SHAWANGUNK – Lee Titus, insurance agent and would-be real estate developer, made a passionate case for a development that he has been working on for decades at the Shawangunk town board meeting on February 21, exclaiming at one point that, "I got more from the DEC than my own planning board."

His application illustrates the difficulties posed for both developers and towns by the ongoing DEC wetlands remapping effort in the Wallkill River watershed, announced in 2009. And the controversy it spawned as the state agency has withheld release of its maps to date.

The DEC has indicated a preference for dealing with remapping issues on a case by case basis, rather than releasing the maps and fomenting a vigorous popular discussion.

The Shawangunk planning board had previously approved Titus's most recent plan for development, conceived in 2002. Furthermore, as planning board chair Kris Pedersen said at the town board meeting, the planning board has renewed the applicant's permitting for five years, since the economy went into free fall in 2008.

Titus acquired the property in the 1970s. It consists of 25 acres situated south of Buena Vista Avenue by Third Street in the hamlet of Wallkill. In the middle of the property are 7.3 acres of wetlands. Titus mentioned that he has promoted previous, different plans for development of the site.

His current plan originally envisaged 32 single family housing units, arranged in a horseshoe pattern around open space that includes DEC protected wetlands. During negotiations with the DEC, Titus removed one lot from the plan, leaving him with 31.

However, the defining complication of the DEC wetlands remapping effort is the addition of a 100 foot buffer zone around any designated wetlands. That extends the reach of the wetlands on a fairly large scale.

Titus explained to the Town Board that his current plan for 31 lots had received a permit from the DEC and he gave them a copy of it. The permit holds until the end of 2015, however, which produced concerns on the board. Bob Miller voiced those concerns by asking what would be the position of a homeowner, who had bought one of the 31 lots with a backyard in the buffer zone, if they then sought to add a swimming pool. Would that permit cover them or would they have to go to the DEC for a separate permit? Moreover, what would be their status after that permit expires?

Pedersen, as well as planner Mark Watkins, attended the town board meeting and explained that they had also met with the DEC and received a somewhat different view of the project. They noted that if some of the houses were moved, the project could be accommodated and added that the planning board had always had a policy of not allowing building in wetlands or buffer zones. Watkins also said that the project had come before the planning board many times, and that changes to the plan had also been made before. He showed a map in which several houses were moved out of the buffer zone, or to other parts of the property.

Titus replied that he had requested a copy of the planning board policy regarding wetlands but had never received it.

"I don't think Kris Pedersen has made the case that they have information that goes beyond the DEC, which is the highest authority in the state on environmental matters," he said. "I have the planning board chair telling me they can't approve because of this. I'm taking it personally. The DEC gave you the sign off, they're helping me more than you are."

"We met with the DEC also and we were told different things," Watkins reiterated.

John Valk, supervisor of the Town of Shawangunk, noted that it was a complicated issue.

"I think we need to tweak this. We have 45 days to decide," he said. "We'll look at it. Put it on the agenda for the next meeting on March 7."

It has become recognized that wetlands are precious for a number of reasons, including the fact that they soak up flood water. Take them away and you end up with more flooded basements, back yards, shopping centers and so on, officials say. Wetlands are also vital as habitat for a host of creatures, from fish and turtles to bats. The buffer zone is meant to protect the wetlands, and wetland habitats, from human intrusions including everything from houses and asphalt roadways and parking lots to illegal dumping and the ecological trauma of runoff.

The US Army Corps of Engineers also classifies and protects wetlands, but does not add a buffer zone around them.