Camp FIMFO
Update – Attend the Planning Board Meeting on August 28th, 2024
The Town of Highland Planning Board is currently reviewing Camp FIMFO’s draft Environmental Impact Statement (draft EIS) to determine whether it is “adequate” per guiding New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR) regulations. Delaware Riverkeeper Network has concerns about the process the Planning Board has designed, including its lack of conformity with SEQR, the leeway it gives to Camp FIMFO to dismiss community and town concerns, and ongoing lack of clarity and access for the public. We are urging members of the public to attend the Town of Highland Planning Board Meeting on August 28th at 4 Proctor Road, Eldred, NY 12732, to share any concerns you may have with how the review process is being conducted, and urge the Board members to REJECT the Camp FIMFO draft EIS as inadequate under the law.
Town of Highland, Sullivan County, New York
In the Town of Highland, Sullivan County, New York, Northgate Resorts is proposing to overhaul the former Kittatinny Campground with an operation they call Camp FIMFO. The proposal would transform most of the existing low impact tent camp sites to RV sites, cabins or glamping structures with water, sewage and/or electric hook ups; adding a mountain roller coaster, water slides, a swimming pool, mini golf, more parking, more septic systems, as well as replacing some of the old existing buildings with new.
According to one official on the Upper Delaware Council, this is the largest development project ever to come to the region.
Overall, the true scale and impacts of the project are being masked by a lack of information with differing detals dribbling out over time. It also seems clear that if Northgate gets to have its way, we will be seeing more theme-park-like operations of this kind invading our Upper Delaware region and magnifying the harm.
After careful review, on May 25, 2023, the National Park Service issued a letter stating its determination that the project fails to conform with Land and Water Use Guidelines (LWUG) for the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River. You can read about it in the River Reporter here: https://riverreporter.com/stories/nps-rejects-fimfo,99920
The National Park Service has complimented its letter and public presentation regarding its review of Camp FIMFO with a detailed Significant Project Substantial Conformance Review issued June 26, 2023 (available here). In response, Northgate-FIMFO sent a highly inappropriate letter to the Town of Highland Planning Board. To which the Delaware Riverkeeper Network has submitted its own response, available here.
On September 14 the Delaware Riverkeeper Network held an informational meeting with residents in the Upper Delaware River region to discuss the proposed Camp FIMFO site changes.
On September 27th, the Town of Highland Planning Board held a meeting and voted 3-2 in favor of conducting an Environmental Impact Statement for the project.
The Delaware Riverkeeper Network has secured the expert analysis of an urban planner with 30 years of experience. The findings are clear, the Town of Highland Planning Board needs to require a full Environmental Impact Statement, anything short is a violation of state law and a betrayal of the public trust.
The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process is now getting underway. It begins with a public process call “Scoping”. This is where all of the issues of concern that must be addressed in the EIS are identified. You don’t have to provide the analysis of the issue at this stage, just clearly identify the issue to be analyzed. The Town has announced it will accept comments on the draft scoping document between November 3 and November 22. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network does not think a mere 20 days –particularly when they include travel days typically associated with Thanksgiving as well as election time — provides enough time and has submitted a comment urging the Town Planning Board to extend the comment period until December 21. You can review the Delaware Riverkeeper’s letter here. We are also urging others to demand this important extension of time.
The Delaware Riverkeeper Network has submitted comments regarding the Scoping Document. You can review our comment here. Feel free to use our comment as a guide for what you may want to say in a comment you submit.
Submit your comment on the draft Scoping Document to: Ms. Monica McGil, Planning Board Secretary at email address planningboardzba@townofhighlandny.com
–> You can review the notice regarding the public comment process by clicking here.
–> You can see a copy of the proposed document up for comment by clicking here.
–> You can read the Delaware Riverkeeper Network’s comment on the draft Scoping Document by clicking here for our November 9 Comment and by clicking here for our Supplemental November 18 comment. Feel free to use our comments to help inform what you might include in your own comments.
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Holding tanks from an old landfill – the Barnes Landfill, has been discovered to have leaked tens and thousands of gallons of leachate to surrounding streams:
Some Basic Facts:
The site is ~223 acres and has many areas of wooded steep slopes and fronts along the Delaware River.
The Beaver Brook flows through the central portion of the site.
Much of the project site is located within the 100-year and 500-year floodplains.
Of the 342 campsites that exist currently, only 56 will remain tent campsites. The rest will be turned into sites for RVs including with water and sewer hookups, permanent cabins, or sites with constructed glamping pods or safari type tents.
Delaware Riverkeeper Network is working with the community fully assess and question what is being proposed.