BETHEL — A new development project could soon attract tech industry workers to Sullivan County.

Jessica Rovello co-founded Arkadium with her husband Kenny Rosenblatt over 20 years ago. Since then, Arkadium has grown to become a major developer of gaming software with employees based in New York City and overseas.

Rovello and Rosenblatt are looking to expand that success with a new company to build a rural technology retreat in Bethel.

The project was listed on the Town of Bethel Planning Board agenda as “Eco-Retreat,” but Rovello said the name of the project is still under consideration.

“We're in the very earliest stages of this idea and the concept and development,” Rovello told The Democrat.

While their company is based out of New York City, Rovello and her husband have owned a property in North Branch for 11 years.

They thought about how to marry the two things they already love - working in the tech industry and being in Sullivan County. And so the inspiration for a tech retreat was born.

Mary Beth Bianconi of Delaware Engineering presented a draft plan to the Planning Board on Monday.

If approved, Eco-Retreat would be a private year-round commercial property, similar to an artist or writer's retreat, where tech industry workers could come to work, participate in team building exercises and to recreate.

While still early in the planning process, Bianconi said the project intends to have a low environmental impact and would take tech workers out of their urban environments and bring them to a rural setting surrounded by the natural beauty of the Sullivan Catskills.

“I think good things happen when you put human beings in raw nature,” Rovello said. “I think it expands your thinking and inspires you in new and different ways.”

Speaking to the Planning Board, Bianconi referenced a famous scene from The Wizard of Oz.

“The idea is kind of like when Dorothy steps out from the black and white and into color, leaving urbanity far behind and stepping into a retreat.”

The project is being proposed on a 125-acre parcel of land at 260 Segar Rosenberg Rd. It would offer year-round, on-site services to corporation employees, member organizations and retreat guests. While site plans could change during the planning process, the current concept includes single-unit cabin accommodations measuring around 300-square-feet each that would host no more than 50 overnight guests at a time. The project could also include food service and recreation facilities, communal work spaces and private work spaces and training programs.

There would be a two-week maximum stay for guests.

The site plans presented to the Planning Board include an especially unique feature - an “Ewok village” where tech workers could code and develop computer programs in tree houses.

Bianconi stated that Arkadium has a lot of contacts on the West Coast and visitors may be able to make use of the Sullivan County International Airport less than five miles away.

Throughout the presentation to the Planning Board, Bianconi said the project is aiming for a low environmental impact so as to protect the rural character which attracted this project in the first place.

Bianconi explained how there will only be a maximum of two percent building coverage on the proposed parcel and would provide a 20 percent minimum conservation easement while minimizing the impacts on undisturbed land and development within wetlands and streams.

Buildings would incorporate “green roofs” as well as utilize renewable energy, employ green storm-water infrastructure and an eco-friendly wastewater system.

The Bethel Town Board passed a local law earlier this year to include this project as a special use within the AG District.

Rovello said some of the happiest times with her family have been when they visit Sullivan County.

“We're so inspired by the beauty and we love the community,” she said. “We've always wanted to do something that would tie us more closely to the community and where we could have some positive impact.”