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