ELDRED, NY — The Highland Planning Board heard a discussion about a trio of development projects at its August 23 meeting. 

The board considered a project for the commercial growth of cannabis, held a preliminary reading of the environmental review forms for Camp FIMFO, and heard a presentation on the new owners’ plans for 211 Mail Rd., formerly known as Catskill Mountains Resort. 

Growth, not sale

The cannabis project, proposed by Shane Pearson and Courtney Crangi, does not involve the direct sale of cannabis to consumers. At least the most current version of the project does not. 

An agricultural micro-business, it involves the growth of cannabis inside a building and the sale of said cannabis to licensed distributors. The project still needs a license from New York State, but the state’s permitting rules require local approval as a precondition, said a lawyer representing the applicants. 

An earlier version of the project did involve on-site, direct-to-consumer sales. The planning board heard that version in March. 

The state rules in their current form prohibit that kind of retail-and-growth project, and the applicants resubmitted the project in July with the retail part removed in favor of the agricultural portion. In addition, the town’s rules on cannabis prevent the project’s chosen building from being used for cannabis retail purposes; a dispensary cannot be located within 100 feet of any residential lot-line boundary, which the building is. 

Many of those who spoke at the evening’s public hearing expressed fears that the project would be used for retail cannabis sales. 

The board and the applicants explained that the site plan approval currently sought only covered agricultural use. The applicants would need to re-apply to the planning board if they wanted to do retail sale in the future. 

At that point, Highland’s setback rules would still prohibit such a use. 

The board held off on a decision on the project, waiting to hear back from the Upper Delaware Council, Sullivan County and New York State in their respective oversight roles. 

Environmental review

Camp FIMFO, a $40 million-plus project to renovate the current Kittatinny Campground in Barryville, has spent over a year before the board. 

The board geared up for a final decision on the project during its August 24 meeting. It invited Hayden Carnell, a representative from Keystone Engineering, to go over the project’s State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) forms, in preparation for a decision at its September meeting. 

The initial SEQR process has three parts. In Part 1, the applicant lists all its potential environmental impacts; in Part 2, the reviewing agency conducts its own review of the project’s potential environmental impacts based on the applicant’s responses to Part 1; and in Part 3, the reviewing agency decides whether the project has the potential for any significant negative impacts on the environment. 

If the planning board determines Camp FIMFO could have a significant negative impact on its surroundings, the board cannot approve the project without a full study of that impact, which would call for an environmental impact statement. If the planning board determines it won’t have a negative impact, the project clears the SEQR process. 

The Part 2 form reviewed by the planning board lists several areas of note. (An early draft of Part 2 is available at townofhighlandny.com/meeting-minutes/). 

• The applicant marked a small impact on land for the earth removal involved in the project. Keystone recommended the board consider the amount of earth that could be removed for the impact to be considered “small.” 
• The board could discuss whether the tree removal planned for Camp FIMFO qualified as a small impact or a moderate-to-large impact.  
• Keystone reviewed the potential for impact on neighboring wells from Camp FIMFO’s well project, and reviewed the options for the board to impose conditions. It was the opinion of Keystone engineer Ken Ellsworth that the project would not have an impact. 
• The applicant listed a small impact on aesthetic resources visible from publicly accessible vantage points; the board could decide whether to change that. 
• The proposed traffic increase was listed by the applicant as a small impact; the impact on noise was listed by the applicant as no impact. 

Carnell read through a draft Part 3 document, which included a draft determination of no significant environmental impact. Speaking with the River Reporter following the meeting, planning board chair Norm Sutherland confirmed that the board had not yet made its decision on Part 3 of the SEQR review. 

211 Mail Rd.

The property formerly known as Catskill Mountains Resort changed hands in March. The new owner, listed in planning board minutes as Yeshiva Ohr Shraga Veretzky, plans to use the property for a religious resort. 

In addition to the structures already on the property, the applicants plan to add six new structures, according to a representative who presented on their behalf. The project will add four new dormitories of 32 beds each, one multi-use building and a mikvah, a ritual bath in the Jewish tradition. 

Sutherland commented on the size of the proposed additions, and of the sewer and water infrastructure needed to support them. The planning board had a lot of work to do on the project before it could see a public hearing, he added. 

Town of Highland planning board member Jeffrey Spitz and chairman Norm Sutherland preside over a Wednesday, August 28 planning board meeting.