Plattekill obstacle course is under fire

By RICK REMSNYDER
Posted 3/30/22

The owner of an obstacle course on New Unionville Road came under fire from a neighboring rod and gun club at the March 24 Plattekill Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting.

Tony Sorrentino, …

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Plattekill obstacle course is under fire

Posted

The owner of an obstacle course on New Unionville Road came under fire from a neighboring rod and gun club at the March 24 Plattekill Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting.

Tony Sorrentino, president of the 600-member Bethlehem Rod & Gun Club, accused Obstacle Wonderland owner Gabe Capobianchi of trespassing on his club’s property at nearby 372 New Unionville Road.

Capobianchi denied the allegations during a contentious ZBA public hearing on Obstacle Wonderland’s application for a site plan and special use permit.

Capobianchi confronted Sorrentino as he attempted to leave the meeting and the exchange got so loud near the Town Hall exit that Town Board member and former ZBA chairman Willie Castillo Jr. told the pair to leave the building.

During the hearing, ZBA member Sis Morse told Capobianchi that he should halt his operation until he received ZBA and Town Planning Board approvals. Currently he is operating the business illegally, she said.

Sorrentino said he has sent communications to Capobianchi asking him to stop Obstacle Wonderland participants from trespassing on the rod and gun club’s property, but has only received denials from the owner.

“We’ve been living a bit of a nightmare since he’s been operating his business,” Sorrentino told the ZBA. “There’s been repeated trespassing on our properties. It’s been frequent and deliberate and I’m concerned about that.”

Sorrentino said that Obstacle Wonderland doesn’t border the 189-acre rod and gun club, but he claimed runners routinely run through the club’s property.

Mike Schetter, a Bethlehem Rod & Gun Club member, said he has safety concerns about how cars are parked for events at Obstacle Wonderland after he drove by the 16-acre property last week.

“I don’t know if there’s any parking requirements that are supposed to be attached to this facility (Obstacle Wonderland), but when I went by there were well over 50 vehicles parked in the unpaved and unmanicured lawns or woods for their event.”

Schetter, who said he has been a member of a local fire department for 50 years, said the parking situation worried him.

“I do see it as a concern of getting in and out in the event of an emergency of some sort,” Schetter said.

ZBA chairman Larry Lindenauer told Capobianchi that the Plattekill Fire Department had voiced similar sentiments in a letter to the ZBA after going out to the most recent event at Obstacle Wonderland.

“They had some concerns about the erratic parking that was done,” Lindenauer said. ”They feel that it’s not conducive to easy entrance and egress if they have to come in for something.”

Capobianchi replied, “They just came in the wrong entrance. I’m happy to talk to them about which way to come in.”

Capobianchi, who was referred to the ZBA by the Town Planning Board to get approval for a site plan and special use permit, said he had already addressed the parking issue with the planning board.

“Instead of viewing it from the road, why don’t you come in and look at it and you’ll see there’s a complete turnaround,” Capobianchi said. “I’ve already gotten from the planning board that the parking is suitable.”

Capobianchi admitted that he may have trespassed onto Bethlehem Rod & Gun Club property early on, but he thought the dispute was over after he apologized. Following the meeting and the announcement by Lindenauer that the public hearing will be continued on April 15, the Obstacle Wonderland owner made it clear he wasn’t happy with the evening’s proceedings.

“It (Obstacle Wonderland) was a great place to go when everything was shut down due to COVID,” Capobianchi told the Southern Ulster Times in an interview following his ZBA appearance. “I think I did four or five events and they last for four hours. I think it saved some people’s lives – mentally.

Everyone was thanking me like crazy. So, all of a sudden the town got involved because the gun club claimed I was trespassing. Maybe I was, but I thought we got through it after I apologized. I’m spending thousands and thousands of dollars on an engineer and planning for literally just obstacles to run through the woods on my own property.”

Morse told Capobianchi that he shouldn’t be doing anything on his property right now.

”I’m telling you that you are running an illegal thing at this point,” Morse said. “You should not be having anything there until you get the proper permits from both the planning and the zoning boards.”

Capobianchi wasn’t happy with that news.

“I’m not sure why you’re taking this tone with me right now because I’ve gone through everything possible,” he said. “I’m going through the process. It’s staggering as a resident the grind that you guys are putting me through for an event I have once, twice or three times a year.”

In other news, the ZBA closed the public hearing on five variances being sought for a new convenience store and gas station at Plattekill Corners by Newburgh Fuel Distributor Inc. following several hearings.

“The board received input from Ulster County Planning,” Lindenauer said. “We need time to review that. (We) can take a final overview of what’s been asked (for).”

Lindenauer declined to comment on whether the ZBA would vote on the variances at its next meeting.

On the Obstacle Wonderland application, Lindenauer said, “Some new issues have come up that require further review.”

He said the issue raised by the Plattekill Fire Department about having an inadequate entrance to the property would need to be addressed by Obstacle Wonderland.