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Although the actual vote on the issue
is still over a month out, the Franklin Town Board delved into the
details of the proposed Major Subdivision Control Law and the
associated creation of a town planning board at a Wednesday special
town board meeting.
Board members repeatedly defended the
proposed subdivision law as a way to protect the community from
over-development and a means of establishing home rule authority.
Lake Placid attorney Tim Smith has
been reviewing the law creation process for the town to make sure
all of the legal bases are covered.
“State law is pretty clear, if any
changes of substance are made, you have to go back through to
process including another public hearing,” Smith told board members.
“But if the changes are simply fixing typographical errors and
formatting issues you don’t have to do all of that again.”
According to Councilman Walt Krester,
no substantive changes have been made to the law since the July
public hearing.
Councilman Allen Berg indicated he
would like an amendment to the Planning Board Creation Law, which
would bar the appointment of individuals related to a town board
member.
Smith said it would be wise to leave
that out of the formal law, and apply that principle in practice.
But not everyone is so happy with the
creation of a planning ordinance and a board to enforce it.
Ed Martin is a Franklin resident and
not in support of the proposed laws.
“The board knows how the town feels
about this,” Martin said. “But still they push on, without letting
us vote on it in a referendum.”
Martin referenced an ad-hoc petition
circulated by opponents to the two laws that had 113 signatures.
According to Smith and several other
town law experts, a referendum in this instance would violate New
York State Town Law.
Those unhappy with the proposed laws
see the petition as a representative sample of the Franklin
population at-large. They argue that the laws would be a redundant
and unnecessary burden on local development.
There are roughly 1175 tax paying
residents in Franklin according to Town Supervisor Mary Ellen Keith.
Councilman Cliff Smalley said that a
survey sent out by the board received a highly favorable response;
with those in support of the measure outnumbering opponents two to
one.
The board unanimously adopted a State
Environmental Quality Review negative declaration for the
subdivision law and tentatively scheduled a public hearing regarding
the proposed five-person planning board’s creation for September 23.
The proposed 32-page Major Subdivision
Control Law would set guidelines for future development of
subdivisions that would exceed four lots over a period of 10
consecutive years. Included in the proposed measure are provisions
for road building, storm water management and utility requirements.
The Subdivision Law would require a
planning board to administer it.
-Jon
Alexander, 8-27-09
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