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.