Camp FIMFO
Tell the Highland Planning Board more time is needed for equitable public engagement and public comments >>>
On November 20th, the Town of Highland Planning Board acknowledged that with the holiday season approaching and the public hearing upcoming on December 18th, the accepted DEIS for Camp FIMFO and key information regarding timing of submitting public comments and info for the December 18th hearing needed to be shared immediately. We are now less than 2 weeks out and much of this info has NOT been made clearly accessible to the public.That means the public has lost 2 weeks of time to read the completed DEIS and its Appendices, plan their public comments for written submission and oral testimony, and perhaps many are still unaware and thus unable to accordingly plan for the December 18th hearing! We need you to tell the Planning Board that this is unacceptable and that the public is owed more time to properly prepare and engage in a public comment process.
UPDATE – 3 Steps To Say NO CAMP FIMFO before and on December 18th
Step 1 – We need you for public comment! On December 18th, 2024 the Township of Highland Planning Board will be holding their public hearing regarding the next steps for Camp FIMFO. This hearing is open to everyone, not just residents, and we need your help to pack the room! The hearing will be held from 6-8pm for members of the public to each deliver a 3 minute public comment. If the two hour time slot runs out and there are still people left who need to comment, the Planning Board will need to hold another hearing in January, 2025. We encourage everyone to use their full 3 minutes of comment time.
Step 2 – Sign Up for DRN’s Webinar on December 12th to learn about Camp FIMFO & its conflicts with the River Management Plan and Town Code, the public comment process, and next steps in this vital comment period. https://bit.ly/FIMFOCommentPrep
Step 3 – Submit Your Comment Digitally and Verbally. All written comments can be emailed to the Planning Board at planningboardzba@townofhighlandny.com and please CC your comments to DRN at keeper@delawareriverkeeper.org, between November 27th to January 10th. If you are speaking at the public hearing, please also write down your comment and email it to the Planning Board for their records.
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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.
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.