LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — The words “summer camp” bring to mind images of carefree young people enjoying recreational activities like swimming, horseback riding, tennis and the arts. But, as the Town of Cochecton pondered specifics of a comprehensive summer camp zoning ordinance it is seeking to develop, some very different scenarios emerged.

On November 21, the Cochecton Town Board, town attorney Karen Mannino and Peter Pierce and Earl Bertsch of the Cochecton Planning Board met with planning consultant Tom Shepstone, principal of Shepstone Management Company, Inc. (shepstone.net). The town engaged Shepstone, who was largely responsible for development in 2011 of the town’s comprehensive land-use ordinance, to advise it on summer-camp zoning law.

Shepstone used an ordinance he recently helped develop for another municipality as a model from which to work. Cochecton officials were startled to see that it addressed both schools and camps, which in some respects were all but indistinguishable from each other. Because summer camps usually provide instruction in the various activities they offer, the distinction between camps and schools can easily become blurred, with some camps defining themselves as sports academies or other types of training facilities.

In New York State, it is the state Department of Education (DOE) that decides what makes a school a school and not a camp. Once designated as a school, that school must register with the state’s DOE and conform to all laws, policies and procedures applicable to New York State schools. It would then also be eligible for state education funding, tax exemptions, and public assistance for qualifying students.

Mannino directed several questions to Shepstone about quasi-camps whose primary purpose is the education of adults in nonathletic endeavors, such as religious instruction. She said camp-like settings are increasingly being used to prepare adults for entry into universities or seminaries in anticipation of clergy careers. Shepstone, who was less familiar than Mannino with that type of facility, promised to research it further before his next meeting with the town, which has yet to be scheduled.

The other questions raised at the meeting pertained to minimum acreage requirements for camps. Supervisor Gary Maas asked Shepstone for his opinion in that regard, and was told that it would have to be sufficient to accommodate 200-foot setbacks, overflow parking stipulations, building requirements, etc. Mannino noted that the Bethel model being used by the board had district-specific acreage requirements, varying in accordance with the district in which the camp would be located.

Before the 80-minute meeting adjourned, Mannino noted that the discussion had raised more questions than it had answered.