Bethel Mapping Project

The Bethel Roundtable undertook the mapping project for the purpose of illustrating cumulative impact. 

The process involved collecting publicly available data from the Town of Bethel and the County of Sullivan; centralizing that data within the framework of the current town code and modeling what development will look like.

The mapping illustrates findings that were synthesized by using currently available and accessible information, as well as interpreting some variations in formulas within the town code in relation to slopes and conservation subdivisions. Additionally, some projects lack detailed information.  That said, we believe the map will be a valuable resource for the Town, especially the Planning and Zoning Boards, which will be able to look at projects in their totality as they identify potential impacts on lakes and waterways, road systems, population growth relative to the currently built infrastructure and so on.

The Approach

To ensure that this work was done in an appropriate and professional way, the Roundtable hired Stephen Metts, a professional mapping expert whose firm is located in New Paltz NY. With private fundraising, the Roundtable has retained Professor Stephen Metts of Geospex LLC to facilitate a mapping project resulting in the creation of several maps meant to illustrate cumulative impact of residential development in Bethel.

Professor Metts (M.A. Clark University) possesses over eight years of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and planning experience in both urban and regional contexts. He is the founding principal of Geospex, a GIS consultancy specializing in cartographic design, spatial analysis and mapping applications.

Professor Metts has worked with a diverse group of organizations, firms and city agencies ranging internationally with Engineers Without Borders to domestically with New York City’s planning department (NYCDCP) and housing authority (NYCHA).

Metts was a founding Co-Director of OnRamp Arts, an award-winning non-profit digital arts organization fostering collaborative projects with underserved communities, architects and artists in Los Angeles. As an adjunct faculty within the Graduate Program in International Affairs, he teaches a hands-on approach to geospatial technologies for international crisis, development and the environment. He has also taught and developed GIS-related curriculum at Parsons the New School for Design, LaGuardia College and Clark University.