Credit: Will Maitland Weiss
The Gallatin Town Board devoted much of its meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 17, to an update on the town’s forest resources and how the 2024 Natural Resource Inventory (NRI) could inform revisions to zoning regulations in 2025. The meeting concluded with music and refreshments shared by the board, staff and public attendees.
Town Supervisor John Reilly opened the meeting by observing that Gallatin “has really become more of a forest town than a farming town.” Naturalist consultant Jim Nordgren, who worked with the town’s Conservation Advisory Council, presented key findings from the NRI, noting that 78% of Gallatin is covered by forests, most of which are in excellent condition with minimal invasive species. He highlighted the importance of these forests as a biodiversity link connecting the Appalachian ecology to the Green and White Mountains to the northeast.
Nordgren recommended several zoning measures, including establishing a forest overlay zone — a mechanism applied to identify areas with substantial tree cover, with rules enforced to preserve and maintain the forest canopy — identifying critical environmental areas near the Roe Jan and Fall kills, extending watercourse protections and enhancing wetland safeguards. He noted that many Hudson Valley towns use overlays, like Gallatin’s existing ridgeline overlay, as part of their zoning maps.
Credit: Will Maitland Weiss
Specific options under consideration include increasing lot sizes for development within the proposed forest overlay, adding ridgeline protections, prohibiting clear-cutting, creating watercourse buffers and expanding subdivision regulations to encompass smaller development projects, not just those involving five or more homes. Nordgren suggested requiring restoration plans for commercial timber harvest permits and imposing stricter limits on clearcutting.
Addressing wetlands, Nordgren noted that current regulations only apply to properties with 12 or more acres of wetlands, leaving smaller but ecologically significant spaces, such as vernal pools, unprotected.
Gallatin has gathered input on potential zoning changes throughout the year. Reilly said he plans to compile a summary for the town attorney in January, which will be posted on the town website. Once a draft is returned, the board will hold meetings to gather feedback from the planning board, the Conservation Advisory Council and the public.
Among the 15 public attendees were three students from Stissing Mountain High School, covering the meeting as part of a government class. Following the forest overlay discussion and routine reports from the highway superintendent, code enforcement officer, clerk and assessor, Reilly assured attendees that property taxes would remain flat in 2025, adding that, adjusted for inflation, residents are paying less in taxes now than in 2013.
To close the meeting — and the year — board member Dan Quinn performed on guitar alongside fellow board member Jeff Jorve, who provided rhythm guitar and harmonies. The duo played Neil Young’s Heart of Gold, Woody Guthrie’s This Land Is Your Land and a Springsteen-style rendition of Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, continuing a three-year tradition.
The next Town Board meeting is scheduled for Jan. 21 at 6:30 p.m.
