The Catskill Chronicle

To The Editor:

My grandfather, Sam Kaminsky bought 50 acres of land in Hurleyville on May 25, 1918. He and my grandmother, Lily had a farm there – and built Kaminsky’s Luzon Lodge, a rooming house, a kuchaleyn – where people came every summer to avoid the heat of the City. As a young widow, my grandmother raised her family there – my mother, my Aunts and Uncle. My mom went to the little red school house and to the Hurleyville High School which is about to celebrate its centennial and now houses the Sullivan County Museum. My parents met at Kaminsky’s when my father’s family came in the ‘40s to spend the summer. My grandmother ran Kaminsky’s until 1975 when she sold the property.

My young years were spent at Kaminsky’s and to me, Hurleyville has always been home, although I lived here only six months a year growing up – going to school in both Fallsburg and Queens in elementary school, summers only thru my college years, and then moving up to Sullivan County full time once I graduated Queens College in 1983. In an era where most of my counterparts were looking for the fastest way out of Sullivan County, as soon as I graduated, I chose to make Sullivan County my forever home and high-tailed it back to Hurleyville.

During the past twenty nine years, I’ve been an active member of my community. I am an Emergency Medical Technician and was a member of the Hurleyville Emergency Relief Squad for many years, during which time I served as Lieutenant and Captain. I’ve been a member of the Sullivan County Dramatic Workshop for 29 years. A few years back, for the County’s bicentennial, I directed a production of The Third Violetbased on the Stephen Crane novella, set in Sullivan County during the summer of 1895. I’m a member of Congregation Ansche Hurleyville. Professionally, I make my living as the Executive Director of the Sullivan County Mental Health Association.

I have always adored Sullivan County – its rural nature and pristine vistas. In 1999, my then husband and I purchased 38.55 acres on Old Liberty Road in the Town of Thompson – across from what was then Hadley Stables. Technically, Monticello, but just up the hill and close enough to Hurleyville for me! We still own it jointly. I have my horses in a beautiful pasture and from the top of my hill, I can see as far as Pennsylvania. I can go out at night and drink in the sights and sounds of the countryside. The stars are too bountiful to count. The scent of my horses or of lilacs floats on the breeze. A chorus of peep frogs or crickets is music to my ears.

My property is my sanctuary – my home, my haven. Thirty-eight acres may sound like a lot, but it’s long and narrow. Across the road, what was Hadley’s and to my right, my neighbors are now the Center for Discovery. They keep their property clean and neat and are retaining the rural nature of the land. Add the sound of sheep bleating to the above mentioned chorus. My concern is the property to my immediate left. Across my property line – a stone wall and a tree line is Gan-Eden. Years ago, I heard rumors of a proposed 500 home development on the piece of about 200 acres. As the years progressed and nothing was built, there was talk of the land not supporting so many homes – and water being an issue. I know from digging fence posts that my property is full of shale and my 500 foot well puts out only 2 gallons a minute – so that seemed quite legitimate!

Imagine my distress when I learned only recently that Gan-Eden was once again on the radar – not with a 500-home community in the offing, but with an 885-home proposal! Add to that the shock of learning that, four years ago, without so much as a letter to adjoining property owners, Gan-Eden’s zoning was reclassified by the Town of Thompson from rural to suburban! Eight hundred eighty five units – townhouses, garden apartments, senior housing, a convenience store (is this zoned commercially – or is that change next?) How many people does 885 units translate to – a small village, in and of itself! Couple this with the smaller, sister project, Kelli Woods on Anawana Lake Road, a proposed 160 units on 90 acres (more than a third of which are wetlands) and there is significant, devastating change on the horizon for this corner of the Town of Thomspon and the Town of Fallsburg as well.

I, for one, do not wish to see the rural nature of our area turned into suburbia. Gan-Eden translates to “the Garden of Eden” or “paradise.” I am reminded of the words of the Joni Mitchell song, “Big Yellow Taxi” – “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone – they paved paradise to put up a parking lot…” I ask my neighbors and our elected officials not to allow this to happen. While I would love to see Columbia Hill become a town park and stay just as it is with its fields and woods, I realize that we can’t forestall progress altogether. But let us not rush headlong into unbridled development that will forever change the face of the area we choose to call home.

Lori Schneider-Wendt

Monticello