This petition and the requests contained within it are critical to the future of the Town of Bethel, a future that is better determined with active citizen participation. 

Who can and should consider signing this petition? People of the Town of Bethel who are full-time residents or second homeowners, taxpayers, renters, business owners, or those with family ties to a house, property, or business. A person who signs this petition does not have to be a registered voter in Bethel. (This is not a petition for an elected political office.)  If you are unable to use this link or format to sign the petition, there will be hard copies circulating. 

From a phone: please scroll down to the bottom of the petition and use the red box to sign
From a computer: please look to the right of the petition’s text and use the red box to sign. 
*You may be asked to “chip in” but you are under no obligation to do so. You also do not have to “share” unless you would like to. Continue on through the prompts until you reach a box labeled “click sign.” You may receive some junk mail from Change.org. While inconvenient, this is the price we pay in order to have large numbers of people access and sign this petition. 

This petition is being put forward by individual citizens and organized groups across the town. 

PETITION TO THE TOWN OF BETHEL, NY DANIEL STURM SUPERVISOR

RE: CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AND BUILDING DEPARTMENT RESOURCES ALLOCATED TO SUPPORT THE PLANNING AND ZONING BOARDS.

We, the undersigned Town of Bethel residents, taxpayers, and stakeholders are increasingly concerned about the amount of stress on the Town’s Building Department and the lack of resources allocated to this vital portion of our municipal government. The Building Department’s lack of resources and necessary staffing has resulted in a noticeable limitation on our ability to participate in the planning process town-wide.

At stake is the health, safety and welfare of our community, our natural resources, built infrastructure, and the rural character of our community, all of which affect the quality of life we enjoy and wish to maintain.
We the undersigned thank you in advance for addressing our concerns and acting on the following requests.
1. Invest additional funds in the building department to ensure:
     a. sufficient staff, including a full-time Building Inspector to ensure completion of applications and submission of required documents in a timely manner as it relates to the review process and appearances by applicants before our Town, Planning, and Zoning Boards;
     b. the ability to make ongoing and completed files available to Planning and Zoning Board members and the public in advance of meetings and public hearings in a predetermined time frame;
     c. timely online access to said documents and other relevant plans, maps and materials that will enable citizens to both participate effectively and better understand proposed land use initiatives town-wide as they prepare for meetings and public hearings. (Many towns provide such access, thereby removing the need for people to have to personally retrieve and/or view documents at Town Hall during business hours through the FOIL process. This is a cost and time saving proposition for the Building Department and the public. Additionally, obtaining these files, maps and drawings is often cost prohibitive at .25 cents per page [much more for printed architectural plans]);
     d. a mandate that all Planning and Zoning Board meetings and public hearings be accessible to all Bethel Residents through Zoom (or some other video conferencing option), with an appropriate and reasonable way for questions and comments to be heard without disrupting the flow of the meeting.
(Of the five most populous towns in Sullivan County [Thompson, Fallsburg, Mamakating, Liberty, and Bethel], Bethel is the only town that does not make all of its Planning and Zoning Board meetings available to residents online. By neglecting to stream these meetings, Bethel is the outlier. Our town’s government is far behind its neighbors in its ability to provide modern solutions for barriers to citizen participation and transparency in local government affairs); 
     e. timely posted meeting minutes and recordings as per NY State requirements of Planning and Zoning Board deliberations. (The minutes from the Planning Board’s January 9, 2023 meeting— which also included the first public hearing on the White Lake Mansion House site plan — were not published in advance of the next meeting, which occurred on February 6, 2023 — the date of the continuation of the January 9 public hearing. State law requires that the minutes be posted within fourteen days.) 

2. In a statement at the January 4, 2023 Town Board meeting, Supervisor Sturm said, “Financially, we are in the one of the best positions we have ever been in, since (1809) Over the last 15 years we have had the lowest tax increases in the County year-after-year, and every single time since the tax cap limit was enacted in 2011 which have been under it. Growth is up; assessments are up, which has allowed us to keep taxes as low as possible and still get things done. We have made good decisions together to help our Bethel taxpayers, always and that will continue.” Given the Town’s noted financial position and the importance of requests advanced in this petition, we are requesting that this revenue — our tax dollars — be reinvested in the much-needed resources identified in this petition.

3. Also at the January 4, 2023 meeting Supervisor Sturm stated, “The Bethel government has been one of the most open, transparent, accessible, and forward thinking governments in the County. We are all available and accountable to our taxpayers. I listen well to our Board, our staff and most importantly our residents.” Given this good faith pronouncement, we are requesting that Supervisor Sturm and the Town Board follow through on this petition and grant our requests.
If our requests are not granted, the undersigned also request a response as to the reasoning behind any denial.

Government works best and serves its constituency fully when citizens are informed, engaged, and able to be part of the process. Planning and Zoning Board documents, meetings, and public hearings that are readily accessible to the community, without question, enable citizens to participate and have the collective voice entitled to by law.
It is imperative to act now on the concerns raised and requests made in this petition before the potential negative impacts of not doing so become irreversible.

Thank you.