Flood plain filling ?

[4248]

If a person owns land in a flood plain - lets say this land shows on previous FEMA maps as flood plain/zone.

FEMA uses land height as one measure of the likelihood of it being flood prone.

Then lets say the owner quietly fills the land and raises it up - out of the flood plain/zone. Can the owner then acquire permits for building on this property ?

I always thought it was illegal to fill these areas -

Would a person first need Town approval to fill this area ?

Or is it just - if no one complains - then no one cares and FEMA along with Town Officials would then just ignore the fact that magically the land rose up and is now three feet higher than it used to be ?

[gorja]

Is that happening at the Adam's nursery property?

[4248]

That definitely seems to be one lately !

But now that you asked - was there any permits given for that site .

I believe I heard he wants a subdivision of sorts to be built there. I believe he recently sold the Genessee road frontage and business.

So that would explain the Giza gift of "Hellwig Road" said to be a tribute to the Hellwig Family. Actually that gives that property two separate entrances.

Any info would be helpful

Thanks

[gorja]

[FMD]

Sure you can back fill and build, people do it all the time in clarence and newstead

[4248]

First they allow them to "Rearrange or move wetlands" - then if there is artifacts(most likely Indian) - they allow them to simply fill over it.

The part that is so obvious is how they usurp the rules/laws/codes for one stated reason - then later it turns out to be for more development - the initial reasons were a scam to get it filled to get more of the land "Out of the wetlands/flood plain" designation!

You gotta love how the zoning and planning board facilitate these people.

Lancaster needs zoning and planning board members who are more than recycled Lan Dem/Developer retreads.

[FMD]

ever heard of property rights? Why should a land 'owner' be forced to jump through a bunch of hoops to appease the local democratic party?

[WNYresident]

ever heard of property rights? Why should a land 'owner' be forced to jump through a bunch of hoops to appease the local democratic party?

Some truth in what you say.

THis is the issue when groups of people are given a monopoly on a service in a small geographical area. In some cases the property owner is forced to over pay for rendered services.

How would you like to drive up to "Sam's Super Car Wash" and be told... Sorry you need to use "Fred's Car Wash". "Fred" Charges $15.95 while "Sam" charges $9.95. In some cases "Fred" will do less of a job than Sam because over time nepotism creeped it's way into Fred's place because they have a monopoly for that service.

[4248]

I totally believe in "Property owners rights"

What many object to is more like this scenario - played out over and over in Lancaster:

A well connected developer see's a piece of farmland. Its a marginal/restricted use piece because its wet most of the year - the farmer can use it because he tills the tops soil and plants crops.

The property is too wet for "Building purpose" - or so the farmer has been lead to believe for years - by local officials he's trusted and talked to.

A slick developer lobby's FEMA and EPA to change existing rules and regulations. They win the right to "Move or exchange wetlands" - they use/pay bogus land use companies to produce reports that "Reduce the measured wetlands" -

The slick developer who supports a given controlling local party - uses their money and influence to get code/zoning changes.

Here is the slick part - the developer has his "agent" or "sham buyer" to convince the present owner to sell him a "option" to purchase the land in question. The option includes a few clauses like - "when zoning is approved" - "nondisclosure agreement" - the farmer gets a good upfront payment and the final pay off starts after zoning or site plan is approved by the Town.

The developer has already started his plan with the help of local office holders. He has already set the wheels in motion with the zoning and planning boards - which are appointed by and controlled by the local Party Committee. He has already purchased the "Good will" needed to acquire his needed favors.

Well I guess you see where this is going ! I totally respect "Owners rights" - but !

What about the farmer who was paid one tenth of what the property is worth the day its rezoned ?

He was told for years his property was worth one thousand and acres because it was "too wet to build on"
- in many cases
- those same farmers were denied building permits because the local Politicians/Planning Board/Zoning board sited rules/codes that they now changed for the developer that supports their campaigns ?

Why is it fair or honest for Politicians to tell one person "Our hands are tied by codes/laws" - you cant build there !

Then when a well financed - Party Supporting Developer buys favors/changes codes/laws because he/they can finance campaigns - he gets to profit handsomely from development denied to other ! ? !

When residents ask these situations or ask questions of their local officials they are told - "Our hands are tied - the developer could sue us - the planning Board/Zoning Board approved it - there's nothing we can do to stop it"

Who are these Elected and Appointed Party Officials working for ?
__________________________________________________ _________

In the past five years or so we've seen a new twist on this game - the wealthy developers who gained "Rezones" years ago - and have projects "In the Pipeline" - are now selling these properties to other developers. Why ?

Because the original developer knows his data presented to the zoning and planning boards was false/misleading - so they know with present day scrutiny these sites will be reevaluated.

When they are looked at closely with todays standards and residents watching - it turns out they have way less usable acreage than what was approved when first presented for plan approvals.

- That is why they laid for years in the Towns "Pipeline" of pre-aproved site plans.

So now developers are screwing newer developers by selling land they knew was approved wrongly.

Poetic justice I ques - developers screwing developers enabled by past wrongful approvals ! Approvals mainly facilitated by the same Party Players/Politicians the new developers are now "Supporting"