To the editor: 

If you have not noticed, the landscape in Sullivan County has been changing quickly. Several townships are in the process of updating their comprehensive plan. A comprehensive plan is a non-binding, long-range policy document that outlines a community’s goals for its future. It is the foundation for local laws and in New York State any zoning amendments passed by a town are legally required to be in accordance with a town’s comprehensive plan. The core elements include land use, infrastructure and utilities, community assets, demographic and housing. 

On July 13  at 6:45 PM, the Town of Callicoon will hold a workshop between the town’s planning board, zoning board, and town board to discuss proposed updates to the town’s comp plan. More importantly, the Board has invited Michael Sweeton of the Orange County Land Trust and Melinda Meddaugh of CCE and the Sullivan County Farmland Protection Board to discuss community preservation and how municipalities can develop local tools to preserve and protect agricultural land and the local farming ecosystem. 

If you care about the natural beauty and rural quality that is abundant in the western part of  Sullivan County, I encourage you to stop by and listen to the presentation.

Tanya Hahn

Sullivan County Farmland Protection Board