HomeMy WebLinkAbout1972-02-07 ASSOCIATION OF TOWNS
STATE OF NEW YORK
ANNUAL MEETING
FEBRUARY 7 - 9 , 1972
Delegate ' s Report
Preserving our environment and insuring a quality of life for our
children would appear to be the message put forth at the annual meeting
of the Association of Towns . This is also the direction planning boards
should go when reviewing existing regulations or considering new ones .
We should examine not only the effect of a development on the tax base
but also the environment and its visual effect on the countryside . Row
houses may bring in tax dollars but cluster housing preserving the existing
may prove to be the best all round type of development .
This two and one-half day meeting in general was very worthwhile
and informative . I learned many basic statistics as well as some of the
basic philosophies that were put forth in 1916 when the first zoning
ordinance was written and 10 years later when the courts upheld that
zoning was indeed constitutional and was not depriving citizens of their
basic rights . Since this time planning and zoning have gone through
several phases dictated by the pressure of a booming or stagnant economy .
Directly after WWII a housing boom necessitated small lot sizes be
specified . Because of the availability of sewer and water services ,
this has tended to encourage development in and around existing villages
and on land previously thought best used for agriculture .
Our first two programs dealt with preserving agriculture lands by
setting up agri districts . These districts would be a minimum of 500
acres and have at least 10% of the owners ' consent . It is interesting
to note that several large agriculture districts have been proposed
and from what was said here all were being proposed to curtail develop-
ment of a specific project - a jetport , a major highway or just residential
development without any consideration for the main objective which was
to preserve agricultural land .
Planned Unit Developments (PUD ' s ) got a major play with speakers
talking about the legal aspects , how to lay one out comparing with the
conventional gridiron subdivision . We saw a movie on several PUD ' s
now in operation throughout the country . Cluster housing with planned
open space would seem to be a better approach to housing needs rather
than 1 / 2 acre lots along existing roads .
A speaker from the New York State Public Service Commission ad-
vised that all new developments of over four dwelling units would have
to have their utilities buried and a decided effort will be made to
force utility companies to bury existing lines . The preservation of
our environment will be the number one consideration when building
future lines .
Several legal aspects involving the zoning board of appeals and a
discussion of test cases received a lot of attention . It was unfortunate
one of our future members of this group could not have attended . Basically
it was pointed out that when granting a variance the hardship must be on
the land rather than the owner . Whether or not a man has a pregnant wife
is of no concern when the zoning board of appeals is deciding if a gas
station might be a hardship on a particular parcel of land . Villages
and towns may be able to upgrade a zone to a less denser lot use if it
can be proven that there would be too many people on the smaller lot
size . -
Mobile homes and their peculiar problems were the subject of one
speaker who cited some of the often repeated allegations that people who
live in trailers were low class , that trailers were an eye- sore and
that trailers did not pull their weight in taxes . There are 70 , 000
trailers in New York State with over 200 , 000 people . When computing
this on a percentage basis against 17 million people you can see that
Groton would appear to have more than our share of trailers which is
one reason for the low tax base locally .
Ron Cotanch
2 / 15 / 72