night which is first on the agenda and likely to take time. The zoning amendment is second on the agenda.
The Town received a letter from the Orthodox developers saying that the Town zoning code was in violation of RLUIPA. Being a Federal civil rights statute, it supersedes local laws or regulations. Some of you may have been at the TB meeting in the Fall, when a lawyer from Haverstraw, Steve Barshov, presented this point about our zoning code not being compliant with this particular federal law.
Attached is the Planning Board letter to the TB. You can get the gist of the recommendations being made to make our zoning code RLUIPA compliant.
Definitions were updated. Most significantly the definition of Houses of worship under Religious use -"A house of worship or other place regularly and primarily devoted to religious practice including accessory use that are customary and incidental and part of primary religious use."
With this broadening of this definition, there are a number of land uses that were not previously considered, but because they are religious land uses now, they are covered under house of worship. So a camp, Shul, school, synagogue gets covered under this umbrella definition of house of worship. So it basically gives another level of protection to have whatever is needed for their religious use.
Mainly all changes are to taking out any differences between considering religious land use vs secular land use. We have zoning that allows public assembly, community centers, performing arts, that require no special permits, but houses of worship required a special permit and had stricter regulations than these other secular uses.
There used to be a section in our Town code that dealt specifically with bungalow colonies. It basically stated that they were part of our history but not allowed any longer. The changes show that the bungalow colony category was removed and bungalows will not be treated any differently than any other non-conforming use.
The Planning Board has met and done their work and the attached letter to the Town Board from PB includes their proposal.
Writing to Town Supervisor Mike Bensimon and the Town Board could be helpful (must be done by this Monday, Jan 20) if you can't be at the hearing in person. The letters are usually read out loud and can be quite effective. When we speak there is a three-minute limit.
SUGGESTIONS FOR POINTS TO BRING UP AT PUBLIC HEARING:
· Suppprt the Planning Board recommendation letter to Town Board.
· Refer to the Town’s Comprehensive Plan (the Town Clerk should have copy). You can cite its recommendations that refer to maintaining the character of neighborhoods especially in Recreation and Agricultural districts.
(The Town’s Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 2018, is a document created with the public’s input and accepted as the guiding document the development for our Town.) Even though it is not ‘legally binding’, it is the job of the TB and the Planning Board to honor its 100 recommendations. It is our job, as concerned residents, to cite it and refer to it continuously.
· You can also talk to the point that increased density in AG and Rec districts would continue to stress the infrastructure and water and sewer systems which are already not functioning well.
· The intense lighting, traffic, and noise disturb and threaten the wildlife and waterways that are protected by DEC, ACOE and DRBC.
REGARDING THE PROPOSED VILLAGE OF ATERES
A public hearing was held on August 3 in the Town of Thompson at the Viznitz Synagogue to review a petition that proposes to establish a new village spanning the towns of Thompson and Fallsburg. Supervisors from both towns chaired the public hearing.
The proposed village, Ateres, would be 929 acres in size and have a population of just over 830. Local residents came to voice their opinions about the proposal, but Town of Thompson Supervisor Bill Rieber immediately declared the purpose of this public hearing was limited. Only objections that challenged the sufficiency of the petition that had been submitted to the towns were allowed.
Residents of both Thompson and Fallsburg spoke, focusing on the irregularities of the signed petition and the submitted incomprehensible map.
Supervisors Rieber and Rappaport opted not to close the public hearing and will convene a second session on August 22nd. Once public comment is closed, they will have 10 days to determine if the petition is valid. If the petition is deemed valid, a referendum vote will be scheduled to determine the fate of Ateres.
THERE ARE PETITION IRREGULARITIES:
Both the Town of Thompson and Fallsburg received the Ateres petition on June 14, 2023.
We are concerned that residents were not well informed about the meeting regarding the petition for the proposed village.
All the petitioners are from only six streets in this area comprising of perhaps 5% of the total acreage.
Not one non-religious person signed this petition.
It is not helpful that the public hearing was held in the Viznitz Synagogue, not in a neutral Town Hall assembly place.
It also became clear that, after careful review of the petition and cross referencing with local voting rolls, most of the signatories are not registered voters.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Facing the August 22nd meeting, residents of both Fallsburg and Thompson should make their concerns known to the Town Supervisors.
The establishment of a new village flies in the face of the trend to consolidate towns and resources in New York State.
The new village would be able to create its own zoning by-laws that will allow for the hyper-development of residences, severely increasing density and drawing on town services like water and sewer that are already inadequate.
You can call their offices or write to them using some of the suggested language below. We are also circulating a petition protesting the establishment of Ateres which we will be sending out by email and which will be available at public events in the days ahead.
SAMPLE LETTER TO SEND
My name is _____________ I am a resident of the Town of (Thompson or Fallsburg). I have lived here for ____ years. I do not believe the Petition for the proposed Village of Ateres is legally sufficient for approval by the joint decision of the Supervisors of Thompson & Fallsburg. I wish to challenge the Petition as being legally deficient in multiple ways.
It was improperly submitted because it has no page numbering which is required to effectively discuss signature challenges. All 21 pages are fatally flawed. The first page of the signature section of Exhibit C is also flawed because the Witness did not indicate how many signatures were on his sworn Affidavit.
The pages allege to include 99 signatures of residents who are “qualified to vote for town officers” in the two towns. This is not true. At least 23 of the individuals are not registered voters in either town. An additional 14 signatures listed addresses that do not match the voter information from Sullivan County Board of Elections and NYSBOE. 15 signatures seem to have been written by an alternate person. There are additional challengeable signatures with errors that the person did not use their lawful signature or did not use their full name.
It is likely that there are maybe 52 qualified voter signatures, which is far below the 20% threshold required for the petition to be valid. It is clearly too small a number to indicate support to create a new municipal structure that would have jurisdiction over so many of the neighboring residents and parcels that would be absorbed by this Village. I request that this Proposal be denied for lack of a legally sufficient Petition.
Signature
Name
Complete Address
And, Join us on August 22 to make your voices heard!
The District Office of the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) Is Leaving Sullivan County
That’s right.
Effective September, 2022, the Sullivan County District Office of NYSDOH is being moved from Monticello to Middletown, in Orange County.
Hard to believe, given that Sullivan County ranks next to last in health metrics out of the 62 counties in New York State.
Hard to believe, given that Orange County already has a full-service County Department of Health, which Sullivan County does not.
Why does this matter? Here are just a few of the many services provided to Sullivan County residents through the current NYSDOH office in Monticello:
Regulation of 215 children’s camp sites & 300 temporary residences (bungalow colonies, motels, hotels)
Inspection of public water systems, including sampling and monitoring for contaminants
Inspection of mobile home parks, and restaurants, mobile food and temporary food services
Lead, mold, and sewage problem response and prevention
Once the Monticello office disappears, how will NYSDOH:
Protect and promote the public’s health and safety with the same level of effectiveness when the office is no longer located in Sullivan County?
Manage the increased response time to provide routine and emergency services to Sullivan County, particularly during peak summertime demands and inclement winter weather?
Manage the increased health inequities & poor health outcomes that inevitably result from reduced access to services?
Manage emergent public health problems in Sullivan County in a timely manner, including infectious disease outbreaks (Covid-19, measles, etc.)?
Provide Sullivan County residents access to walk-in services, particularly for those who are unable to commute to Middletown?
Why is this happening?
According to NYSDOH, there is no suitable space in Sullivan County for the District Office, a claim disputed by State, County and local officials.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Call, email, or write to Governor Kathy Hochul to express your outrage at this looming and preventable public health crisis in Sullivan County.
Phone: 1-518-474-8390
Email: https://www.governor.ny.gov/content/governor-contact-form
Write: The Honorable Kathy Hochul,
Governor of New York State,
NYS State Capitol Building,
Albany, NY 12224
Raise awareness of this pending disaster with your town and county officials and ask them to lobby forcefully to keep the Sullivan County District Office of NYSDOH in Sullivan County - where it belongs and where it is needed most
Here is a sample phone or email message:
“I live in Sullivan County and I’m calling to express my strong opposition to the proposed move of the New York State Department of Health District Office in Monticello to Middletown. Why would the State deliberately undermine access to public health services in one of New York’s neediest counties? Public officials dispute the claim that the move is necessary because of inadequate space in Sullivan County. Please stop this unnecessary and reckless move before it is too late. Thank you.”
Sample letter to Governor Hochul that you can use as is or modify for other recipients:
The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
Dear Governor Hochul,
Effective September of this year, the New York State Department of Health has decided to move their Sullivan County District Office to Middletown, in Orange County. As Sullivan County remains 61st out of 62 NYS counties in overall health, this brings up the very serious issues of health equity, rural ethnicity, and equal access to health services, all of which are bipartisan concerns.
A major issue is that during the summer the Sullivan County population goes from 78 thousand to over 300 thousand because of the summer camps and vacation colonies. The District Office of the New York State Department of Health is fully engaged assessing the environmental safety of these facilities as well as other local institutions and businesses. Without a fully dedicated local District Office, I am very concerned that the issues that arise will not be attended to effectively or in a timely way. In the recent past, there have been outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as SARS-Covid 19 and measles, as well as unsafe sanitary conditions that required ongoing prompt attention. Of all the counties in New York State, it simply does not make sense to further weaken the public health resources of Sullivan County, which does not even have a full-service County Department of Health.
I urge you to please work with the NY State Department of Health to reverse their decision and maintain a fully staffed, year-round Sullivan County District Office.
Sincerely,
Brooklyn Votes Overturn Fallsburg Local Election
Many Fallsburg residents are alarmed by the victory of Kathy Rappaport over Steve Vegliante for Town Supervisor as the result of the late count of absentee ballots, mostly from Brooklyn residents.
Steve Vegliante decisively won the initial Fallsburg election voting for Town Supervisor upon the local count on November 4. Full time, year-round residents cast machine-counted votes, 1102 to 696 for Steve, knowingly rejecting Rappaport’s campaign agendas. Nate Steingart (1,011-745) and Michael Bensimon (940-604) likewise defeated their opponents, Sean Wall Carty and Miranda Behan for two more open seats on the six-member town board.
Yet Rappaport and her running mates were declared the winners of the election by 275 votes thanks to Brooklyn residents.
The upset has worrisome implications for the town’s future. How did it happen?
Loophole
First, N.Y. State has a well-meaning but lax and faulty law, allowing summer residents to vote from their summer vacation home, despite only residing here for as little as one month a year.
Although the law stipulates that summer residents must demonstrate they have “legitimate, significant and continuing attachments' to that residence.” As witnessed in other towns, summer residents are thus able to gain control of local town administrations and sometimes undermine if not ignore the needs of full-time residents.
Second, since last spring and summer, 2021, Abe Rutner, Abe Rosenberg and Yermia Solomon, politically connected organizers, actively recruited absentee ballots from ultra-Orthodox second-home owners, who would normally vote in New York City, to register and vote in Fallsburg.
Rappaport and her supporters, ultra-Orthodox rabbis, developers, and businessmen continuously spread malicious lies during the campaign, accusing Vegliante of anti-Semitism among other falsehoods. Republican Sheriff Michael Schiff and Undersheriff Eric Chaboty also significantly aided and assisted Rappaport, a political novice, in her campaign.
With Rappaport in place, it is now evident that the ultra-Orthodox are in a position to have massive control of the future development of Fallsburg. If experience in other Upstate towns is any guide, these individuals will promote the narrow interests of their religious community above year-round residents.
It is clear what the developers want from their candidates, Rappaport et.al. They have long pressed for unlimited development in the town and outlying agricultural lands as well as for a Planning Board that will allow new over-sized development plans, a compliant Building Department that will overlook blatant violations, and a Zoning Board that will grant frequently specious zoning exceptions.
The ultra-Orthodox voting bloc in this last election is one that is sure to grow. By the next election, they could feasibly take over the entire Town Board.
In this new context, it is hard to see a future for sustainable development that will preserve our natural beauty and resources. All previous work, such as the 2018 Town Comprehensive Plan that provides a blueprint for healthy town development, are at risk. The will and wishes of the local community may be largely ignored if this religious bloc protects these newly elected, inexperienced candidates.
Having put personal agendas ahead of the needs of full-time residents, the new administration has made clear that they speak for themselves and their backers, not us.
How can those who oppose excessive development and its negative impact on the natural environment respond? What will happen with the schools? How will the new Town Board manage the town budget and taxes? What changes will they make in managing the overstretched water, sewer and transportation infrastructure? Will local businesses thrive or be thwarted?
Perhaps now the advocacy of Fallsburg’s Future is more important than before, to participate, witness and report on the work of the new Town Board.
The way forward
As a network of concerned residents, Fallsburg’s Future advocates for the sustainable development of the Town of Fallsburg.
With the pending changes in town leadership, we must closely follow the work of town officials to help ensure that the residential development of our town is well planned and that the town’s infrastructure is able to absorb construction in the works and curtail a potential avalanche of new construction.
Your ideas as to how best to respond to the new political and administrative situation are welcome. We need strategic thinking, constructive dialogue and compelling advocacy. Your participation is the key to building a sustainable future for Fallsburg in the months and years ahead.
If you are interested in getting more involved with our next chapter of community organizing and coalition building, please respond to this email.
With thanks and a sustained commitment to the sustainability of our beautiful town,
The Members of Fallsburg’s Future
Fallsburg’s Future is a community group that advocates for the sustainable development of the town of Fallsburg to protect the fragile beauty of its natural habitats and enhance the opportunities and quality of life for all its residents and visitors.
2019 Year in Review and the Year Ahead
After a pause, Fallsburg’s Future resumes its communications with you all. As many of you have heard, we lost one of our founding members, Steve Gordon, in November due to complications of cancer. The sudden death of this tireless political activist is a big loss to the Fallsburg community and especially to us at Fallsburg Future and Friends of Columbia Hill in Hurleyville, Steve’s base of operations. As Brian Manown, a co-founder of FF along with Steve in 2016, put it: “Steve was a great friend and a wonderful human being. He was dedicated to the well-being of the people around him. Fallsburg’s Future was one of the many ways that Steve expressed his commitment and dedication to the community. He believed that it was through individuals that the important concerns of the community are expressed.”
We miss Steve – his knowledge and insights will be difficult to replace -- but he is well remembered.
2019
Implementation of Comprehensive Plan?
In many ways the work of Fallsburg’s Future during the year is a tribute to Steve. It built on our earlier support for the town’s update of its Comprehensive Plan, the vision for development over the next decade, and our advocacy for the moratorium on further residential development until such a plan was adopted. One of our members, Rebecca Pratt, provided the leadership to the Comprehensive Plan Committee that pushed through many of our recommendations.
We identified several (perhaps note them here) of the 100 recommendations of the CP and began 2019 by advocating to the Town Board that it include representative residents on an implementation committee to insure that the CP be taken seriously. Our letter to the Town Board stated in part:
“The 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update, adopted in June, 2018, includes a list of recommendations to be implemented by the Town Board. We welcome and support the most of the recommendations, the first of which is to appoint a committee that will take on the task of implementation.…we are concerned that this committee has not yet been established, to the best of our knowledge. We want to be sure that the town creates this committee.
Without it, confidence in the Comprehensive Plan can easily be eroded if residents believe that it only sits on a shelf collecting dust.
Fallsburg’s Future sees the Comprehensive Plan as a living document, a useful tool in guiding the development of our town.
According to the Comprehensive Plan itself, in the section “Other,” O-3 states:
‘Establish a standing Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee to ensure implementation of the recommendations of this Plan subsequent to its adoption, by continually monitoring progress and communicating with the Town Board, staff, and relevant Boards and Committees.’
We respectfully ask the Board to provide us with the following information.
Has the Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee been established?
If not, why not?
If not, when will it be established?
Who will be represented on the Committee?
Will the town accept nominations for the Committee from the public?
If the Committee has been established, who are the members?
Does the Committee hold regular meetings?
Are the meetings open to the public?
Is the Committee authorized to act independently, to carry out activities in response to the recommendations in the 2018 CPU Update?
We appreciate your timely response and look forward to finding ways to support the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan’s crucial recommendations.”
To date we have not received a response to this letter. We have been told informally, however, that an implementation committee will not be formed and that reviews will be undertaken by representatives of the different town boards and offices.
Communication with Residents
Our team at FF also identified the lack of clear, accessible and timely information regarding official town meetings as an obstacle to public participation in the civic life of Fallsburg. Members of the Town Board sometimes lament the low turnout at town meetings and we believe some of them genuinely would like more public participation that they feel would raise sorely needed trust in their work. However, their communications through the website remain woefully inadequate.
We wrote a letter to the Board (date?) presenting our case for more transparency, which read in part:
“We write out of our shared concern that Fallsburg residents have timely and complete access to information, especially agendas, documents and minutes, relating to the various town board meetings. We appreciate that the Board is looking for ways to increase public awareness of the town’s official business.
From our experience, however, we find that the current communications setup, including the agenda formats and page locations on the Fallsburg’s website, do not facilitate the smooth exchange of information.
The current bare-bone agendas and location of relevant documents relating to official meetings hinder the ability of residents to become involved. When residents cannot easily access and review necessary information prior to board meetings, their capacity to engage in the proceedings is diminished. We believe that significantly more information should be available to the general public so that it can be reviewed and digested by all town residents.
While some information is available at the Code Enforcement Office, we would like as much information as possible to be digitally available on the town website. This would include the applications that are submitted, as well as site plans, surveys and all the related documents for projects.
Without knowledge, the public cannot effectively participate nor assume responsibility for what happens in our town. More people are interested in the affairs of the town than what is reflected in the attendance at meetings. More people would show up for meetings if they had easier access to the information they need in order to comment and interact with the various boards.
We ask that you please consider more ways of making all pertinent information available on your website. We will be grateful for your acknowledgement of this note.”
We received no formal response from the Board but we were told that they would, for example, make space available at the Planning Board office for residents to look at site plans…..(?)
Studying the Long-term Impact of Development
Fallsburg residents are concerned that the accelerating development of residential housing in recent years runs counter to the rural character of the area and could preclude our aspirations to rebuilding our economy to become a much-needed environmentally, attractive destination for visitors from nearby urban areas. We do not want to wake up in five, ten or 20 years and find that our water has run out, our sewer treatment plants are overwhelmed and our streets are impassable for vehicle and pedestrians alike. We are not against development. We do want an ethnically and racially diverse population who can enjoy good jobs, good schools and the great outdoors. Everyone should have a place in Fallsburg.
For this reason, Fallsburg Future believes one of the most important recommendations in the 2018 Comprehensive Plan is for the ongoing assessment of the cumulative impact of large-scale developments on the infrastructure of the town. Again, we addressed our concerns to the Town Board. Our letter said in part:
“The construction of thousands of new homes - built, under construction or before
the Planning Board -- on such a small and relatively poor rural community’s physical
infrastructure, namely the streets, water and sewer, continues to move forward
without the benefit of having important information that a study might provide. The
impact of this growth, if not carefully managed, could possibly lead to outcomes that
put the town in an unsustainable financial position.
Such a study would include residential developments oriented as independent site
plans as well as those that might be classified as sub-divisions.
It might also include information/data and observations about how these changes
affect the character of the community.
We would like have accurate data that quantifies the number of rental homes,
homes that are occupied part-time/seasonally, and homes that are occupied full-
time/year-round. We believe that it’s important to have a much better
understanding of the number of seasonally occupied homes versus permanently
occupied homes for you to have the ability to manage the town and its resources
effectively.
Therefore, we ask that the Town take the necessary first steps to engage in a study,
as recommended in the 2018 CP, of the impact of high-density housing
developments.”
To date we have received no response from the Town Board. There was talk of a water and sewer capacity study in 2019, but nothing was made public. At the same time, there were reports of inadequate water pressure, especially to new developments, which could have been catastrophic had there been a fire emergency. As well, last summer water main breaks occurred at a rate of one a week according to reliable sources. Some waste treatment plants are already working at capacity during peak season.
The Year Ahead
As we regroup following Steve’s death, we expect to continue to identify problems that we will take to the Town Board and publicize our news better to our network of concerned residents. It is not enough, of course, to point out the problems. We must come up with solutions as well. For this we need well informed supporters and participants and expert, sometimes technical, advice.
For instance, we will continue to put pressure on the Board to undertake a broad review of Fallburg’s current and projected demands for water, sewer and road use given the rate of growth that can be expected. We must have real data and, despite dismissive reassurances that there is nothing to worry about, it has become quite clear that we, at least we in the public, do not have access to hard data aside from year-end water and sewer reports. Who pays for the huge upgrades and expansions that are clearly needed?
While it is the responsibility of the Board to come up with the funds pay for a study of this scale, we at FF are exploring the possibilities of finding grants that would cover the consultants and expenses for such a technical and politically sensitive project. Any ideas?
Similarly, on the issue of the Town’s website, we may have to find ways to support them in getting the right information posted in a timely manner. This will require a review of what exists and what is needed. Your thoughts are welcome.
We need more on the issues that we plan to explore, list and then issue an appeal for new people, something like this:
If you are interested in working on any of these issues, please contact us. You can email us at office@fallsburgsfuture.com. We would love to have people with legal, governmental, environmental, economic, IT and community organizing knowledge but enthusiasm and patience will do just fine.
June 2019 letter to Fallsburg Town Board
June 10, 2019
To: Fallsburg Town Board
From: Fallsburg’s Future
Re: Building Design
Dear Lady & Gentlemen,
Fallsburg’s Future faithfully attended all of the meetings of the Comprehensive Planning Committee as well as the Town Board meetings that led to the adoption of the “New” Comprehensive Plan and zoning law changes. We have noted that the new plan contains much of the same wording that existed in the 2006 plan, and that many of the issues that were identified then still need to be addressed.
The 2018 CPU contains recommendations to the Town Board, and we recognize that the Town Board alone will choose what actions to take, if any, on each recommendation. One of the recommendations pertains to implementing design guidelines for multi-family housing.
We believe it is important to initiate an evaluation of the building design requirements for all types of multi-family dwellings within site-planned residential developments. Architectural aspects such as styles, variety of materials to be used and other important building design elements should be reviewed and codified.
An evaluation should also include changes to the application and review process to make it clear to developers that design standards have to be followed.
Following are suggestions we think should be considered regarding various aspects of the building design regulations and board review procedures:
1. Existing zoning regulations pertaining to design guidelines for duplexes and multi-family dwellings should continue to be administered and enforced to the fullest extent.
2. These same regulations should be reviewed jointly, by all of the Boards, Town, Zoning, Planning, and Architectural Review, for overall consistency in meeting the objectives of the town’s Comprehensive Plan.
3. Review boards should receive ongoing advisement from the Town Board to provide guidance and continue learning from past projects.
4. The Town Board should pursue expanding and developing more complete and detailed regulations for the design of all types of dwellings in site-planned residential developments , including but not limited to duplex and multi-family structures to align them with the concerns and expectations of the public, and as expressed within the town comprehensive plan.
5. If necessary, the board should hire a professional consultant to produce the additional regulations referred to above.
Therefore, we encourage the Town to begin this process, as part of the recommendation in the 2018 CPU, to evaluate the building design requirements for dwellings within these types of developments.
Yours,
James M. Legari
Fallsburg’s Future
Letter to our New Town Supervisor
It all begins with an idea.
Dear Supervisor Rappaport,
We would like to congratulate you on your election as Town Supervisor for Fallsburg. It is notable that you are the first woman elected to this position, so special kudos.
Election campaigning often gets rough and offensive. Misleading information, personal attacks and electioneering hyperbole get deployed in the heat of battle. But now that the campaigning is over, a fresh start is important for everyone with the good of Fallsburg at heart.
It is important that a long-time Fallsburg resident, a member of the school board, and a parent won this election. Together, we share many of the values and hopes for our town. We take your campaign pledges at face value -- that you want to make Fallsburg a great place to live and work, now and into the future.
We look forward to working with your administration to implement common goals: building bridges between disparate local communities, encouraging sustainable development, protecting the natural resources of Fallsburg, addressing serious infrastructure challenges like traffic, water and sewage and above all ensuring the wellbeing of all, year-round and summer residents alike.
We are sure that the transition period to get up to speed is hard work. We are encouraged by the hiring of the new legal counsel and that you have chosen to reappoint the Town Code Enforcement Officer.
We plan to be following the various board meetings carefully and request that they continue to be accessible by Zoom. We trust that you will continue to ensure that there will be plenty of opportunities for public comments during these meetings.
Hopefully when you are settled in, we can meet to see how we can be supportive in promoting our shared vision. We wish you well.
Sincerely,
Members of Fallsburg’s Future
Fallsburg’s Future is a network of concerned residents advocating for the sustainable development of the Town of Fallsburg since 2016.
Letter to Steve Vegliante, Supervisor, and Town Board Council Members
March 10, 2019
Steve Vegliante, Supervisor, and Town Board Council Members
Town of Fallsburg
Accessibility to Information
Members of the Fallsburg Town Board Council,
We appreciate and share in the Board’s desire to increase public involvement in the town’s official business. We believe that Fallsburg residents should have greater and simpler access to information relating to the goings on at the various board meetings, and get that information in a timely fashion.
Our experience is that when we find out about a proposed project we have very little time to look it over. Our ability to react to it in an intelligent way is hampered by limitations of the information available on the Fallsburg website and limitations that we face at the Code Enforcement Office.
The Website
1- The amount of information available on the website is limited. Usually there is the name, number and date of the project, the zone, a short statement on what the requester wants, and a vague description regarding where it is.
a. We believe that significantly more information should be available to the general public so that it can be reviewed and digested by all town residents.
b. This information should be digitized by the developer or resident making the request, and then uploaded on to the website. Alternatively, the information can go up on the developer or resident’s website and the town given a hyperlink to the info.
c. The information would include the applications that are submitted, as well as site plans, surveys and all the related documents for projects.
2- Getting information at the Code Enforcement Office
a. The people at Code Enforcement are always pleasant and forthcoming. The problem is that the only place to peruse the information is at the counter. Within a few minutes one feels like he/she is in the way. It is a busy place, and in actuality, you really are in the way.
b. When lay people want to look at a proposed project they will probably not know exactly what they want to look at, but would like to look over the whole submission. The act of looking is part of educating the public.
c. We would like a space set aside where residents can look over the sometimes quite large documents,
Without knowledge, the public cannot effectively participate nor assume responsibility for what happens in our town. More people are interested in the affairs of the town than what is reflected in the attendance at meetings. More people would show up for meetings if they had easier access to the information they need in order to comment and interact with the various boards.
We ask that you please consider more ways of making all pertinent information available. We will be grateful for your acknowledgement of this note.
Sincerely,
Fallsburg’s Future
Fallsburg's Future article for Bashakill Guardian
Fallsburg Embracing Its Comprehensive Plan
Spring has come to Fallsburg and giant earthmovers are tilling the ground for the next crop of residential developments, some in the works for several years, all over town and especially in the hamlets of Woodbourne and South Fallsburg.
The construction spurt underscores the importance of implementing the Comprehensive Plan (CP) for the town’s development, which was adopted by the Town Board a year ago. Fallsburg’s Future, a network of local residents concerned about Fallsburg’s healthy development, is focusing its work on supporting the Town Board to identify ways to act on the CP’s key recommendations.
It is encouraging that a constructive working relationship is emerging where both town activists and the Board are finding common ground for moving forward on shared priorities. The evolving dialogue will hopefully encourage greater public attendance at town meetings and efforts to make official business more accessible in a timely manner, reflecting the national trend for more community involvement in local politics.
Given limited human and financial resources, the Board, like town boards most everywhere, is preoccupied with the day-to-day operations to keep the town functioning. Given that, the Board needs support and encouragement to plan for the town’s burgeoning population and the heavy demands that urbanization is placing on our capacity to maintain safe roads, sufficient water and sewer systems and protect the environment and waterways from irreversible damage.
In December, Fallsburg’s Future requested that the Board establish a representative Implementation Committee that can channel public support for the recommendations of the Comprehensive Plan into concrete action by town officials. This was a specific CP recommendation but the terms of reference and makeup of the committee have yet to be defined. The Board has yet to responded to the request.
In March, the group requested that the agendas for official meetings be prepared in more detail and documents relating to agenda items be made available digitally well before the meetings.
These measures would help ensure that residents can be adequately informed about discussions and decisions taken by official bodies. This enhanced accessibility requires that the Town’s website (www.townoffallsburg.com) be more user-friendly. We are also looking for a public area at the town office where residents can review documentation (including submissions and applications by developers, consultant reports and other information) in person without disrupting town employees in their work.
At a subsequent meeting, Town Board members took up the request for enhanced access to documentation and did not oppose the public’s increased accessibility. It is understood that this could lead to greater participation in the town’s decision making and help residents better understand and, by extension, support the work of town officials. The board agreed to put the contractors’ applications online prior to the public hearing. It is also considering the feasibility of putting up some information that they received when it is digitized. Making more space for in-person visits was seen as more difficult due to the limited availability of office space. But it was a start.
Planning for Development
Fallsburg’s Future will continue to make specific requests to the Board on issues its sees as priorities that need more attention. Road traffic and water and sanitation are high on the list of services that require long-term planning. We are especially concerned about the impact of large-scale development, for example, and plan to advocate for the town to undertake a study that would assess the pros and cons of accelerating duplex-style residential developments that are outpacing all other development in Fallsburg. In keeping with its approach – to recommend solutions to the problems it points out – the group will explore ways to fund some of the extra-budgetary projects, such as the survey, that would best be undertaken by outside experts.
December 2018 The 2018 in review and the year ahead
We at Fallsburg’s Future would like to offer a brief recap of our actions over this past year and share with you an outline of our priorities for the months ahead. All in all it was a busy time for Fallsburg’s planning and development, and we are pleased that we were able to make a substantive contribution to the public dialogue, especially around the town’s updated Comprehensive Plan.
We lent our public support to the Basha Kill Area Association (BKAA) in its effort to protect the environment of the 500 acres that constitute the proposed Thompson Education Center campus. Early in the year BKAA challenged the legitimacy of the building permit that was issued in Fallsburg for construction of a large building for the TEC project without completing the Environmental Impact Statement for the overall project, which is mostly in the Town of Thompson, with a sliver of land in Fallsburg. We were given status as an “interested party” with the Town of Thompson to voice our concerns in support of BKAA’s challenge. The Planning Board, however, finally decided to give the building a green light.
We joined with the Pleasure Lake Homeowners’ Association in their effort to stop a developer from using blasting procedures at a nearby project that threatened the Pleasure Lake dam and surrounding environment. The permit for the blasting was denied.
We submitted complaints to the town pertaining to numerous business storefronts in South Fallsburg that were run-down and in violation of the town maintenance code. Most of the problems have been addressed by the building owners.
Aided by generous support from BKAA, we consulted with an engineer to get up to speed about the Fallsburg’s water and sewer system and the challenges it faces with over 200 new homes coming on line each year. We met with the town engineer to learn more about the water and sewer infrastructure in Mountaindale and the costs associated with operating, maintaining and expanding it. See our Update regarding this issue on our website.
We continued to reach out to other organizations like the Columbia Hill Neighborhood Association, the Rockhill Neighborhood Coalition and Catskill Mountainkeeper in support of their campaigns to protect the environment and align residential developments with Town codes and regulations.
Many of our members supported the successful campaign to elect Rebecca Pratt to the Town Board. Rebecca made her mark on the Comprehensive Plan Committee and one of our members served as her campaign manager. She took up her position in November.
We regularly attended Planning Board meetings and voiced our points of view when the public could make written and verbal comments. Often, our members were the only people representing the public but, through our regular FF Alerts and Updates, we were able to rally more residents to attend important meetings.
In our central effort during 2017-2018, we very closely followed the work of the Comprehensive Plan Committee as it updated the 2006 Comprehensive Plan. After their work was finished, The Town Board adopted the 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update (CPU) in June and we were pleased that many of its 100 recommendations reflected our concerns and suggestions. We saw that some of our input had influenced changes to the reconfiguration of the zoning districts that will help control development in the decade ahead.
On the other hand, we were disappointed that the town did not take action on reigning in several aspects of the Duplex Development Law or abolishing it altogether as one member of our group had advocated for in recommendations to the Town Board.
The year ahead
With the Comprehensive Plan and the new Zoning codes in effect as of last June, our group of concerned residents believe we must now focus our attention on the list of recommendations that need to carried out. A key recommendation is that the town set up an Implementation Committee to assist the Town Board in following through with those recommendations. We have identified specific areas we feel are important and should be focused on.
Fallsburg’s Future plans to focus on the following issues identified in the CPU:
[List of our priority areas in reader friendly language]
· An overall assessment of the cumulative impact of large-scale development
· Environmental protection of water, open space, etc.
· Aesthetics related to building design, public spaces, etc.
· Development of community parks and eco-friendly recreation facilities
We hope the Town can incorporate the results of the work and accomplishments of those who served in producing the 2018 CPU. We also hope to see better communication with the residents by improving the media by which the town meetings and decisions are disseminated to the public.
We will continue to update our website (www.fallsburgsfuture.com) and send out our Alerts and Updates through our email list. If you wish to receive our mailings, please send us your contact information to office@fallsburgsfuture.com.
We wish all of our friends and neighbors a wonderful new year, with the hope that our town continues its slow renewal and development in ways that improve the quality of life for all of us and our many visitors.
Implementation letter to Supervisor Steve Vegliante
Dear Mr. Vegliante,
The Town of Fallsburg has invested a great deal of time and money over the past year and a half to update its Comprehensive Plan and revise the town’s Zoning Code. This effort has produced a plan and corresponding regulations for the future of Fallsburg, one that is intended to protect the environment and character of the town. Fallsburg’s Future has been involved in the process as active bystanders, and we believe that we provided helpful input.
The 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update, adopted in June, 2018, includes a list of recommendations to be implemented by the Town Board. We welcome and support the most of the recommendations, the first of which is to appoint a committee that will take on the task of implementation
As we approach the New Year, we want to be sure that the town is creating this committee. Without it, confidence in the Comprehensive Plan can easily be eroded if residents believe that it only sits on a shelf collecting dust.
Fallsburg’s Future sees the Comprehensive Plan as a living document, a useful tool in guiding the development of our town.
According to the Comprehensive plan itself, in the section “Other,” O-3 states:
“Establish a standing Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee to ensure implementation of the recommendations of this Plan subsequent to its adoption, by continually monitoring progress and communicating with the Town Board, staff, and relevant Boards and Committees.”
We respectfully ask the Board what is the status of the Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee.
We appreciate your timely response and look forward to finding ways to support the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan’s crucial recommendations.
Paul Hoeffel
Fallsburg’s Future
The Future of Water and Sewer: The example of Mountaindale
Now that the town’s Comprehensive Plan has been adopted (June 2018), we at FF believe it is important that the town board follow through on implementing a number of recommendations outlined in the plan that are needed to protect the environment and character of the town.
Fallsburg’s infrastructure is a central concern as the town rapidly adds new homes and developments each year and the water and sewer systems are a critical part of it.
In an effort to understand how the town is preparing for the addition of hundreds of new homes each year, representatives of Fallsburg’s Future met with the town engineer, Will Illing in September. There are about 3000 plus new homes, some under construction and some with permits. Mr. Illing, who is retiring soon, has overseen the town’s sewer and water system for the past 25? years.
Illing was forthcoming and expressed optimism about the capacity of the town to deal with growing water and sewer demands. We focused on the situation of the sewage treatment plant in Mountaindale, one of Fallsburg’s hamlets. He told us that approximately 200 new homes connect into the larger municipal system each year. Two large developments are scheduled to tie into the Mountaindale system, which was installed in the 1980s. Here are some highlights of the conversation.
FF: Is the Mountaindale sewer treatment plant able to handle the development of the numerous housing developments, both current and future?
WI: The Mountaindale has sufficient capacity to handle all needs as well as the summer extra input. There is a safety margin of approximately 50%. The evaporation pool above the town has a 10 million gallon capacity.
FF: What obligation do housing developers have to contribute financially to the Fallsburg water treatment system?
WI: Each building or condo connected to the water and sewer system pays $1,800 for sewer and $578 for water. In Mountain Dale, the Sapphire developers, for example, paid $471K for sewer and $150K for water hookups. Mountaindale Acres paid $665K for sewer and $211K for water.
FF: Is the Mountaindale sewer treatment plant technologically up to date?
WI: The plant uses an older technology, which is surprisingly efficient. Future plans will eliminate storage and water discharge into ground or Sandburg Creek.
FF: What plans exist to upgrade or expand the current Mountain Dale sewer treatment plant?
WI: There is a feasibility study to upgrade all the systems in Fallsburg. The planned upgrades to the Mountaindale plant have been deferred for one year.
FF feels that there are questions about development that should be considered. Given the increasing demand, and the growing religious community should the connection fees be raised to raise more income for maintenance and expansion of the sewer and water system. With 3000 plus homes in the pipeline as of 2018, how much more development can Fallsburg handle comfortably in the next few years?
Fallsburg adopts the 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update: Let’s be sure it gets implemented
On June 11, the Fallsburg Town Board adopted it’s the 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update and the recommended changes to the Zoning Code, following a review process that took place over the past year and a half. The newly adopted Plan and Code guide the growth and development of the town for the next ten years or so. With the construction of over 3,000 new homes now in the pipeline for Fallsburg, the Comprehensive Plan Update (CPU) is a necessary and welcome milestone. Now we need to ensure that the recommendations made in the CPU are implemented by town authorities.
In general, a Comprehensive Plan is a policy document that sets forth a vision, goals and principles for growth and development. The Zoning Code lays down the actual regulations that have to be followed. During the review process, numerous issues were identified that were deemed to require special attention and opportunities were identified to address potential areas of need, benefit and focus.
On the whole, the Comprehensive Plan Update is a substantial and valuable guide for the future development of the Town. Many of the stated goals help protect undeveloped areas to preserve the natural environment and are intended to lessen the impact of new development in areas where it is allowed. Many elements of the CPU have already been translated into the Zoning Code. They will help control development patterns so that they are consistent with existing municipal infrastructure. A new Neversink River overlay zone will also help protect certain areas along the river from over-development.
As mentioned above, the updated plan also includes an extensive list of implementation goals and objectives related to land use, economic development, the protection of natural resources, transportation and town-wide communication to name a few. The CPU specifically recommends the establishment of an Implementation Committee to keep track of these items. We hope to see that happen by the end of the year and perhaps even participate in the process.
Some of the recommendations we feel are most important are 1.) to assess the cumulative impact of large-scale developments on the Town’s water, sewer and transportation infrastructure to ensure that capacity Is available to accommodate new users, 2.) to create an Environmental Management Council to oversee the development of an Open Space Plan for the Town, and 3.) to develop a program where developers pay for a fair share of costs to expand and improve the local road and street networks to accommodate higher traffic volumes, to name a few.
We’re all aware of the growth and changes happening in our town. Sometimes these changes happen fast and can be unsettling. We at Fallsburg’s Future encourage residents to stay informed and involved in local activities as our town officials steer their way through these changing times.
The updated 2018 Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code can be viewed and downloaded from the town website (www.townoffallsburg.com). We hope that all of you will become more familiar with the plan and the issues we are facing and we are here to help answer your questions and to be a voice in the community for responsible and sustainable development.
Fallsburg’s Future, an activist group of Fallsburg residents, is concerned about issues relating to sustainable residential development.
Please sign up to receive our Updates and Alerts by going to our website: fallsburgsfuture.com and our Facebook page. Let us know if you want to participate in our activities and subcommittees. Forward this Update to your friends and neighbors.
December 2017 The Year Behind;The Year Ahead
Fallsburg’s Future is a group of concerned local residents. We have been closely following Fallsburg’s town meetings and advocating for the kind of development that will ensure a healthy town for all of us to enjoy in the years ahead. We learned a lot about the town’s planning process during this eventful year, and look forward to 2018 -- with eyes wide open. We believe our attendance and participation in the Comprehensive Plan Update since August (a process that should be completed early next year) helped shape the CPU’s far-reaching recommendations and establish many of the new regulations in the Town’s revised zoning code and districting map that will guide decisions for the next decade.
We supported the Town Board’s unanimous decision to impose a year-long moratorium on the authorization of new residential developments in order to give the town the time to undertake the CPU. The moratorium, which allowed for many exceptions, concluded last July. Systematic implementation of the CPU’s recommendations in the coming years should go a long way to preserving the rural nature of our town. The CPU has the elements needed to moderate the trend that has allowed Fallsburg’s rapid and poorly conceived suburban-style development over the past decade. If Fallsburg had implemented the recommendations of the previous 2006 Comprehensive Plan, we would not be facing the serious challenges before us today. The surge of residential developments and gated communities threatens to overwhelm our natural habitats, our roads, sewer and water systems. It is the type of development that does not encourage year-round economic sustainability or a sense of shared community that is at the heart of thriving small-town life.
The current draft of the CPU, which is the fruit of the work of a seven-person committee of representative residents and the consulting firm hired by the town, has many strong points, including:
- Increasing the land area of the AG district, which helps protect more farmland from development
- Greater control over acreage requirements for homes built in the REC districts which eliminates the ability of developers to increase the number of homes they are allowed to build
- Greater regulation of Duplex Developments that can improve their visual impact and help make them more a part of the community - Expansion of rules for conservation design methods, including Cluster Development that will help establish more Open Space
- Stricter regulation of summer camps that limits the ability to develop year-round homes within them
- Creating the Neversink River Overlay Protection District which will help protect the town’s primary aquifer Members of Fallsburg’s Future, in addition to having a representative on the Comprehensive Planning Committee, attended all Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meetings to monitor development projects and speak in the interest of the community when possible. We presented compelling charts, maps and information highlighting our concerns at various venues, including at events like the Columbia Hill Neighborhood Alliance “Friend-Raiser” in August.
We also reported on the meetings through our website and emailed Updates and Reports that keep interested residents abreast of the often obscure developments at town meetings. Our reports circulated through our Facebook page and the Rock Hill Neighborhood Coalition Newsletter as well as the Basha Kill Area Association newsletter, The Guardian, reaching thousands of interested residents.
2018 Preview
We are very clear what the next phase of Fallsburg’s healthy development requires. We are looking closely at ways to support Fallsburg officials in the implementation of the recommendations of the soon-to-be-adopted Comprehensive Plan Update.
We expect that transparency and timeliness regarding the availability of public documents and meetings will be given serious attention.
We hope that the town will create some form of implementation committee that will work on a voluntary basis with town officials to find solutions that will be financially feasible for Fallsburg.
The challenges we face are many but not insurmountable. Everyone recognizes the growing problem of traffic congestion and safety, for example. While the creation of more sidewalks may be financially prohibitive given Fallsburg’s budget constraints, we can envision improvements, such as white lines delineating protected pedestrian traffic, that will make our roads safer at lower cost. Zombie properties, which are ugly, depressing and dangerous, should also be on the short list.
We anticipate collaborating with the Delaware River Watershed Initiative to bring greater awareness to the need to protect our precious water resources in the Neversink and Mongaup watershed areas.
We hope to work with Catskill Mountainkeeper and other important environmental organizations that bring together smaller community groups like Fallsburg’s Future to study our problems and come up with feasible solutions that our town can afford.
We will continue to engage with our municipal officials, pressing them to find the resources to ensure code enforcement, infrastructure requirement surveys, and continuing planning efforts.
And we encourage residents, especially those with legal, financial, environmental and economic expertise, to join in our activities and efforts to promote ecologically sound and sustainable growth in our community. Please visit our website (www.fallsburgsfuture.com), sign up for our email Alerts and Reports and follow us on our Facebook page.
We are planning for a Spring Meet and Greet for Fallsburg’s Future so stay tuned for more details.
Let’s get Fallsburg back on the right track with a vision that includes all its residents!
All the best for the holidays and the year ahead,
Fallsburg’s Future Executive Committee
February 21, 2017 Fallsburg’s Future Update
Dear Neighbors, We at Fallsburg’s Future send you warmest greetings for the holidays. We also want to give you a little year-end update and peer into 2017. As we mark our first year, we are struck at the impact our small group of concerned citizens has had on the difficult issues concerning Fallsburg’s future. Perhaps our biggest accomplishment is rallying neighbors to attend Town Board meetings during the year. For sure, the Town Board has taken notice of residents’ renewed interest in its work and, we suspect, is appreciative of the demonstration of support for doing the right thing around the town’s development.
The good news is that we think Board members do indeed want to do the right thing. On a more mundane level, we feel we have established Fallsburg’s Future as a presence in the complex landscape of debates, specifically as they relate to residential development, the environment, and the process of updating the town’s Comprehensive Plan designed to guide Fallsburg’s development. Our participation in public events (e.g. Kite Day in June and the What the Hill Day in August) and petitions that we circulated to our growing (200+) mailing list gave the Town Board support for its decision to establish a one-year Moratorium on authorization of big residential developments.
We have made it clear that we feel these developments are overwhelming the infrastructure, environment, rural character and diversity of our town. With the Moratorium in place, we rallied against waivers that virtually all the developers requested. The Board recognized the validity of just four of 22 “variances”. And we are actively participating in the new Comprehensive Plan Committee (CPC). One of our members, Rebecca Pratt, is a representative on the CPC. Together we are formulating recommendations that the Town Board can take forward by the middle of 2017. We will advise you of all the CPC meetings in advance so you can attend as they are open to the public (the next CPC meeting is January 5).
We have created a website (fallsburgsfuture.com) where you can find more information about us as well as links to public information that is crucial to making informed decisions about Fallsburg’s future. We aim to have information in Spanish and Yiddish as well. We have reached out to the media and other community organizations that have been very supportive in spreading the word. We want the website to become a center for discussion and information. We are plugging into various networks at the town and county levels. Our members are attending workshops that educate citizens about the complex issues around the Town’s development, including environmental concerns, especially water, and zoning, accountability and code enforcement. While we are confident that we can have an even greater impact (especially around the recommendations and eventual implementation of the Comprehensive Plan), we remind you all that you are Fallsburg’s Future.
Please participate in this educational process and attend Town Board and CP meetings. We also welcome you to join FF’s committees where you can bring your particular expertise, whether it be on environmental issues, legal and legislative initiatives, media and community outreach. And pass this message along to interested residents. We are sure that there are enough concerned citizens to build a powerful movement to ensure a sustainable and healthy future for our town. Please join us and be sure your voice is heard! Gerald Faucher, Evadne Giannini, Steve Gordon, Tina Hazarian, Paul Hoeffel, Karen Luse, Brian Manown, Regina Moné, Rebecca Pratt