Wetlands and gunfire: the environmental alarms we can’t enforce.
April 7, 2025.
The Environmentalist.
At the March 24 Planning Board meeting, two very different proposals collided — but both pointed to the same problem: New Paltz doesn’t have the enforcement tools it needs to protect itself.
The first: a proposed shooting range on Tracy Road. Neighbors showed up in force. Their concerns were serious — and familiar.
Safety: The road is narrow and isolated. There are homes nearby.
Noise: Gunfire travels, especially across water and trees.
Wildlife disruption: The land in question includes wetlands and forest that haven’t been studied for habitat impact.
Infrastructure: The road cannot support increased traffic or commercial access.
The Board listened. But because the applicant hadn’t submitted a full site plan, the review stayed vague. Just like it did the last time this came up.
The second issue: wetland violations on private parcels.
Planning Board members expressed frustration that property owners are clearing land, building driveways, and dumping near regulated wetlands without permits — and the Town has no formal process or funding to pursue enforcement unless it's part of an active application. Even then the process for enforcement and the penalties for violation cost more to pursue than the town can afford.
Here’s the reality:
We’ve paid for years writing wetlands laws.
We’ve published maps and online tools such as the New Paltz Natural Resource Inventory.
We’ve passed buffers and overlay zones.
We’ve even made the whole process easier with the MuniCollab tool
But when the bulldozers show up without permission, we shrug — unless someone complains in time.
We’re Protecting Paper, Not Ecosystems
Wetlands are not a nuisance to be skirted. They’re part of our flood control system, our drinking water protection, our biodiversity corridors. When they’re gone, they don’t come back. And when we let people ignore the laws we wrote, we send a message that those laws are decorative.
The shooting range issue might feel political. But the environmental impact is structural. If we don’t have a system that can assess, enforce, and respond, then we don’t have protection — we just have good intentions.
We need:
A town that is not afraid of enforcement investigations.
Clear penalties for illegal wetland disturbance.
Coordination between the Planning Board, Environmental Conservation Board (EnCB), Wetlands Inspector, and Code Enforcement.
And yes — a community that shows up and speaks up when the land is treated like a loophole. (If you want to help us with this, sign up and mention your interest in environmental issues).
The March meeting reminded us that the threats are real. And if we’re serious about resilience in the face of climate pressure, we can’t afford to let this keep happening.