Petition opposes Long Eddy expansion; Neighbors organize opposition

Posted 8/21/12

LONG EDDY, NY — Sullivan County legislators in November 2014 voted unanimously to pledge $5,000 to help the Delaware Highlands Conservancy purchase a river-front property in Long Eddy next to the …

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Petition opposes Long Eddy expansion; Neighbors organize opposition

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LONG EDDY, NY — Sullivan County legislators in November 2014 voted unanimously to pledge $5,000 to help the Delaware Highlands Conservancy purchase a river-front property in Long Eddy next to the existing fishing access there. Now a group of neighbors say they are seeking legal representation in an effort to halt the proposed project.

Kyle Fitzmaurice owns a weekend home a couple of lots down from the access, and invited The River Reporter to his home. He said he and others have collected about 200 signatures on a petition in opposition to the proposed project of an expanded fishing access on the Upper Delaware River.

The initial “concept plan” calls for a parking area that would accommodate cars with trailers or trucks. Fitzmaurice said, “The concept plan has, with the exception of maybe one or two people, horrified everybody in town. I printed it out and people are upset. It’s a total misrepresentation of the neighborhood. It shows a path for fishermen, and nobody is going to let people walk across their property to fish.”

Fitzmaurice’s neighbor, Peter Reich, who also owns a river-front home, also focused on the concept plan, and noted the fact that it did not show the road that goes to their homes. The plan would also require that Reich would have to drive through the “parking lot” of trailers to get to his home. He said, “How can they make a two-way road a one-way road without even consulting any of us… it’s already understood that anyone can walk along the riverfront, but to put a publicly labeled fisherman’s path through private land, without even consulting the owners… why would I even consider this to be a reasonable proposition?”

Heather Jacksy, an associate planner with the Sullivan County Division of Planning & Environmental Management, which spearheaded a study of six access points on the Upper Delaware River, said the plan of the site has not been set yet, and there will be various opportunities for public input before any work on the proposed expanded fishing access begins.

She said there was a meeting about the project this past spring. Fitzmaurice said only project “supporters” were invited. There have been multiple public meetings on the possibility of improvements to the six river access points in Sullivan County. Jacksy also said there are “title issues” with the property in question, so the transfer of the property is taking longer than expected.

The proposed plan calls for the Delaware Highlands Conservancy (DHC) to purchase the property, which includes a house that was badly damaged by flooding in 2006. The property has about 75 feet of river frontage. The expanded fishing access would be managed by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.

While the project is seen by elected county officials as a way to boost the tourism industry, the spot is already popular with drift boaters, and according to Fitzmaurice, Reich and Long Eddy Fire Chief Aaron Polomcean, the fishing enthusiasts contribute nothing to the Long Eddy economy.

Polomcean said as many as 29 boat trailers and trucks have been counted parked on the main street of the tiny hamlet, and sometimes next to the railroad tracks. Asked if anybody in Long Eddy benefitted from all the fishermen he said, “Absolutely not. They don’t spend any money here; they don’t go to the two restaurants in town.”

He said that all those trucks and trailers parked in the middle of town create a problem in the event of an emergency. Fitzmaurice said supporters of the expanded access think the proposed expansion is going to solve the problem of so many trucks and trailers parking all over town. In his view, however, it will make matters worse, because with a place to park more people will be attracted to Long Eddy to fish, overwhelming the expanded access area.

Both Fitzmaurice and Reich were critical of DHC for becoming involved in the project, which they described multiple times as creating a parking lot next to the river. Fitzmaurice said, “I think the Delaware Highlands Conservancy should be embarrassed to be building a parking lot on the Delaware River.”

DHC could not immediately be reached for comment.

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