Planning Board Chairman Crawford McCloud – many
unanswered questions
CAMPBELL HALL – Local farmers and concerned residents of the Campbell Hall area voiced their opinions on the AMPCO agricultural distribution facility, proposed to be developed along Maybrook Road, Thursday evening at the Hamptonburgh Town Planning Board meeting.
The project, which is under review by the board and state regarding its environmental impact statement, has still some time for official approval; however, some residents believe the development was sprung on them with short notice.
Local farmers, particularly, are concerned with the momentum of the project. Along with other locals, they feel they have not been given adequate notice for this project that seems to be moving forward under the radar.
“It’s been very scary because we knew about this months ago,” said Morse Pitts a local farmer. “We were told at a farmland protection board meeting by a county official that it was a done deal and we couldn’t do anything about it. Now, it’s finally becoming public, but I’ve known about it months with the idea that it’s a done deal: nobody can do anything about this,” he said.
Pitts added that a development for an agricultural distribution network, such as this one, is unnecessary because of the proximity of Hudson Valley farms to New York City, meaning they can handle their own distribution efforts.
We are close enough to New York City. Farms can do it themselves. They don’t need distribution. What needs distribution are farms from the West Coast and farms from out of state. The farms that are left near New York City have the magic thing of being able to directly deliver,” he said.
Local non-farming residents also have concerns.
James Capanelli said he is concerned with wetland usage, among other things.
“We have nothing but wetlands over there and all the water, after two days of rain, carry over to all the properties, and that’s a constant problem that we have in that area; the water comes hydraulically from the bottom so, there’s no doubt that putting that there, and washing pesticides off of fruits and vegetables, it would be going towards our wells,” he said.
Capanelli and other residents have also voiced concerns regarding traffic and noise pollution.
Hamptonburgh Planning Board Chairman Crawford McCloud said there are still many unanswered questions regarding the project.
“The next step is they have to answer the questions that we’ve already asked them, the program that the engineer produced, they have to answer all those questions,” said McCloud. “They have to get permission from the state to get on the highway. They’ve got to get permission to use the water; so, they’ve got a bit to do yet. This is probably a six-month project.”
There is a public hearing scheduled on the matter; but, if AMPCO meets the engineer’s and state’s stipulations, since it is not a zoning infringement and the property is designated for industrial development, there is no choice, other than legal action, to move forward, according to the planning board.
Orange County owns the former farm property, which its acquired
as a result of the former owner’s failure to pay property taxes.
