845-583-4350 Ext 15
845-583-4710 (F)
Town of Bethel
Planning Board
PO Box 300, 3454 Route 55
White Lake, NY 12786
The Town of Bethel Planning Board held a Work Session on November 12th at 7 PM. A regular
meeting of the Planning Board followed on the same date at 7:30 PM.
In attendance: Daniel Gettel Chairman, Steve Simpson, Vice Chairman, David Biren, Michael Cassaro,
Susan Brown Otto, David Slater, Wilfred Hughson, Walter Norris, Alternate, BJ Gettel Code
Enforcement Officer, Daniel Sturm, Supervisor, Vicky Vassmer-Simpson, Councilwoman, Lillian
Hendrickson, Councilwoman, Jacqueline Ricciani, Attorney, Glenn Smith, Engineer, and Jannetta
MacArthur Recording Secretary
A full board was present
On the Agenda at this time were the following:
Pledge to the flag
7:30 pm
The minutes from the October 29th meeting are still being transcribed.
1) Public Hearing for a renewal of a special use permit and site plan for retail use as a Craft and
Flea Market, located at the corner of Pine Grove Road and NYS Route 17B, known as Bethel
Tax Map SBL 37-1-19, 20 & 21, was proposed by Lipman Associates, L.P. (“Lipman”)
Motion to open public hearing by Susan Brown Otto, second by Steve Simpson.
All in favor – 7
Opposed - 0
Agreed and carried
Let the record show that the certified mailing receipts were turned in by the applicant.
Daniel Gettel: Mr. Altman would you give a brief presentation.
Steve Altman: I have been the manager and have been operating the Flea Market on Pine Grove Road
the last few years. Most of the vendors are local vendors. There is a vendor that makes chairs, tables
and benches. He is doing really well. We have a vendor that sells fruits and vegetables. Most are local,
they make and sell crafts, they embroider stuff, they make jewelry, have garage sales, and most of the
vendors know each other. There was an accident at the end of the summer by the Dollar General, a
couple of the vendors assisted and directed traffic. If you have any questions, you can always ask me.
Daniel Gettel: Thank you Mr. Altman. No one has signed up to speak at this public hearing, but if
someone has a comment.
Web page: www.town.bethel.ny.us
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845-583-4350 Ext 15
845-583-4710 (F)
Town of Bethel
Planning Board
PO Box 300, 3454 Route 55
White Lake, NY 12786
Bob Barrett: I am here from Smallwood. I would like to speak on behalf of the Flea Market. I really
think they have done a terrific job, I think there has been very little problem within Smallwood, with
traffic, or any other kind of problems. I think it has been an asset to the community. I think there
should be a permanent extension for the Special Use Permit because I think they have proven they are
willing to cooperate, they do things and make the area attractive enough for people to come and spend
an afternoon if they wish to do so. The only thing I say is that road, is Pine Grove and 17B, it causes
problems there with that bump in the road. I know it is not the Planning Board issue, it is the Town
Board, the DOT says they don’t see any problem there. Everything the Flea Market has done has been
an asset to the community.
Motion to close this public hearing and go back to our regular meeting by David Brien, second by
David Slater
All in favor – 7
Opposed - 0
Agreed and carried
Daniel Gettel: We did send this application to the State and the County for their 239 reviews. No one
responded. In the past we did give this a Special Use Permit with a number of conditions. We are
looking to continue that with the same conditions as last year. They are as follows:
1. The Craft and Flea market shall only be permitted to operate from May 1st to September 1st from
9:00 am to 8:00 pm, and from September 2nd to November 30th from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm.
2. The maximum number of vendors per day shall be 35.
3. All vendors shall be set up in their location prior to the opening of the Craft and Flea market at
9:00 am prior to opening.
4. There shall be a manager at the Craft and Flea Market each morning to direct and organize the
vendors.
5. The sign for the Craft and Flea Market shall be the only advertisement found on the property.
Individual vendors as well as other local businesses shall not be permitted to post advertising
signs at the Craft and Flea Market. (That has been a problem in the past, but we realize these are
mostly on the State Right of Way).
6. All fees shall be paid to the Town of Bethel.
7. The special use permit shall be renewed after five years pursuant to section 345 -30 H of the
code of The Town of Bethel. The applicant may petition the Town of Bethel Planning Board
anytime after November 2018 for the renewal of the Special Use Permit.
Web page: www.town.bethel.ny.us
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Email: Bldgdept@libertybiz.rr.com
845-583-4350 Ext 15
845-583-4710 (F)
Town of Bethel
Planning Board
PO Box 300, 3454 Route 55
White Lake, NY 12786
Daniel Gettel: Mr. Altman, will these conditions work for you?
Steve Altman: That will work.
Motion to grant this application a Special Use Permit with the above conditions by David Biren,
second by Steve Simpson
Roll call vote
Mike Cassaro – Y
Susan Brown Otto – Y
Steve Simpson – Y
David Biren – Y
Wilfred Hughson – Y
David Slater – Y
Daniel Gettel - Y
All in favor - 7
Opposed - 0
Agreed and carried
2) Public Hearing for an additional antenna, equipment, to an existing cell tower located at 6 George
Stephenson Road, known as Bethel Tax Map #40-1-39.1, proposed by Crown Castle.
Kevin John Allen: The purpose is to have better cell service in this area. There is no environmental
impact. We are not adding a building. This is a preexisting situation.
Daniel Gettel: We forwarded this application to the County for a 239 review and sent out the Ag Data
Statement as the property is in an Agricultural zone. The County recommended approval. We did not
hear back on the Ag Data submission. We do have a short EAF. We did ask for the agreement with the
owner. They did provide us with that information. We also received information that the tower is
structurally sufficient to handle this addition. We have all of the information we need, but we have to
wait until 8:00 pm for the public hearing as that is the time it was scheduled to begin.
BJ Gettel: We do have the certified mail receipts for the mailings.
8:00 pm
Motion to go into public hearing by Susan Brown Otto, second by Steve Simpson
All in favor - 7
Web page: www.town.bethel.ny.us
Opposed – 0
3
Agreed and carried
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845-583-4350 Ext 15
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White Lake, NY 12786
Daniel Gettel: I have a number of people who have signed up to speak.
Paula Barber: My husband owns the property that the cell tower is on. We did not receive any receipt
of the letter. We were blindsided by this. My question is the stability of the tower. It is rocking now. It
is not stable.
Daniel Gettel: Mrs. Barber, we do have an engineers report that the tower does have the proper capacity
to carry this new antennae. It is on record at town hall if you would like to look at it. That is part of our
review.
Paula Barber: I don’t know why we didn’t get a certified letter.
Daniel Gettel: Typically the owner of the property doesn’t get a letter. This is unusual because you are
not the applicant. Just the neighbors surrounding the area by 500 ft received the letters. Typically the
property owner is also the applicant.
Daniel Gettel: Mr. Barrett, please.
Bob Barrett: The only reason I am speaking on it, every night before I go to bed I look out and I see the
red light flashing. Paula just mentioned the stability. The service is only being used by Sprint. Are
there plans for other users that will use this tower? It would enhance the ability to get cell phone service
in the area. It would widen the range. I feel it is a positive thing.
Daniel Gettel: The town zoning is set up that so that we encourage other providers to collocate on
existing towers. We don’t encourage new towers in the Town of Bethel.
Bob Barrett: It was my thought to encourage more providers.
Motion to close this public hearing and go back to our regular meeting by Steve Simpson, second by
David Slater
All in favor – 7
Opposed - 0
Agreed and carried
Daniel Gettel: We do have a short EAF for this application. There is no land disturbance, so I will not
read through Part 1.
Parts 2 and 3:
1. Will the proposed action create a material conflict with an adopted land use plan or zoning
regulations? No.
Web page: www.town.bethel.ny.us
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845-583-4350 Ext 15
845-583-4710 (F)
Town of Bethel
Planning Board
PO Box 300, 3454 Route 55
White Lake, NY 12786
2. Will the proposed action result in a change in the use or intensity of use of land? No.
3. Will the proposed action impair the character or quality of the existing community? No.
4. Will the proposed action have an impact on the environmental characteristics that caused the
establishment of a Critical Environmental Area (CEA)? No.
5. Will the proposed action result in an adverse change in the existing level of traffic or
affect existing infrastructure for mass transit, biking or walkway? No.
6. Will the proposed action cause an increase in the use of energy and it fails to incorporate
reasonably available energy conservation or renewable energy opportunities? No.
7a. Will the proposed action impact existing public / private water supplies? No.
7b. Will the proposed action impact public / private wastewater treatment utilities? No.
8. Will the proposed action impair the character or quality of important historic, archaeological,
architectural or aesthetic resources? No.
9. Will the proposed action result in an adverse change to natural resources (e.g., wetlands,
water bodies, groundwater, air quality, flora and fauna)? No.
10. Will the proposed action result in an increase in the potential for erosion, flooding or
drainage problems? No.
11. Will the proposed action create a hazard to environmental resources or human health? No.
Part 3 reads that the for every question in Part 2 that was answered “moderate to large impact may
occur”, or if there is a need to explain why a particular element of the proposed action may or will
not result in a significant adverse environmental impact, please complete Part 3. Part 3 should, in
sufficient detail, identify the impact, including any measures or design elements that have been
included by the project sponsor to avoid or reduce impacts. Part 3 should also explain how the lead
agency determined that the impact will or will not be significant. Each potential impact should be
assessed considering its setting, probability of occurring, duration, irreversibility, geographic scope
and magnitude. Also consider the potential for short-term, long-term and cumulative impacts.
Daniel Gettel: Even though it is not required I completed this section simply by stating that there should
be no environmental impact. I also stated that the application is for the addition of an antenna and
equipment cabinet to be located at an existing facility and that there will be no land disturbance.
Web page: www.town.bethel.ny.us
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845-583-4350 Ext 15
845-583-4710 (F)
Town of Bethel
Planning Board
PO Box 300, 3454 Route 55
White Lake, NY 12786
Motion to grant this application a negative declaration by Mike Cassaro, second by Susan Brown
Otto.
All in favor – 7
Opposed - 0
Agreed and carried
Daniel Gettel: Our code encourages companies to collocate their antennae on existing towers but as a
board we must consider them Special Uses and must consider Section 345-30 the Special Use
procedures. Section 345-30 of our code includes the Special Use procedures. Paragraphs I and J are the two that
I typically read into the record as part of the review.
Paragraph I reads that “The Planning Board, in reviewing the site plan, shall consider its conformity to the
Comprehensive Plan and the various other plans, laws and ordinances of the Town. Conservation features,
aesthetics, landscaping and impact on surrounding development as well as on the entire Town shall be part of the
Planning Board review. Traffic flow, circulation and parking shall be reviewed to ensure the safety of the public
and of the users of the facility and to ensure that there is no unreasonable interference with traffic on surrounding
streets. The Planning Board shall further consider the following:”
(1) Building design, lighting, location and signs insofar as suitability for the use intended and impact on and
compatibility with the natural and man-made surroundings.
This proposal does not involve the alteration or expansion of the existing building, nor does it involve any
additional lighting or signage.
(2) Storm drainage, flooding and erosion and sedimentation control.
There are no changes proposed to the site that would increase runoff.
(3) Adequacy of community services and utilities, including police protection, emergency services and the
educational system.
This expansion of an existing use would not place a high demand on any of those services. In fact, some
of these services may benefit by this proposal.
(4) Environmental impacts in any form.
This application has been subjected to an Environmental review and a Negative Declaration was granted.
(5) Impacts on housing availability.
There will be no impact on housing.
Web page: www.town.bethel.ny.us
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845-583-4350 Ext 15
845-583-4710 (F)
Town of Bethel
Planning Board
PO Box 300, 3454 Route 55
White Lake, NY 12786
(6) The potential for nuisance impacts such as noise, odors, vibrations or glare.
There should not be any noticeable additional impacts from this expansion.
(7) The adequacy of the trees, shrubs and other landscaping to buffer or soften a use in terms of visual or other
impacts on adjoining property owners, Town residents and those visitors on whom the local economy
often depends.
This is an addition to an existing tower, lower than the existing antennae.
(8) Impacts on nearby property values.
There should be no impact on property values.
(9) Traffic impacts.
Traffic will not be impacted.
(10) Any other factors which reasonably relate to the health, safety and general welfare of present or future
residents of the Town of Bethel.
There are no known other factors.
Daniel Gettel: Paragraph J reads that “The Planning Board, in acting upon the site plan, shall also be approving,
approving with modifications or disapproving the special use permit application connected therewith taking into
consideration not only the criteria contained above but also the following: “
(1) Whether the proposed use will result in an overconcentration of such uses in a particular area of the Town or
is needed to address a deficiency of such uses. The Board shall, in this regard, consider the suitability of
the site proposed for a particular use as compared to the suitability of other sites in the immediate area.
There is a need for this expansion.
(2) Whether the proposed use will have a detrimental or positive impact on adjacent properties or the health,
safety and welfare of the residents of the Town of Bethel.
This use is anticipated to have a positive impact on the safety and convenience of residents in the Town of
Bethel. This is supported by the County 239 letter.
(3) If the proposed use is one judged to present detrimental impacts, whether an approval could be conditioned
in such a manner as to eliminate or substantially reduce those impacts.
Web page: www.town.bethel.ny.us
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845-583-4350 Ext 15
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Town of Bethel
Planning Board
PO Box 300, 3454 Route 55
White Lake, NY 12786
It has not been judged to present detrimental impacts.
(4) Whether the use will have a positive or negative effect on the environment, job creation, the economy,
housing availability or open space preservation.
There may be a positive impact on the economy and job creation as technology is improved in Town.
(5) Whether the granting of an approval will cause an economic burden on community facilities or services,
including, but not limited to highways, sewage treatment facilities, water supplies and fire-fighting
capabilities. The applicant shall be responsible for providing such improvements or additional services
as may be required to adequately serve the proposed use and any approval shall be so conditioned. The
Town shall be authorized to demand fees in support of such services where they cannot be directly
provided by the applicant. This shall specifically apply, but not be limited to, additional fees to support
fire district expenses.
There should be no negative impact.
(6) Whether the site plan indicates the property will be developed and improved in a way which is consistent with
that character which this chapter and the Comprehensive Plan are intended to produce or protect,
including appropriate landscaping and attention to aesthetics and natural feature preservation.
The tower exists on this property and most likely existed at the time the Comprehensive Plan was last
reviewed.
Daniel Gettel: Are there any comments from the board on this application?
None.
Motion to grant this application a Special Use Permit with the condition that all fees be paid by Susan
Brown Otto, second by David Slater
Roll call vote
Mike Cassaro – Y
Susan Brown Otto – Y
Steve Simpson – Y
David Biren – Y
Wilfred Hughson – Y
David Slater – Y
Daniel Gettel - Y
Web page: www.town.bethel.ny.us
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845-583-4350 Ext 15
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Town of Bethel
Planning Board
PO Box 300, 3454 Route 55
White Lake, NY 12786
All in favor - 7
Opposed – 0
Agreed and carried
3) Public Hearing for a Transient Campground and Outdoor Recreation to be located on Best
Road for specific dates of May 22-27, 2014, known as Bethel Tax Map # 16-1-39, 22-1-1, 22-14, 22-1-21, and 22-1-22, proposed by Bethel Woods Center for the Arts and ID&T/SFX
Mysteryland, LLC.
Brian Tamke: Good evening. Thank you very much for taking time out of your Tuesday to come down
and sit with us. We are excited to show you this presentation, to give you a little bit more insight as to
what we hope to do here at Bethel and at Bethel Woods. First and foremost, my name is Brian Tamke.
I am a project manager for ID&T, the company that puts on Mysteryland all over the planet and
hopefully next year at Bethel Woods. First and foremost to give you a little history about Mysteryland
and ID&T Mysteryland is the longest running electronic music festival on the planet. It started in
Amsterdam in 1993. This August past was its 20th year. Its first international edition was two years ago
in Chile. It will be hosting its third edition next year, or the end of this year in December. Mysteryland
focuses on bringing people together to experience the idea of going to see music. It is a cultural event.
The experience of standing at a stage, artist integration, great food, theatre, comedy, it focuses on so
much more then a regular concert. That is one of the reasons we feel it will be a great fit here with the
long history, the rich past this area has, we feel Mysteryland is perfect for this area. To give you a little
bit more specific information about the intended event for next year. It is set to be for Memorial Day
weekend. It is from Friday to Monday. We will host 20,000 attendees on Saturday and Sunday, 7,500
will be camping visitors, 12,500 will be day visitors. On Friday morning camping will open. Camping
will start on Friday in the morning, and we anticipate ingress throughout the day. It will help to alleviate
traffic concerns in the area as it will give people a longer period of time to arrive. We will host multiple
musical stages both in the campground and on the festival site. We will have artistic stages, theatre
stages, artistic participation, craft workshops, cultural workshops, and then the overall content for build
and breakdown. We anticipate it to be a little more than 2 weeks, 10 days leading up to the event, 7
days afterwards. A little more information about ID& T. We were founded in the Netherlands in 1992.
The company has since opened international offices in the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, and
most recently in Brooklyn. We employ over 100 employees across the planet. ID&T hosts events year
round, 60 events in 26 countries, hosting a million visitors a year. We are the largest concert provider
for electronic music events in Europe and we were recently acquired partially by SFX. This gives you a
little bit of a visual on the different locations we host events for annually from Europe to Asia, South
America, and most recently here in North America. We hosted our first large scale festival in
September in Atlanta called Tomorrowworld. It was a 40,000 person event. We had 30,000 campers
and that went off amazingly. It was very well received by the public. Part of our goal is to celebrate
unity, nature and talent. Again, focusing on more than just bringing a stage and inviting people to come,
we try to bolster local talent by incorporating them into the lineup, both artists and musicians and local
craft and food vendors. We focus on through to information, education of not only our staff and the
Web page: www.town.bethel.ny.us
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Email: Bldgdept@libertybiz.rr.com
845-583-4350 Ext 15
845-583-4710 (F)
Town of Bethel
Planning Board
PO Box 300, 3454 Route 55
White Lake, NY 12786
local environment, but also the attendees that come. We find it very important to promote social
responsibility. Part of that is, maybe, our event is for 21 (years) plus. We think it gives a better scope of
attendee, people who are a little bit more experienced, people who have had the opportunity to go out
and enjoy themselves and will do so in a more responsible fashion. We focus on bringing more
information to them while they are on site utilizing different companies that will educate along the lines
of social responsibility, with staying hydrated, looking after your friends, keeping up with…. you know
the weather, making sure you are dressed appropriately, making sure you interact with each other in a
fashion that shows that you care for each other and care for the environment, that you are lucky to be a
part of it and enjoy. We will have nature waste and recycle programs, water for refills, we focus very
heavily on making sure that the areas that we are lucky enough to utilize that they look as beautiful as
they did when we arrived. We utilize a number of different companies that will give us the ability to
really focus on taking care of, most importantly, the trash and refuse in a responsible fashion. Recycle,
make sure it is disposed of appropriately and general upkeep throughout the event so when we leave, or
when attendees leave, there isn’t a large mess to clean. It is maintained throughout the time we are here.
We will be offering free water refills throughout the day. To go over the event, this is a preliminary map
of what we intend to use for the actual festival site. What you see here in the teal area is the pavilion at
Bethel Woods, to the right in the purple area that is where we intend to have the majority of the stages,
and where we will host a majority of our interactive areas. At this point we won’t be utilizing the
pavilion, just the fields. This is a breakdown of the itinerary, day to day, for the event. Friday as I
mentioned camping will begin. We will host a preparty and entertainment at one of the stages in the
main concert field in the early afternoon, going into the early morning. This is strictly for campers. An
incentive for people to come, take the opportunity to camp on this beautiful hallowed grounds, and enjoy
themselves in kind of a condensed environment. Saturday and Sunday will begin the full festival
program for all visitors starting with staggered stages opening from 11:00 am going to 2:00 am. Again
this is for all visitors. Monday, this will be specifically for campers. We will host chill out sessions,
which is really a way of getting people to wake up, and gradually acclimate to the day, and be safe on
their departmure. So if they had a long night, if they stayed up until the middle of the night and got a
couple of hours of sleep, we don’t want to rush them off the property, we want to make sure they are
safe and conscious and in good shape to be able to drive off of the property. The camping site will be
open 24 hours beginning Friday and going through 5 pm on Monday. It will host a number of different
things from food and beverage to special entertainment, Circus de Soule style theatre entertainment that
will have a stage that will host music, or movies, or late night silent disco’s, just to give people
something to do in between the event and the time they leave the campground. Our events are heralded
as extremely well organized. A majority of that comes from our safety, security and logistics plans. For
every one of our municipalities we put together comprehensive plans that insure safety for the attendees,
the vendors, and for the local neighbors for the town we are in and we work very closely with the
townships, state police, local constables and fire departments in order to put together these plans. There
are safety crowd control plans, health and safety plans, traffic and mobility plans and camping logistic
plans. I will go into each of those right now. Crowd management, first and foremost is health. First
Aid is available the entire time at the event operating for attendees but also before hand for our staff to
make sure we have a safe working environment. First Aid is open at the campground 24 hours the entire
Web page: www.town.bethel.ny.us
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845-583-4350 Ext 15
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Town of Bethel
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White Lake, NY 12786
time camping is available and operating. First Aid on the festival is open and available during operating
hours, as soon as the gate is open until when the gate is closed. Throughout all of service and operating
areas we will have mobile medical teams. Outside the first aid locations we have teams going around
just monitoring and making sure that every potential situation is a proactive fashion as opposed to a
reactive fashion. To make sure our guests are safe, and that we deal with any situations as quickly as
possible. We utilize ambulances and medivac services with local providers to make sure we can execute
these plans. Again with local hospitals, water and electrolyte drinks that are extremely important,
people spend a lot of time out in the sun. We want to make sure they are safe. One very large portion of
all of our events is we have a zero tolerance policy. It is important to keep in mind that these large scale
events will always host a certain element of people coming in and enjoying themselves on a grand scale
and we want to make sure that we control that as much as possible. Our search procedures are
extremely in depth. We check everyone. Before they get into the event they are fully searched by
security. Their id’s are checked, they are wrist banded to come in, we do not have any tolerance for
drug use or any type of contraband being brought into the event. For our medical team the leader of the
medical team is a gentleman by the name of Carl Maza, he manages large scale medical teams for
festivals around the country. He is extremely adept at this, and we look forward to working with him
here. Also on our team, and one of whom is here with us this evening is Andrea Boswick. She will be
working with Carl and making sure they have the safest emergency plans possible. One of the
companies I mentioned earlier that helps to educate our attendees is a company called Dance Safe. It is
a nonprofit organization. It is a way of opening the conversation and making people talk and socialize
about certain subjects that are better served when people can bring them out in the open, and companies
like Dance Safe really provide that. Our safety and security plan are very similar to our medical plan.
We work with local security teams, the police, and local constables to make sure we have a fully safe
and sustainable event. Crowd control plans both from external traffic moving in, parking on the site,
how they enter and exit the festival, how they enter and exit the camping. All of this is managed from
an onsite location that we call a control center. It gives us the ability to put all of the municipalities that
are in charge of the safety of the event in one place, fire, police, weather, our security teams, our medical
teams, so that in any point and time if any situation were to arise, and even more so prior to there
happening, we have a team that is monitoring constantly, to make sure we have full control over
everything that is going on. In that control center we have a central dispatch, which has the ability to
contact any one of our staff members and put out all calls to every single person working to alert to any
issues that may arise prior, whether it is safety, fire safety, weather, so we can appropriately manage
these problems before hand, and again we are proactive. Another part of our crowd management is
traffic plans. We work with a team from Belgium and a local team here that helps us to staff the local
community and to manage the traffic coming in, to put the least amount of stress on the town as a whole.
The way we do this is to predesign a plan that has oversight from way before we arrive to afterwards,
and manages the daily entrance and exit of the event. How we do this is with offsite shuttle systems,
going from neighboring cities like Boston, New York, Philadelphia. We will have onsite shuttle
locations so we can drop off and pickup at areas around Bethel Woods, as well as campgrounds and
local hotels. It helps reduce the number of cars on the road, and again keeping people off the road who
have had a good time that day who may not be the most adept driver. I mentioned offsite pickup and
Web page: www.town.bethel.ny.us
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drop-off locations. These are very important because, again, it helps the number of cars attending the
event. We are looking at areas which have large parking lots for taxi drop off, for people who are being
dropped off by family members. For off site ticket pick up locations so people can come in and off the
site quickly, really efficiently and to utilize bus transportation with multiple seats as opposed to single
vehicles. To give a quick overview of what we anticipate car wise and the traffic flow, on Friday from 8
am to 3 am when we have our camping ingress, we anticipate around 2,300 cars, shuttling people in and
out. For Saturday it will increase based on the day attendance, from 9 am to 3 am we are anticipating
5,000 cars, and 10 to 15 buses shuttling people just locally not including the proposed shuttles we are
working on now. Sunday the same, it will be a little bit slower in the evening, just because the majority
of the people will come in early on Sunday, and depart earlier in the evening, and Monday we anticipate
2,500 cars leaving the site. For our campsites we manage them separately. We look at them as a
separate production. Camping is managed in a safe fashion so we hire a different team that will come in
and manage it singularly. The tent camping is 7,500 campers as we mentioned, hosting marketplaces,
food and beverage areas, first aid, showers and rest rooms, and 24 hour information for anything
revolving around the event, anything people may need, and just questions that people might have
pertaining to the area. The camping, the way that we manage it, is we have different entrances for the
campers as opposed to the day attendees. They will be coming up different roads. We will be lessening
the traffic burden by sending people in different directions by utilizing different traffic patterns.
Campers will have different credentials than day attendants and they will be specifically allowed in the
camping. Anyone who doesn’t have a campground wristband will not be allowed to go in. For fire
prevention we put access roads throughout the entire campground. Fire extinguishers will be provided
throughout the camping area. Emergency exits are placed around the campground as well. These are
designed to allow large groups of people to get out safely. Emergency roads similar to the access roads
are provided throughout the campground in perimeters to make sure we can access them with
emergency vehicles, ambulances, golf carts, to make sure we can accommodate and get to our guests as
soon as possible. One element of our camping is that we don’t allow the cars into the campground.
They park and then take their materials into the campground where they are searched, as I mentioned.
They come in, set up, they camp together. I will show you a picture of how we do it. The campground
is lit throughout with appropriate lighting so that it is safe. To go over some of our camping history,
these are a couple of festivals that ID&T has hosted and the size of the campgrounds. Tomorrowland in
Belgium hosted 40,000 campers, Mysteryland in Chile we do about 25,000 campers, Tomorrowworld
we did 30,000 campers in Atlanta in September. In Australia we did 7,500 campers, and this year
Mysteryland will be in Amsterdam for the first time. This is a map of the proposed camping area. What
you are looking at here is a cross section of West Shore Road on the south side on the bottom of the
map. Best Road is going north. What this shows is the access roads, and if we were to zoom in a little
further on the different spots off the access roads, are rest facilities, showers, refuse facilities, wash
stations, potable water areas, as well as in the bottom left corner, food and beverage areas, entertainment
areas, and in the top left corner our entrance procedure, which you can kind of see as the three tier
approach, search, identification, and then wristband into the event. This is the overview of most of the
events, how we position our rest areas as well first aid, emergency routes surrounded giving access to
service as well as the rest area for emergency vehicles to move in and around the site. The rest areas are
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equipped with showers which are serviced regularly to keep them clean and sanitary and a healthy
environment. This is one of our events which you can see how we do the camping. No car camping,
access roads intersecting all the different camping areas. The large white tent on the right hand side
hosts the rest areas, and on the left, which is something that we hope to do more in years to come are
predestinated camping areas that are preset for guests arriving, it gives them a little bit easier of an
entrance and exit. Our events, most specifically in the USA, Tomorrowworld, attract a lot of media
attention. We hope to bring that up here as well. Not only for the event, but the surrounding area, to
give people a little bit more of an insight to the beautiful place we have here. Some of the media outlets
are MTV, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the New York Post, etc. These are all highly respected
media outlets. Very important is the economic impact of the event. We estimate an economic
contribution of approximately 4.5 million dollars to the local economy the first year. Utilizing a travel
package program that will help us to have people sign on and utilize local accommodations and it will
also help bolster the shuttle program that I mentioned earlier. We utilize local suppliers for food,
materials, vendors, artists, and any application we can utilize for local integration is the highest priority
for us. Retail hospitality for local restaurants and retailers, we look forward to working with everyone
up here, and tourism. It is a beautiful area. It will give people the opportunity to come up here and see
how beautiful it is. There is a beautiful amphitheatre, beautiful lakes, beautiful recreation, people should
come up and enjoy. They should spend more time up here. We had a meeting with neighbors of Bethel
Woods and one of the things that came up is having a correspondence line. This will be for any
questions that may come up. I’m sure there will be some tonight but in the instance you did not get to
raise a point tonight, or would like further detail, you can reach us at this number (showing on screen).
This will connect you to Bethel Woods, you can ask for Mysteryland. Any questions Bethel Woods is
unable to answer will be directed to us. You can ask any questions, we would be happy to comment and
review. That is an overview of Mysteryland at Bethel Woods. Thank you again to everyone here
tonight for taking the time to come here this evening. Dan, I would like to make mention we would like
to request a hearing on November 29th, to review the SEQRA form and the final approval of the permit.
Other than that I feel we have explained enough, and of course we look forward to hearing your
comments.
Daniel Gettel: Thank you for the presentation Brian. It is after 8:30 pm, so we can proceed with the
public hearing.
Motion to open a public hearing for this application by Steve Simpson, second by Wilfred Hughson
All in favor - 7
Opposed - 0
Agreed and carried
Proof of mailings were received earlier today.
Daniel Gettel: Before we start the public hearing I would like to bring a couple of things to the public’s
attention. This is obviously not the first time this board has seen this application. One thing the public
should be aware of is that we are specifically focusing our review on the camping aspect of
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Mysteryland. If Mysteryland just wanted to have a concert that would already be permitted as part of
the Bethel Woods permit. We are looking at the camping, not the festival itself. There are a number of
people who have signed up to speak at the public hearing. I will call them in the order in which they
have signed up and ask them to come up to the microphone in front.
Ray Neuenhoff: My name is Raymond J. Neuenhoff. As far as the traffic I know things have changed
from the first traffic pattern that came about. I looked at the second one and I just want the board to be
aware that these are figures from the State of New York from last year on a traffic count for 17B,
County Road 14, which is Route 55, County Road 141 which is the Horseshoe Lake Road. 17B had a
traffic count last year of 7,950. County Road 14, or 55 to Kauneonga Lake had a traffic count of 3,735,
17B west to Route 55 going to Eldred had a count of 7,017 cars, and County Road 1355 to Hurd Road
on 17B had a count 4,563. The County says this is an annual average the state has and that they would
add 1,000 cars more to the numbers. My second point is, you are going to have 7,500 campers, and you
are going to have all these shower stations around and toilets. The ground water, the aquifer, do we
know how deep it is? Do we know how much water we can supply to 7,500 people and how it will
affect us that live in the surrounding area? If it draws water from an aquifer does it draw water from the
underground? When it draws the water from the underground and it goes too low will it turn my pipes,
my water system or anybodies around to the brown sludge which will interfere with the piping and
everything else in there? Item #3 that bothers me, after you have all this water that you have for
showers, twice a day, toilets we don’t know how much, are they going to use a million gallons? Where
does it get controlled as far as going to our sewer plant and can that sewer plant handle the volume that
we have besides the White Lake Homes coming up for Memorial weekend, the restaurants in
Kaunoenoga Lake going full bore with people that come in to see the lake, and any other business’ that
are around that are going to contribute to this sewer district. Those are my three items.
Scott Samuelson: Chairman of SC Legislature: I represent District 1, which includes the Town of
Bethel. I would like to submit this letter in support of this project. Read letter into record.
Fran Shapiro, West Shore Road: My main concern is the excessive amount of traffic and people and
what type of security that will be in the surrounding areas. When they do have their Mysteryland, for
them to be on until 3 and 4 am in the morning, where are these people going to be walking, back and
forth, and what type of security, like I said before, will the surrounding neighbors have? Thank you.
Bob Barrett: I think the presentation of the Mysteryland group is absolutely top shelf. I think they
present themselves very well. I think they do a very good job showing all the things they plan to do.
Execution is probably the biggest element that is not known. We had execution here in 1969. The
execution in 1969 did not go very well as we all know. I still have an original ticket from that particular
performance. The fact is the attraction is such that sometimes you don’t control your elements to the
degree that you think you do. You think you have everything covered, then all of a sudden instead of
20,000 people showing up, you have 40,000 or 60,000 people showing up. It’s a big country. There are
a lot of people interested in this kind of thing, and a lot of people who come and then what happens
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where the gates are, and I know you have said, very clearly, you have this amount of security, that
amount of security, you have all of these things covered, but I will tell you something, they had it all
covered in 1969, and when those fences came down, they did not cover anything. They had to take
450,000 people, thank God it was such an iconic circumstance, and it took us 40 years to recover from it
in some ways. Finally we did, and now we are on the right track. Now for specific problems. We are
downstream from the White Lake Brook, we are in Smallwood, and we have our own lake. I have to tell
you last year when the McGraw, Eagles, and Leonard Skynard concerts were held to full houses on
those particular days, we had a problem with the water down in the Smallwood Lake. We test regularly.
In our test we test right outside the Kauneonga Waste Water Treatment plant, and the test was over 500,
which is unacceptable. Something occurred, whether the plant couldn’t take it, and there were 15,000 at
each of those concerts. So you are talking 15 x 3, 45,000 in three days. There was an overflow, we had
to close our beach, we couldn’t have the kids swim, we could not have the activities we planned for the
weekends, and for the whole summer, and it was a problem for the whole summer. And if you aren’t
going to control it, now I’m sure I didn’t hear the plan on that, I just heard, and Ray mentioned
something about water and runoff, and showers and where is it going to go? It only goes one way, down
to the White Lake Brook, and then downstream it runs down to us. It’s a problem, and it’s not fair, I am
just wondering if you can require a bond of some sort which is going to cover these particular types of
circumstances that may occur. We don’t know, the plans are great, the video is wonderful, it’s the
execution of what is going to possibly happen, I don’t know, they don’t know, different things can
happen. Some of the controls are not as controllable as you may think. I’m not going to say we
shouldn’t have progress, because we need progress, we know that, we have been trying to do that all of
these years. Don’t be too set because of a performance that says that we have it all covered, we have it
all taken care of, and nothing is going to happen, just good things. I wish that would happen.
Roberta Lockwood: I am here on behalf of the Sullivan County Visitors Association to express support
of the Mysteryland festival. Read letter into record.
Paul Carlucci, Villa Roma: I am here to support the Mysteryland festival at Bethel Woods over the
Memorial Day weekend. Based upon my independent meetings with representatives from Mysteryland,
it is my belief the event will drive tourism and bring new visitors to Sullivan County. We are currently
speaking about a large room block for the promoters for this event, not only the three nights of the
concert, but also for the two weeks prior to the event. In addition to the tremendous ancillary income,
sales tax revenue and economic stimulus that this event will bring, I would encourage this board to make
this event come to fruition. I want to support it.
Rick Lander: I own Landers River Trips in Narrowsburg. I would like to echo Paul’s statements. I own
three campgrounds, roughly 12 to 15 miles away. We support that because we get business before,
during, and after events. During the Phish concert two years ago, it was an amazing asset to us. This
helps me employ more people, pay more sales tax, and do a lot more business. As you know Sullivan
County is very seasonable, and this broadens our season up. I have met also with the promoters, and
am astounded with how great a job they are doing, and how organized they are. I can learn a lot from
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that just at my own campground, as a private business in Sullivan County. It will bring people back to
this area, for camping, canoeing and rafting. It would be a great asset for us all.
Daniel Gettel: That was the last name on the list. Would any one else like to speak before we close the
public hearing
None.
Motion to receive and file letters from Sullivan County Visitors Association, Sullivan County
Chamber of Commerce, Sullivan County Legislature, and the Villa Roma by Susan Brown Otto,
second by Steve Simpson
All in favor – 7
Opposed - 0
Agreed and carried
Motion to close this public hearing and go back to our regular meeting by Susan Brown Otto, second
by David Slater
All in favor - 7
Opposed - 0
Agreed and carried
Daniel Gettel: Brian, if you don’t mind coming up please. I do understand it was a good idea to have a
meeting with the neighbors. I was able to attend that meeting. It did go very well. I did ask you at that
meeting about ambulances and mobile medic, and maybe the Town of Bethel Volunteer firemen. Have
you reached out to any of those organizations?
Brian Tamke: Yes.
Daniel Gettel: You spoke to Mobil Medic. The fire departments are going to have to take an active role
in this also.
Brian Tamke: We reached out to Kauneonga Lake and White Lake.
Daniel Gettel: Just so the public is aware, we can’t act on this application tonight. We declared our
intent to be Lead Agency a little over two weeks ago and we can’t act until November 29th. That is why
Brian asked for that specific date. We discussed it as a board. We are not willing to meet the day after
Thanksgiving (the 29th) to entertain your motion for a negative declaration. Our next scheduled meeting
is December 10th. There is a conflict with that date for a number of board members, as well as our
attorney, so we would be willing to consider, by a motion of the board, moving the meeting up one week
to December 3rd. That would work better for us as a board, and might accommodate you a little better.
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Motion to cancel the December 10th meeting, and reschedule the meeting for December 3rd by Mike
Castro, second by David Biren
All in favor – 7
Opposed – 0
Agreed and carried
Susan Brown Otto: Is there a conflict with the room that night?
Daniel Gettel: I don’t believe there is a conflict with the room for that date. I did speak to Rita
(Sheehan) about it as far as canceling our meeting in December. Brian, we would like to see you back
on December 3rd. Are there any comments from the board? Glenn do you have any comments?
Glenn Smith: I received a set of plans from their engineer, Keystone, today at 3pm. I looked at them
quickly and jotted down some notes. I will put them in writing tomorrow, and submit them to the board
and to Brian. Some of the comments were on the tent sites, how are they going to delineate all the
parking spaces and delineate the tent sites on the property. I went through the showers and toilet areas,
they are a little sparse at this point, and you will need a few more of those. Where the sewer is is going
to go, where is the water going to come from, are some of the Bethel wells going to be used. I will
compile that in a memo tomorrow.
Daniel Gettel: We did reach out to Bethel Woods for some of that information. In conjunction with
Bethel Woods we will need that addressed.
Jacqueline Ricciani: Some of that will be in the EAF, Part 1 as well. Is Part 1 going to be done by their
engineer?
Daniel Gettel: I believe Keystone already reviewed Part 1 and resubmitted it. My part 2 will have to
reflect the new Part 1. Just so the public is aware, if we were to approve this application, this isn’t the
last step for them. They will have to go to the NYS Department of Health for a permit. We are not the
only agency reviewing this but it does have to come to us first and one of our conditions will be that
they need health department approval on any utilities for the camping specifically.
Susan Brown Otto: I would just like to comment with regard to business for Memorial Weekend. Just a
concern of mine. I think it is fantastic that we are having this camping attraction, what have you, and
the concert, but sometimes…. it is a big weekend, it is Memorial Day weekend, the start of the summer
season. The thing is sometimes people get fearful of driving the roads because there is going to be a lot
of traffic. And so sometimes that is the message out there that the rest of the business’ are open for
normal, don’t be afraid of coming to the Fat Lady Café, or other business’ in Bethel because this is
going on, and so I think that somehow in working out traffic plans, and what have you, to keep that in
mind so people are not afraid to come to the Bethel area.
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Daniel Gettel: Susan, one think I think we need to consider, and I think it goes along with what you
have said in the past, is that it is not a group of people coming at a specific time to go to a specific
concert. It is going to be spread out over the weekend. There will people that will have the opportunity
to come a little bit earlier, go to the local convenience stores, go to some of the local establishments
before they go to Bethel Woods. I ‘m sure once they get there they can leave.
Susan Brown Otto: I agree, but sometimes people will say they are going to avoid 17B altogether,
because the traffic is going to be bad. The point being the word gets out that the Town Board or
whoever, that other business’ are open, and you will be able to get through Bethel, and that is not going
to be a problem, so the other businesses are not affected or impacted.
Daniel Gettel: Any other questions from the board. Something else that has been discussed and I notice
on the new plans is fencing. If you could would you discuss a little bit about fencing and tell us about
security, as far as fencing goes, and the protection of the neighbors?
Brian Tamke: Specifically on the campgrounds, fencing will be utilized along all the perimeters to
delineate the space that is utilized for the event and private areas. All of the utilized areas, parking
areas, campgrounds, service roads, all will be set up with fence line to prevent in and out. Fence lines
are overhead height. They are chain link fence lines. We will utilize some kind of screening or
coverage on the fences to make it a little more pretty.
David Biren: How are you going to protect the ponds around the property? Will there be fencing
around them too?
Brian Tamke: We will do everything we can to keep people away from them, not only for safety
concerns, but also for environmental concerns.
David Biren: So will there be fencing around them?
Brian Tamke: We will make sure they are specifically attended to. We will make sure there is no
environmental damage to the ponds.
David Biren: There will be cleanup if there is any needed?
Brian Tamke: Of course.
Wilfred Hughson: How will this affect the local farmers?
Brian Tamke: Again it will bring notice to the area. It will bring people up here.
Wilfred Hughson: How will we get in and out?
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Brian Tamke: Our traffic plans are meant to mitigate and reduce traffic concerns in the area. As I
mentioned earlier we will have multiple alternate traffic plans to make sure no specific road or
intersection of traffic pattern is heavily parked with traffic. Our control center as I mentioned earlier has
traffic monitoring systems as we watch and have people on the ground in different locations we divert
traffic in different directions to best accommodate the local area and to reduce traffic that will inhibit
local farmers, inhibit local community areas, local restaurants.
Daniel Gettel: I think we also have to keep in mind the majority of the traffic is going to be the same as
Bethel Woods having their regular concert which they can do, it’s Memorial Day weekend, every day if
they choose. That is out of our control. I think as far as the camping traffic goes, we have to consider
the fact they are coming a day early, they don’t have to come on Friday, they can come on Saturday,
they can come on Sunday and leave on Sunday if they want.
David Biren: Do you have cars coming into the facilities and camping at the same time? If they are
inside and they are parking how are the cars going to come and go at the same time. West Shore Road is
going to be crowded.
Brian Tamke: As of now from Happy Avenue to Hurd Road will be utilized specifically as an
emergency route and will not have attendance traffic, utilizing different roads, Laymon Road, 17B to
move and divert traffic in an outside pattern around the area. So it isn’t directly on West Shore Road, it
is not directly on Happy Avenue, it pushes people out to either to 17B to go to exit 104, or further up
into Liberty to 101 and 102
David Biren: You will have people on the roads themselves?
Brian Tamke: Absolutely.
Daniel Gettel: Vicky, anything on the Town Board.
Vicky Vassmer Simpson: Meeting tomorrow night for Town board.
Motion to adjourn by David Biren, second by Steve Simpson
All in favor - 7
Opposed – 0
Agreed and carried
Respectively submitted,
Jannetta MacArthur
Recording Secretary
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