For the past two Saturdays, Suzanne Schubert and Steve Decker have set up an information table in front of Valley Supreme Liquors to discuss the proposed Mix Use Floating Zone district and the intended 54 apartments with 20,000 square feet of business space as well as the concept of a coterminous Town and Village of Crawford. Registered voters within the Town of Crawford were welcomed to sign petitions against the rezoning and development and for the creation of one Town and Village of Crawford to eliminate the possibility of a second layer of government and adhere to the Master Plan already in place.

Schubert explains, “(We) share information about the Town of Crawford proposed Rezoning of the Town of Crawford Water District property. This generous gift was donated by one of the local farming families, in good faith, to the Town to serve as the primary water source to share with the community of Pine Bush. The Town has had long term issues with water quality and supply for decades. The Town received a grant in the amount of $2,311,680 from New York State. Supervisor Charlie Carnes is seeking to raise money to supplement that grant to a total of $4.7 million worth of water district upgrades. He has proposed selling this 7.7 acre property, at State Rt 302 and Black Hawk Rd for $795,000 to offset part of the costs.”

Following Schubert’s attendance at the July Town Board meeting, she and others felt the need to take action and so they created the Town of Crawford Now Facebook group. “(It) grew out of a shared concern by the local residents to address issues some feel are not being effectively addressed or shared by the town officials. The majority of people who reside in the Town were unaware of the proposed development on this land, where Supervisor Carnes hopes to push through a high density housing project, including 54 apartments in a three story high building, and 20,000 sq/ft of floating mixed use space. We currently do not have a floating mixed use zone category. The Town has introduced a new law simultaneously to create this floating mixed use zone specifically for this project.”

Residents arrived every few minutes to share their concerns and sign the petitions. Kim Edgar said, “I am concerned. I want us to stay a farm town. This project just doesn’t look like it fits.”

Some shared sentiment among many includes concerns regarding additional strain on the water supply, health of residents living next to a cell phone tower, traffic on Route 302, suffering and closed Main Street businesses, the lack of conducted studies to base decisions on including environmental impact and the opposition to the appearance of the project overall.

Schubert added, “Town of Crawford Now is encouraging all concerned people, within Town of Crawford and in the surrounding townships, who will be affected, to attend the Crawford Board meeting, Thursday, August 20. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. We encourage people to arrive at least an hour before, as many people were locked out and turned away from the previous proceedings when the proposed high-density project was discussed.”

Town of Crawford limits in-person seating to 50 people due to Covid-19 compliance and restrictions. A livestream of the meeting will be available on the Town’s YouTube channel. For more information and the link, please visit the Town’s website at townofcrawford.org.