HIGHLAND, NY — The project has gone on longer than the construction of the Tappan Zee bridge, a public commenter pointed out at the public hearing on the Camp FIMFO project held December 18. …
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HIGHLAND, NY — The project has gone on longer than the construction of the Tappan Zee bridge, a public commenter pointed out at the public hearing on the Camp FIMFO project held December 18. Highland Planning Board chair Jeff Spitz asked participants to be respectful and uphold decorum.
For the most part during the public comment period, attended by around 100 people and lasting two hours, the rules were followed.
However, the passions of those speaking did occasionally run over; after the public hearing closed, the leader of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Maya Van Rossum, and Dave Jones, the former owner of Kittatinny Campgrounds, got in each other’s faces in a heated exchange.
The project has haters, fans, skeptics and investors.
The public comment period has followed the Highland Planning Board’s unanimous vote to accept an updated Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on November 20. See side bar at right for
information on where the Camp FIMFO application is in the review process.
If the project is approved, Northgate Resorts will invest $40-plus million in transforming the tenting site Kittatinny Campground in Barryville into a large-scale resort, with the installation of 148 RV park models in addition to another 64 proposed permanently placed structures. Each park model will have its own sewer and water hookup and will remain stationed at a specific location on the campground.
Proposed new attractions include an aquatic play area, mini-golf course, a bouncing pillow and sports courts. An updated septic
system will replace the current, deteriorating
system.
Written public comments on the DEIS will be accepted until at least January 10, 2025 and can be submitted to planningboardzba@
townofhighlandny.com.
A mixed bag of testimonies
Most of the individuals who commented in support of the project were associated with economic and tourism organizations in the county. Representatives for the Sullivan County Visitors Association,
Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development, Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce, Northgate/Kittatinny, and the workforce development program at SUNY Sullivan spoke in support of the project.
Vanessa McPhillips, VP of Operations and strategy at the partnership, highlighted the upgrades to the sites storm water mitigation
and waste water treatment that is a part of
the project proposal.
Ashley Levitt, president and CEO of the county chamber, said, “The upgraded campground will undoubtedly attract more
visitors, driving increased tourism revenue for rural businesses, restaurants, shops and other establishments that will benefit from the influx of campers and outdoor enthusiasts.”
Small business owners in the town didn’t agree. One such owner, Andy McTrach, said, “FIMFO has offered no concrete plan or data to show how it will benefit this community, its residents or its businesses. Why is that? Because I believe no such plan exists. The model is clear, isolate their patrons, provide everything to them on site for a fee, for refreshments, to firewood, while cutting out the small family-run businesses that are currently supported by campers and visitors to our area.”
Local residents made the distinction between business and local business. Commenter Steimle said, “I also would like to start off by saying that I am pro business. I think that this community has been born on business—but local business.”
Jaime Schmeiser, the workforce development director at SUNY Sullivan, spoke in support of the project, citing benefits for students in the school’s culinary and tourism programs. “This is nothing but a great benefit for that learning opportunity, a place to find a job, so that people can stay in the community, work in the community and
play in the community,” she said.
A therapist and social worker, Stephanie Porto, who works with children and families said: “I do not support this plan as it stands, mostly on the basis of all of the things that have been said.” Porto pointed out that the tax abatement is being offered to a “massive out-of-state corporation” in a county “where our resources are already stretched thin. We desperately need tax dollars for our kids, and county-run or subsidized diversion programs to keep young people out of the justice system. Instead of investing in resources
that uplift our community, this deal allows a corporation to profit while contributing next to nothing to our local economy. This resort
won’t solve our community’s problems. It will only deepen them,” Porto said.
The Delaware Riverkeeper Network, a non-profit organization that has been advocating against the Camp FIMFO project application from the get-go, had upward of six individuals connected to the organization or its fellows speak out against the project, mainly pointing out environmental concerns.
Stephanie Guyer, part of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network’s legal team, said, “Camp FIMFO does not comply with the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act, the Upper Delaware Scenic
and Recreational River Management Plan, the Town of Highland’s own municipal ordinances, nor the New York State Constitution. And as such, you have authority, as well as the justification, to say ‘no’ to Camp FIMFO and Delaware Riverkeeper Network urges
you to do so.”
Julius Robinson and Glenn Pontier, who were part of the orignal drafting of the River Management Plan, intended to be used by
the Upper Delaware Council and UDC to determine if a project should be allowed in the river corridor, said that the project does not fit with the intention the founders had when writing the plan.
Dave Jones, the property’s former owner who sold the campground to Northgate Resorts/Camp FIMFO spoke passionately
about the project. “You know something, there isn’t a person in this room that cares more about this river and this campground than myself, because I built most of Kittatinny campgrounds
personally. When I was a young teenager, I started working there. I’m 70 years old today. I know that place better than anybody in this room, any engineer. I put my life’s work into this campground. It was time for me to retire. Time for me to sell it to somebody that’s going to take damn good care of it.”
See sidebar for the project’s next steps.
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