CLARYVILLE — Despite the wind and rain which knocked down trees and rerouted some along the way, well over 60 people packed into two rooms of the Claryville Fire Hall on Tuesday night to listen and ask questions about the proposed Kerilands development in the Town of Neversink.

As reported in the Democrat on July 8, architectural developer and venture capitalist Jonathan Leitersdorf has proposed two very different plans for his family’s 3,150 acres of land located in Willowemoc east of Livingston Manor.

As previously reported, one option is a private 297-lot residential development that falls within the current zoning of Residential Commercial Mixed Use.

The other option is to seek   an overlay district for a mixed use “conservation-based community” which plans to build on less than 25 percent of the 3,150 acres while offering public opportunities for outdoor recreation.

Developers are pursuing the overlay district option. Some at Tuesday night’s informational meeting saw that proposal as potentially very beneficial to Sullivan County.

Yet many residents from the towns of Neversink, Denning and nearby communities who also turned out Tuesday night expressed serious concerns about the environmental impacts of a large-scale project and how it could affect the bucolic character of their communities.

Developer Presentations

Claryville resident Walter Garigliano is one of the attorneys representing Leitersdorf.

Garigliano and Leitersdorf were joined Tuesday night by Jim Tinson, CEO of planning, architecture and landscape architecture firm Hart Howerton.

Garigliano explained how the trend of urban flight from metropolitan areas to the countryside that began during the COVID-19 pandemic has only continued.

“Jonathan has explained this as simply as indicating that the traditional five days in the city  and two days in the country has become two days in the city and five days in the country,” Garigliano said.

Advancements in visual meeting platforms, such as Zoom, have helped make this kind of living more feasible.

Garigliano said they’ve held meetings with local political, business and community leaders to see what would make Kerilands both successful and beneficial to the area.

“Living in Sullivan County most of my life, we don’t need any more failed projects. We’ve had more than our fair share,” he said.

Developers have said the project could attract a major hotel company, increase winter recreation and draw new workers to Sullivan County with better job opportunities.

“Attracting the ‘best in the world’ Six Senses Hotel to be built in the Catskills would be the next step forward to returning the Catskills to its former glory as a preferred vacation destination,” Garigliano said.

Leitersdorf spoke about his family history related to the property, which goes back to when his grandfather, Moshe Mayer, bought the land in the 1960s with plans to develop a ski resort.

Although the resort never materialized, Leitersdorf says the time is right to try something new.

“It’s very personal to us. I’m taking his vision and taking it forward,” Leitersdorf said.

Public Comments

Well over 20 people signed up to speak and make public comments following the presentations by Garigliano, Leitersdorf and Tinson.

Marc Baez, president and CEO of the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development, was the first to speak. He described the Kerilands project as potentially having a similar kind of impact that Bethel Woods Center for the Arts had when it opened in 2006.

“I think if you look at Bethel Woods … you see how a project can be done in a way that supports people,” Baez said. “We think that this project can reflect what the Sullivan Catskills are all about.”    

Gerald Skoda is the retired director of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Sullivan County and former chairman of the Tri-Valley School Board. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Partnership for Economic Development and agreed that the project could benefit the area. 

“Neversink will gain a multi-million dollar capital project resulting in hundreds of jobs,” Skoda said.

Scott Woolsey has been a resident of Claryville for more than 40 years. He said it’s the “unspoiled nature” of the area that keeps him there.

“I like this project in some ways. The development is interesting in terms of their conservation, but I have so many questions about where this will lead …,” he said. “I’m wondering why the alternative plan to this, if they really care about conservation, is a development of nearly 300 residential properties. That seems to be a little bit smacking of extortion.”

Sam Huber owns 60 acres of property on Blue Hill Road bordering the proposed Kerilands project.

Huber said he was “deeply concerned” about potential environmental impacts in terms of light pollution, water quality and aquifer levels.

“It is absolutely going to fundamentally change the character of both sides of that ridge,” he said. “I understand all the arguments for economic development. I don’t know whether they’re going to happen or not. It’s a lot of promises.” 

Willowemoc resident Bruce Pollock is president of the Theodore Gordon Flyfishers, a not-for-profit conservation group that promotes stream and river protection.

“Directly across the road is a little creek called the Fir Brook,” Pollock said. “It is a terribly environmentally sensitive stream. It happens to be the best brook trout hatchery in all of the Catskills. If we ruin that, it's gone forever.”

Wes Gillingham is Associate Director of Catskill Mountainkeeper. Gillingham said he thought parts of the proposal were disingenuous and was skeptical that plans for a 297 residential unit proposal would make it through the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR).

“I commend the town for holding information sessions and this hearing and I hope that continues on every detail of this,” he said. “But start out by putting a conservation easement on a large part of the 75 percent of that property and put it in legal writing so we don’t have to worry about what is happening with that other proposal ... This whole region really needs to relook at their town plans and the vision for what their town looks like because we are getting inundated with [new] people.”

Roberta Byron Lockwood, President of the Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association, said the SCVA supports the proposal that would create the “conservation style” resort community.

“The proposed development will utilize the beauty of our own backyard, allowing residents and visitors to experience nature and see our beautiful Sullivan Catskills,” Lockwood said.

Conclusion

Neversink Councilman Ric Coombe thanked everyone for attending. He said that all the information they’ve received has been made public.

If the project were to move forward with an overlay district the town board would  have to approve a change in zoning, which there has been no decision one way or the other.

“We want to hear what the public has to say,” said Councilman Coombe. “That’s why we did this [meeting] and we will continue to run a fair and objective process where there will be opportunity for comments throughout this whole procedure.”

Supervisor Chris Mathews reiterated that sentiment.

“I thought it was a good meeting,” Mathews said. “I got to hear every point of view and that’s exactly what the town board wanted.”