Planning board grills ASTI executives; Forestburgh neighbors don’t want the noise

Posted 9/30/09

Members of the Town of Forestburgh Planning Board on July 29 questioned executives of Advanced Skills Training Institute (ASTI), who are seeking a special-use permit to open what they call a …

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Planning board grills ASTI executives; Forestburgh neighbors don’t want the noise

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Members of the Town of Forestburgh Planning Board on July 29 questioned executives of Advanced Skills Training Institute (ASTI), who are seeking a special-use permit to open what they call a recreational facility on a 300-acre parcel currently owned by developer Shalom Lamm. James Sherman, CEO and founder of ASTI, said a closing on the property is scheduled for the end of August.

In addressing what sorts of activities will be going on at the facility, Sherman said, “adventure race course, mountain biking, archery, marksmanship, fitness, health, wellness, motocross, ATVs, pistol, rifle; we’re going to have all of that.”

There was quite a bit of discussion about who would be the clientele. Sherman said mostly it would be members of the public who would want to be trained in how to do these activities. He added, however, that the facility might also be used to train law enforcement officials. Many of them, such as the Sullivan County Sheriff and the police chiefs of Liberty and Monticello, have signed letters of support for the project.

When planning board chair Susan Hawvermale asked Sherman for more information about training law enforcement officials he said, “My personal background is very specifically the highest level of Israeli hand-to-hand combat, by doing that I met top law enforcement and top military from around the world… and I personally teach law enforcement how to not choke people to death if they’re trying to arrest them….”

But the possibility that personnel at the facility might train police officers or other professionals caused some of the neighbors to question whether the facility could be correctly classified as a “recreational use,” which it would need to be in order to receive a special-use permit.

The town’s code enforcement officer, Len Wheat, has written a letter saying that he believes that ASTI does meet the definition, but that assertion was questioned by town resident Richard Robbins.

Robbins said, “If you look at their website and see the courses that they offer: in intermediate sniper, in advanced sniper and in beginning sniper, in evasion, in urban warfare… is that a recreational issue? I would suggest no interpretation of the concept of recreational use would characterize that as recreation.”

There was also the question of noise, especially that generated by the racing of motorcycles and ATVs on the proposed track, and the firing of pistols and rifles on the rifle range. Two residents said their peaceful mornings in the heavily forested town have already been marred by the establishment of the Monticello Motor Club, which is located some four miles from their houses in the Town of Thompson. They said they would object to the additional noise generated by the new facility.

On this issue the residents received support from a sound consultant hired by the planning board to analyze the possible noise implications from the project. Part of the report said, “A logical conclusion in terms of the planning board making a determination of the environmental significance based on the noise reports, is that the proposed action has the potential to have a significant adverse noise impact.”

The planning board took the action of declaring itself lead agency on the question of awarding the permit. But because of the noise report, and possibly other issues, the board put off a decision regarding the state’s Environmental Quality Review Act, which according to information provided by the NY Department of Environmental Conservation, says that if a project has “potentially significant adverse environmental impacts, an environmental impact statement (EIS) is required,” and an EIS can be lengthy and expensive.

One person who spoke in favor of the facility was Alfred Steppich, a council member from the Town of Delaware. He said a 1000-foot rifle range would be a benefit to the area, because there are currently none in or near the county, and there are relatively few in the Eastern United States.

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