A new developer — at least for the Town of Crawford — has made an appearance on the usual round of Planning Board and Town Board meetings. The company is Black Creek Development, and the face that goes with it is that of Shalom Lamm.

Mr. Lamm is a flying and gliding enthusiast, and Black Creek has been the force behind the rehabilitation of Wurtsboro Airport.

"We do lots of things," says Lamm, who is one of those people who constantly fizzes with ideas, plans, notions, and much, much more. "We have a deal down in Forestburgh, in Sullivan County, that is well into the approvals process, and it's been outstanding dealing with the board there. They are very clear about their goals, and we were candid with them, and because of that, things are moving along at a crisp pace. Not rushed — everyone has their chance at give and take, but not held up at all."

Black Creek has presented the Town of Crawford Planning Board with a plan to place a 28,000 square foot warehouse structure on a small part of a former farm property on Stone Schoolhouse Road, close to the junction with Route 17K, in the southwestern corner of the township.

As usual, the Planning Board has reacted with mixed feelings. Some members of the board feel that since the area is zoned for business development, and that Black Creek has been responsive to concerns about parts of their plan, they should be allowed to go ahead. Other board members are less sanguine about the project, and are unhappy with its lack of a specific tenant.

Aware of that criticism, Lamm projects a certain buoyancy that carries his ideas along, almost irresistibly.

"Developers have a difficult image, something that we think is unfair. The relationship between a developer and a community should be like a good marriage. We need to build trust so there can be give and take. Our sense of it, here at Black Creek, is that if you turn what could be an adversarial relationship into a collaborative one, then everyone has a sense of ownership."

Other, more critical observers might describe the developer as a necessary evil. Communities cannot get by without development and the creation of "rateables" — business properties that can be taxed. Communities with minimal business districts and nothing but residential properties have to be prepared to pay all the taxes that residential properties generate, and that means school taxes.

In that light, the Town of Crawford has been hearing Black Creek's plans. Lamm is quite open about the project's future.

"This first building is a small precursor. It's going to be a much larger development eventually, and we have to be honest about it. It is going to be a large development. But, at the same time, it will leave a light footprint. We believe that with good technique and planning, we can shield and screen the great majority of the buildings we plan to put up on that site.

"We want to match the development with what the eye can see," continues Lamm. "What's our optical footprint going to be? Holistic development is our phrase, and that means we have to take into account what the neighbors can see, and what effect we're having on biodiversity. And then we also need to think about what we may contribute to the tax base. It's all part of this."

Lamm describes an arsenal of techniques to which Black Creek will turn in order to minimize the physical appearance of their buildings, in what is an exceptionally beautiful stretch of countryside with views up to the Shawangunk ridgeline.

"You pick your trees carefully," he says. "We have an arborist, Scott Leonard, who is the kind of guy that is just great to walk through the forest with. It's just an education to do that with him. So we give him the parameters, the soil types, the kind of surrounding trees and bushes that are on the site, and then he gets to work and the real technical creativity comes in.

"Ultimately, we would even use earth berms to hide something. You can turn a large building into a very low one that way. Berms are also good because you can plant stuff on them, and that increases their ability to disguise and hide quite large structures."

Black Creek wishes to be known as a smart development company, and to build a strong, productive relationship with the Town of Crawford.

"We would love to do more in Crawford. Our only issues with the Town of Crawford project are the market, which we judge will be there for the buildings we're planning, and the welcome factor. We don't want to be anywhere where they don't want us. The thing about development is that if you do something wrong, or even if you just do something sneaky and purposeful, it's going to come back and haunt you. Remember what I said about trust and building a relationship with the community? That's what we always come back to. We want a long-term business relationship, and we see no gain to ourselves from doing anything that would harm that possibility."

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