HomeMy WebLinkAbout1974-10-29 GROTON TOWN BOARD PUBLIC HEARING
Held at the Town Hall
Groton , N . Y .
Tuesday - October 29 , 1974 - 7 * 30 P . M .
H . Dow - Town Supervisor* T . Gilhooley - Attorney for Magro et al . *
L . Baker - Town Clerk* F . Weinstein - Attorney for Lewbro*
B . Bucko - Town Attorney* Approximately 85 of the General Public*
V . Metzgar - Town Justice * D .. Snell - Zoning Enforcement Officer*
D . Doyle on Town Justice* M. Dempsey - Cortland Standard*
L . Sovocool - Town Councilman* G . Totman - Chairman , Groton Planning Board*
V . Rankin - Town Councilman* J . Bell - Recording Clerk*
* - Denotes those present .
H . Dow , Town Supervisor , called the hearing to order at 7 * 30 P . M .
and read the Notice of the Public Hearing aloud which was published
in the Groton Journal and Courier on October 16 , 1974 and also read
the affidavit of publication for same aloud . These are attached
hereto and made a part of these official minutes .
H . Dow : Now I have here something that I would like to mention , - - these are
receipts from the Post Office that notices were mailed by Barbara
Heffron , our Deputy Town Clerk , to the Town of Locke , to the Tomp -
kins County Planning Board and to the Cayuga County Planning Board .
I believe that is about all the reading I have for the time being .
Now this is a hearing based on a petition and the individuals who
signed it requested a zone change on the property in question . The
Board added the former William Anderson property to the zone to be
considered from low intensity and agricultural to medium intensity
zone . This hearing is for the purpose of developing evidence so
the Board may make a decision as to whether or not to change the
zoning districts for this area . No decision as yet has been made
by the Board . Every person here tonight has the right to speak
for or against the proposed zone change and shall be given that
opportunity . This hearing will be run in an orderly manner .
Persons speaking shall refrain from personal attacks and confine
his or her remarks to the issue .
Now I would like to suggest , at this point , that as you speak you
give your name and address before you start . If you are represented
by an attorney , rthe� attorney should identify himself , who he is
speaking for and then make his comments . If you are speaking for a
group of people , identify the group you are speaking for , name the
people in the group and their places of residence and then speak .
We will begin by asking people in favor of the zoning change to speak .
Do we have a speaker for the affirmative side or those in favor ? Do
we have someone who would lead off with that point in mind ?
J . Brown : I ' d like to , Hicks . My name is Julian Brown and I sold this land to
these people and certainly the land is no good agriculturally and is
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J . Brown : not suitable for housing . That ' s about what it ' s good for , - - that sort
of thing .
H . Dow : Do we have another speaker or someone who would like to make a comment ?
F . Kyes : My name is Floyd Kyes and I ' m speaking somewhat in behalf of the Groton
Business Association and I said approximately what I ' d like to say at
the last meeting I attended here on this subject but - would like tocall
everybody ' s attention to the fact that Groton is a growing community
and any time you talk to a businessman or anyone involved in the
future of the growth of Groton they would like to see it stay a grow-
ing community and if we mentioned it would find we made a mistake in
zoning only that area out by Mr . Peter ' s property for this kind of use .
I think we should look into the future and see what our sons and
daughters are going to be doing and I wouldn ' t want to be a party to
driving any business out of Groton and would like my name added to
the people who want new business to come and it could flourish here ,
and I thank you .
H . Dow : We probably here tonight are having interruptions from affairs at the
school and there will be people coming in at different times as they
leave the classrooms . Now , we might ask if there ' s anyone else who
would like to speak on the affirmative ?
D . Wilson : My name is Doug Wilson and I live on Cayuga Street and I ' m very much
in favor of this . I would like to keep the business in Town and ,
like Mr . Kyes here , I feel that instead of driving them out of town I
think we should have a place for them and this land isn ' t any good for
farming and I think it would make a very good place for Lewbro ' s plant .
Thank you .
G . Petrella : My name is Guido Petrella , 205 - 207 Main Street ,, Groton . Many things
have entered into my mind since Lewbro have wanted to move out of
town and one of the main things that has been bugging me I guess is
suppose Mitch Peters or Dave McCarty wanted to move out there , what
would the feeling of the residents be then ? Is it because it ' s a
cement factory or something that would be a little bit noisy ? I
don ' t get the gist of the thing . Is it because of this or is it
that they don ' t want business , - -what are we really fighting ? Maybe
people in this area should consider this part of it a little bit . Is
this the only thing going in there ? We are just stopping growth .
It ' s been a big hazzle in the community lately with people fighting
among themselves over something that won ' t affect anyone in that area
when you get right down to the whole thing . I go out there and park
my car and look over what has been going on out there and , in all
honesty , only one gentleman in the whole area that might have a problem
is the fellow that lives in the trailer on 34 , and he ' s the closest guy and
that would be the only problem and that , I don ' t think , is really a
problem . I go over to the ready mix company in Cortland and I have done
this to see how I really feel about the wholething and it doesn ' t seem
to interfere with the Holiday Inn or Howard - Johnson ' s and nobody seems
to have any complaint over there . There won ' t be any trucks running
out there after five or six o ' clock and I can ' t figure out what the
real hazzle is .
R . Walpole : My name is Bob Walpole and a week ago tonight I sat in this same room .
I was here for a hearing on the Fire Department . We have a five year
contract with the Groton Town Board and on our budget for 1975 we had
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R . Walpole : $ 9 , 400 deficit and our contract with the Town of Groton expires on
December 31 , 1975 . I came to the Town Board and explained to them
that we had a deficit and told them we had to have more money . We
agreed that the Fire Department would raise $ 5 , 900 and the Town of
Groton would increase our contract by $3 , 500 . On this the tax rate
was raised as I recall $ 1 . 64 in the Village and $ 1 . 92 in the Town .
If we don ' t get new business to settle in this area , - - af we keep
driving business out and don ' t encourage business to come in to
increase our tax base , I don ' t know where the stopping point is . I
know that people are going to squawk . I have heard some complaints
but if we don ' t encourage people to stay in our area , - - in our town-
ship to level this tax base off , real estate taxes will go right out
of sight . That ' s all I have to say .
MKPeter * My name is Mitch Peter and I ' m also from Groton and in business with
my father and I want to go on record as saying I4support everything
everybody else has said . Outside of town a lot of people are laughing
at us , - - for a town this size , - - the excuses we ' ve heard to date , - - doesn ' t
make sense to me for what it ' s worth .
G . Totman : I ' m George Totman from McLean and I , too , agree with what has been said
so far but I think I would like to just reemphasize the general picture
of the whole town . I know what a hard position , this puts the Town
Board in , - - to make this kind of decision , - -and it ' s very difficult to
make a decision where you have to try to please : everybody but I think
what the Board has to do in a situation like this is to look at the
whole town and see what is . best for the whole town . I agree there is
one person up there , - - Mr . Evans , - - who lives very close to the plant
and I have deep sympathy for this man but I don ' t see that the other
people up there have that complaint . But the Board should look at it
from the viewpoint of a tax base . If it ' s not 'rezoned , it lies dormant .
If the plant goes in , it won ' t add a tax burden on our schools . I think
when the Board makes their decision they should look at those things .
H . Dow : Anybody else ?
R . McLaughlan : My name is R . McLaughlan of R . D . 2 Groton . I live across the road
from the 24 Trailer Park and I personally can ' t see it affects any -
thing where I live and I ' m all for anything that is for the best
benefit for the Town and I ' m sure commercial is where it should go .
H . Dow : What we are in the process of is calling for comments from people in
favor of a zoning change . I see some more people have come in late ,
would someone else like to continue this , please , if you have any
statements you would like to make ?
M . Peter : Mitch Peter , again . This company also employs 10 people in this town
and pays 10 good wages . . If we ' re going to drive them out , there ' s 10
people driven out too and we can ' t continue to do this . You have to
admit we ' ve lost a lot more business than has come into this Town and
could lose a lot more .
H . Dow : Is there anyone else who would like to make a comment at this time ?
F . Weinstein : My name is Fred Weinstein and I ' m an associate of Wes McDermott ' s and
we represent the Lewis and the Brown ' s . The information that has been
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F . Weinstein : submitted to us and the examination made of the land , I would like
to emphasize to the Board the character of the land itself . The
land , itself , is swampy , a hilly piece of land , the kind you can ' t
build a residence on because the water table is so close to the
surface you couldn ' t put a cellar in there . it ' s the kind of land
not fit for farming as you have already heard . We want to emphasize
that the only thing it is fit for is for industrial use . The Town ,
itself , needs industrial sites . This is an ideatindustria.l site , of
land not suitable for other purposes and for that reason the Board
is requested to make this zoning change .
H . Dow : I keep repeating , is there anybody else who would like to speak ?
F . Kyes : One more time , - - I also agree with the gentleman who just spoke . In
the present state if a new business came into town . and would like
to purchase land zoned for commercial use , the land up where
Peter and McCarty is , - - it ' s quite difficult to buy land there , the
people who own it are rather reluctant to sell it off piece by
piece . I , of course , don ' t know , - - I haven ' t tried to buy any out
there , - - so if by any chance an industry did want to move in tomorrow
where would they go ?
H . Dow : If that concludes the comments for the affirmative side , let ' s turn
to the opposing side . Who would like to speak on behalf of those
opposing this zone change ?
T . Gilhooley : My name is Thomas Gilhooley , an associate of Theodore Fenstermacher ' s
in Cortland , N . Y . and as you probably well know I represent the
property owners in the area that are very much affected by the pro -
posed change in this zoning . To make it absolutely clear , for the
record , I represent Mr . and Mrs . Magro , Mr . and Mrs . Rohm , Mr . Grant ,
Mr . Bailey , Mr . and Mrs . Moore and Mr . and Mrs . Evans , and we would
like to present to .the . Board a protest petition filed in accordance
with the Zoning Ordinance , signed by the people who are affected in
that particular area , and also a separate petition by people who
own land in the area who are affected and who also protest the
change .
Now , as you well know , having sat on Town Boards , you are required
of course to follow the law of the State of New York . and one of the
things that is required is that it be a comprehensive plan before
you make an initial zoning law or when you make any changes .
Well , the Town of Groton does have a plan ; it ' s contained in a book
called "The General Development Plan" and it was published in
January 1972 and Mr . Totman was one of the members of the group who
put it together . It took 18 months to put it together and I would
imagine a few thousand dollars . Maybe some of the people in the
audience would like to know what the people who studied this town
proposed . They find that the developed area north of the Village
(Page 45 of the plan) is " . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nand
is oriented characteristically to the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " and then ,
further on in the plan when it came to establish the purposes for
which it would be used in the Town it said (this is on page 92 and
they are talking now about residential development ) " in the Town . . . .
. . . . • . . . . . . . . . . " Then farther on , on page 96 they are talking
about where should commercial and industries be placed " the main
focus of commercial development is proposed to remain in the . . . . . . . "
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T . Gilhooley : In addition the gradual transition of land use to residential , com-
mercial , industrial and institutional activities is proposed in the
area on Route 38 from the Community College south and the high
school area , and also it shows two areas predominantly listed - -
Route 222 Village line to Lick Street and the other is situated in
the Hamlet of McLean . After this report was prepared they then
enacted the zoning ordinance for the Town and zoned this particular
area low intensity on Route 38 . The area to the east is low in -
tensity and agricultural and now the proposal is to change this
entire structure to make this a commercial or industrial , - - the
whole area commercial or industrial - - and I ask the Town Board , where
is the plan ? You prepared a plan for the entire town and now you
are going to change this . Do you have a plan to make this change ?
The law requires that you have a plan - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -plan . Now
there are certain factors you have to have besides having a - - - - - - - -
plan . When you , as a Board , act to change a zoning ordinance there
are certain things you have to do . Let me touch ; on these for you
to consider and I think the basic question you have to answer is is the amendment that is being proposed in the interest of the
health and welfare of the community or to enrich a particular group
of property owners ?
I want to commend the people who have spoken so far for making it
quite clear that this entire change is for the purpose of letting
the Lewbro Cement Plant continue to operate in this area . Now ,
if that is the purpose , - - the reason you want the amendment , to
benefit a particular property owner , as compared to community in-
terests , '3 - another way of saying that is , - -you are really proposing
spot zoning .
Spot zoning has been defined as the process of - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
totally different to that of the surrounding area for the benefit
of such property and to the detriment of other ^ owners and clearly
that is the example of what you have here tonight . You are going
to let them have this to the detriment of these people who have
low intensity . Now the size of the land involved is not crucial .
The key question comes down to what the effect under these other
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -are you giving benefit to some property
owners at the expense of somebody else ? Zoning shouldn ' t conflict
with developing plans of the community . This community in 1972
adopted a General Development Plan and enacted a zoning ordinance
and now , in effect , you are going to repeal this and make this a
commercial area .
Those are some of the things you should take into consideration
when you are making your decision . Now the few people that spoke
in favor , main reason was to increase the tax base . I understand
they are already in the Village and are already getting taxes , it ' s
a question of taking them out of the Village and into the Town .
What is the effect on this area here ? You will in effect hurt these
people and make them lose out on the value of their properties . What
kind of Town are you going to have ? Are people going to buy homes
where you are going to make it commercial ? Is that what you want
for your Town ?
Now , another point that I think has not been mentioned is that we
have a law suit already pending involving this matter . The Zoning
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T . Gilhooley : Board of Appeals granted a variance to Mr . and Mrs . Lewis and
Mr . and Mrs . Brown giving them the right to construct this
plant and property owners out there started . a law suit , which
has not been settled . The Town , in that case , has contended
it was right to give this variance , - -well if it was right to
give it why do you need a zone change ? And if it was wrong to
grant the variance why go into Court and say it - was right ?
Either the variance was right and this whole proceeding is un -
necessary or the variance was wrong and , if so , why go to Court
and say it was right ? Also why , when the petition was filed in
August 1974 , did you wait until October to bring this up ? Now ,
basically this comes down to a very simple thing , but difficult
on your part , - - it ' s simple to say but difficult to apply , and
that is your personal integrity , sense of equity and justice in
this matter . You have to look at this plan , - - the effect of this
change on these people and look into who is to decide what is
the right thing under all the circumstances in this situation .
It ' s easier for me to ask the question , - - it ' s going to be very ,
very difficult for you to answer it but I do think if you look
at all the facts and circumstances , you are in effect asking
these people right here to give up their homes and property to
benefit somebody else . Is that fair ? Is that just ?
IThere may be some questions you would like to ask us . We have
presented - - -
fact there was one man who owns property there who lives in
Brooklyn , New York who was not informed , - - °
B . Bucko : Yes , he was informed . He got a notice . Here ' s a receipt , - - it
was mailed October loth .
T . Gilhooley : In any case he ' s opposed to this zone change .
A . Grant : My name is Adrian Grant and I live in R . Do ; 2 Groton , N . Y . They
say that this area is no good for farming but before Brown got
it Cottrell used to have it and Steger Brothers used tbsttent
the land from him and raise corn on it , which was very good corn ,
and also raised wheat and oats on it year after year .
H . Dow : May I ask all the people now in the room to please refrain from
conversation while speakers are speaking , We will again ask you
for comments but please defer to the speaker .
A . Grant : As soon as Mr . Brown got it he wouldn ' t rent it to the Steger
Brothers to plant corn .
N . Magro : My name is Nick Magro and I live on Route 38 . Mr . Kyes said he
represented the Groton BusinessmenIs Association . I would like
to point out he has never been authorized to come and speak for
them . As a matter of fact quite a few of the businessmen were
upset .
Also in a medium intensity zone , under Section 105 , I think you
will find there ' s a heighth control - two stories 25 ft . high , - -
if you run out there now you will find it ' s in violation of the
medium intensity .
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N . Magro : Now talking about the tax base from this industry . Lewbros
claim they are going to invest around $ 15 , 000 . Steve Lucas ,
alone , was going to build two to three houses out there . Also
have one on , Julian Brown ' s property and have building lots for
sale and these would give more tax base than a cement plant .
What happens if it goes in ? It will destroy property all
around there from building houses there . I think we kid our -
selves that this will help the tax base . I think it will hurt
it in the long run .
H . Dow : We ' re always repeating requests for comments .
M . Peter : Just once more , - - that plan , - - the first word stated on the face
is that it ' s a general plan for Groton . I assume the writers
meant the people to use the description when making changes
for better or for worse .
G . Quinn : My name is Gerry Quinn and I live on Elm Street , Mr . Magro ,
has Mr . Lucas stated that he is not going to build these
houses or that he is still going to build them?
N . Magro : Would you buy a house where trucks would drive through your
land ?
G . Quinn : I ' m wondering if Mr . Lucas has even come to one of these meetings
and voiced his opinion ?
N . Magro : Yes , and this petition is signed by Mr . Ludds ' and._ Mrs . L - - - - . - He was
at the Divisional Planning Board meeting . His comments are in
there .
G . Quinn : The lot owners that - - - - - - - - - - - - - - and I assume it ' s on the East
sideI
N . Magro : The lots have not been sold yet .
G . Quinn : This was bought by Mr . Watkins and there are signs all along here
saying Land for Sale . It ' s ideal all along here for housing con-
struction .
J . Brown : Nick , I ' d like to know where you would build a house down there
below Evans ' . Could you tell me ?
N . Magro : Anywhere along here . You don ' t have to put a cellar in a house .
As a matter of fact the people that own this land here - -
J . Brown : How are you going to put a septic system in there ?
N . Magro : I think it would take it . Where Wilson is is much lower and he
has one in .
D . VanBenSchoten : I live at 217 Locke Road . Mr . Magro was asking the gentleman
in back if he would buy a piece of property with a cement plant coming
in . In the past year my wife and I have bought a place and its across
the road from the same type of place that Lewbro is going to have and
it hasn ' t affected me in the least . It wasn ' t across the road when
the previous owner owned it but I bought it and there must be other
fools who ' ll buy down there .
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G . Petrella : Nick Magro again , - -please - - but is that lot No . 42 or 41 .
N . Magro : 4 . 3 .
G . Petrella : 4 . 3 from that point coming south , - -who owns that property ?
N . Magro : I guess it ' s Julian Brown ' s property .
G . Petrella : That ' s all his property . He ' s sitting right there , ask him .
This property in area .here where there are for sale signs , - - it ' s
a known fact that the Health Department have to 0 . K . it . Has
the Health `Department O:. K : ' d . that property ? Now let ' s go to
Lewbro ' s , did you try to sell lots there ?
J . Brown : No , personally I didn ' t think that was a proper place to build
houses on .
G . Petrella : Why wouldn ' t you sell lots there ? He stated before it was so wet
in that area there was no way to build houses there and because
of the high water level in the springtime . There ' s standing water
there right now and it would require an awful lot of fill before
a man could attempt to even put a house trailer in there .
G . Quinn : Mr . Magro , again , - - how long has it -been since Mr . Lucas planned
to build these houses ?
N . Magro : I believe the Planning Board meeting was in September and he had
plans at that time .
G . Quinn : North of that property , - -unfortunately I was incapacitated in June
of 1972 , - - I think you lived there then . What did that flood do
at that time , - - the year of the flood ?
N . Magro : nothing , as far as I know . I said September and he ' s still planning .
Are you saying its flooded ?
H . Dow : Mr . Lucas isn ' t here , - -now are you asking to speak ?
N . Magro : Can we ask that the Minutes of the Planning Board meeting when Mr .
Lucas did speak , be included as part of these minutes of this
meeting tonight ?
N Bucko : My advice to the Board is going to be that the Planning Board ' s
minutes of October 17 , 1974 on which they considered the request
from the Town Board to consider this zone change and what their
recommendations will be , the material facts , - -Mr . Lucas knew there
was a hearing here and he has not appeared , - - and if he authorized
you to speak for him then we ' ll accept it .
T . Gilhooleye Could we have those minutes read ?
B . Buckoe Mr . Dow has on the agenda that the Town Planning Board ' s recommenda -
tions will be read .
H . Dow : In fact , I could read them now . But I see we have someone who wants
to speak again .
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N . Magro : Folks , what we are talking about now is not this little piece
of ground here , - -what we are talking about is when we drop a
cement plant here we destroy all the land around it for houses .
Mr . Petrella said he looked at the Cortland Plant , - - I know for
years they have been trying to get it out because of the
nuisance .
At this point Mr . Dow read aloud the Groton Town Planning Board ' s recommendations
concerning this zoning change , pro and con to which were attached the Minutes of
the Planning Board ' s meeting on which these recommendations are based;
H . Dow : Now we have another speaker waiting in the wings , - - Mr . Brown ?
J . Brown : The constant reference to this as a cement plant is misleading .
It ' s called a batch plant , a mix plant . Mr . Magro ' s constant
reference to dust and that sort of thing , - - that will be minimal .
H . Dow : I sure want to keep this in order .
A . Grant : I live out there . They say there ' s going to be no dust , I disagree
with that because there is already dust flying by John Evans ' place
because the trucks bring out dirt on their wheels . This Town Board
wants all these people to move out and the cement plant stay put
here . These houses , - -:- .,nobody will be living in them , - - only baby
jigaboos , - - that ' s what they want .
F . Kyes : First of all , - -up to this point in time , - - I ' m still elective
chairman of the Village Business Association so I believe I
carry authority when I speak for them , if . any of them dissent
on this I have not heard from them as yet .
Now about the man • who was talking about the effect of plans for the
Town , - - I believe I remember a quotation from literature , - - I believe
it was John Steinbeck ' s , - -which said that the best laid plans of
mice and men , - -brings to mind if you want growth sometimes your
plans . aren ' t what they start out to be . I know I ' ve started out
on plans and had to change my mind and plans made in 1972 might
not be constructive in 1974 . So far as property values go , - - all
I can think of is look at people who live on Triphammer Road area
and Grant Avenue Area , - - they became very. wealthy people almost
overnight because of businesses moving into the area and sold
homes and properties and are living on easy street now .
B . Magro : I ' m Barbara Magro , - -now if you are going to change zones , how are
you going to get residential people into a Town like this if they
know a cement plant or junkyard is going to come in ? These people
also pay taxes in this Town and I would think you would want them
as well because , without residential people , you won ' t have any-
body to buy products . We ' re against it coming in and devaluating
our property .
F . Kyes : With reference to the last statement . It ' s sort of a question of
which came first the chicken or the egg . Without residential
people it would be hard to have business survive but without in-
dustries how could residential people survive ?
G . Petrella : That ' s the same thing I was going to say . I ' m originally from
the Cortland area and I still live over near Homer . My residence is
G . Petrella : over there and I have property in the Village of Groton - and hope
to stay in the Village of Groton and someday hope to live here
so someday I may be next to Lewbro ' s , I don ' t know . My children
were brought up in the City of Cortland and there was one man
that controlled Cortland and his name was Mr . Wickwire and up
until this day there are many , many industries that could have
been in Cortland but this was the guy that controlled Cortland
and it was because of one man that Cortland didn ' t grow for many
years . But since Wickwires went out of business , in the last 10
years Cortland has really grown . Pall Trinity , SCM , etc , but
none were here until Mr . Wickwire left and if this is what is
going to happen in the Village of Groton , - -by golly it has a good
start !
J . Brown : I ' d like to add to Mr . Petrella ' s statement . Had it not been
for the Cortland County Development people getting businesses
for Cortland , Cortland would be in rough shape right now .
T . Gilhooley : I think it was Mr . Kyes , - -you are correct , - -a development plan
can be changed but as your own Planning Board pointed out , - - at
least two members of it said they didn ' t have a chance to
develop the plans in this particular .situation . This is a
major change in a Town , - - to do this without really studying it .
There has been a lot of talk about flooding , septic tanks and
so on . Has anybody really sat down and talked about this ? The
cement plant in Cortland , - - the one near Holiday Inn , - -except
for Morningside area , that is not a residential area . It ' s a
major highway and it ' s really a changing area and I think if you
asked the people who live at Morningside they aren ' t a bit happy
about the ready mix place .
What other industries are you talking about , besides a cement
plant ? What are others you would like to have around that area ?
Maybe a junkyard - - you can call it a batch plant instead of a
cement plant but it comes out chicken salad no matter how you
slice it . It ' s a disagreeable thing to have around your home .
There ' s no cement plant near Pall Trinity . I doubt you ' ll have
any industries moving in next to a cement plant .
J . Brown : We have a house there .
B . Magro : Do you live in it ?
J . Brown : Yes , we spend a lot of time there .
B . Magro : You don ' t live there though .
G . Petrella : For the last 15 - 20 years I ' ve been doing a little building here
and there and up until I met Lewbro a little while ago all my
cement came from Cortland . In the last 5 years or 10 years the
new residential area went in down there , - -Morning Drive , a nurs -
ing home , a new apartment complex area down in there and there ' s
Holiday Inn , the City of Cortland went to the length of building
a pool down there , - - a tswimning pool and a park . Now if this
were going to interfere with all these things , these millions
and millions of dollars wouldn ' t have been spent near Cortland
Ready -Mix .
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H . Dow : You ' re next , Dusty , and then Art - -
F . Kyes : I forget your name , - - oh , yes , - - Gilhooley , - -you mentioned a cement
plant and a junkyard as the two most evil things . First of all ,
I own a junkyard and I can provide you with a list of at least
a hundred people who would beg me to sell them a building lot .
B . Magro : Oh , I doubt that !
A . McLaughlin ; I managed a plant for Agway next to a batch plant in Cortland . It
was there before we went there and I never had any trouble with it .
G . VanBenSchoten : My wife and I got in just as my nephew , Doug , was talking about
living across from my business and next to it is a house I could
throw a stone at and we get along pretty good . Would just like to
pass that along .
H . Dow : Now , at this point , we must say if there is anyone who would like
to make a statement that isn ' t repetitious we would be glad to
hear from you .
R . DeMond : My name is Russ DeMond and I ' d just like to say that anybody that
wants to complain about a cement plant wants to come live next to me .
Manure , etc . it ' s one of the things you have to live with , - - that ' s
all .
H . Dow : Try not to be repetitious .
D . Kyes : The only thing , - - I beseech the Town Board is to think 20 years
hence about what our children will be going to do .
K . Wood : Where does the borderline on the East come ? On Chipman ' s Corners
Road , - does it go that far ?
B . Bucko : No .
I want to make a statement that Frank Liguori , chairman of the
County Planning Board , talked to me this afternoon . He ' s sub -
mitting a letter to us and they are not taking any position on
this and therefore our Board can act without prejudice one way
or the other and , to my knowledge , the Town of Locke and County
of Cayuga , are not taking any position either .
B . Magro : Where you do have farmland adjacent to some of this , what is going
to happen to that land ? Will it be diminished too ? This should
also be considered . What is going , to happen to our farmland or
agricultural zone ? In Groton , - - if you constantly spread, `this
cancer out ? That ' s what I call it !
B . Bucko : If I may make a comment , - - I think you will find that farmers are
decreasing in the Town of Groton anyways .
B . Magro : This will drive them out farther . The cement dust flying around .
A . Grant : I think they have already drove the farmers out of there because
Mr . Brown wouldn ' t rent it to Stegers or sell it to them either .
Now they want to drive the people who own all the houses out .
They will be the next thing in 20 years if Dusty wants to know !
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H . Dow : I believe we have given a full opportunity to everyone who has a
comment to make to do so . I believe we have exercised the
opinions and points brought up here tonight and seem to not be
adding anything of consequence to what we have already discussed
so , with that in mind , I will call this hearing to a close .
This hearing is now adjourned and the Board will reserve its
judgment to a future date .
I want to thank everyone here for coming this evening .
The hearing adjourned at 8s45 P . M.
Resp ctfu11 submitted
Josephine Bell
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