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From Speakupwny.com Development North Tonawanda Common Council President Bret Sommer believes a citizens group, with the assistance of a certified geologist, is “playing the wetlands card” to stop development from happening in their back yards.
Both the Briarwood Subdivision and the Meadow Drive extension projects are being contested by the Citizens for a Green North Tonawanda, who claim development should stop immediately to protect the wetlands. Sommer contends the “fringe group” doesn’t want any development to take place and are against change. So he plans on defending the city. At tonight’s council meeting, Sommer will address the council and the city’s legal counsel with a plan to possibly hire outside legal experts to prevent the group from stopping these as well as future development projects. “We’re going to be aggressive,” he said.” “We can’t allow them to take 500 acres of land off the tax rolls. Every time we want to do something progressive there’s something in our way. Liz Kaszubski, a certified geologist and chair of the New York state Sierra Club Wetlands Commission, acts as director for the citizen’s group and maintains homes built on the land would be unstable, as she said her home is on Fairfield Drive that was built on a wetland. It’s not about a wetlands card, she said. It’s about keeping houses off wetlands. She said many of the seemingly innocuous fields in NT carry wetlands labels because of the hydric soil and vegetation — prerequisites for wetlands that are common in these parts. She said the city founders did a good job of avoiding wetlands, which is why it’s becoming a more important issue today; much of the area left for developing in the city are classified wetlands. Kaszubski has made the following known to Sommer – who is also a member of the Niagara Greenway Commission - and others serving on the council: For over a decade, the City of North Tonawanda has ignored wetland laws despite the first warning I gave in 1993 concerning the building of Bowen Court into the Klydel Wetland without federal wetland permits. Rightfully, regulatory agencies are now trying to bring the City into compliance with these laws that not only protect the environment, but also, future homeowners from problems created by building residences in wetlands. Mr. Sommer’s threats of hiring a law firm to fight state and federal wetland laws will cost the city taxpayers and, if successful, may lead to sinking homes and flooded properties as have occurred in the neighboring Town of Amherst. Debbie Gondek and her neighbors adjacent to the Briarwood proposal have already been forced to hire an attorney. Mr. Sommer must be made to understand the value and function of wetlands and in his role as a city leader must come to realize that the City, as lead agency under NYS SEQR law, must weigh the environmental impacts to wetlands for projects, i.e., Briarwood and the Meadow Drive extension. The City created this debacle by approving homes in wetlands and will not correct the situation, despite our family paying over $9,000 in special assessments for the design of this flawed, inadequate sewer system. Citizens are certainly not “pandered to” here. Adding more homes to a sewer system that pollutes the Niagara River during storm events and floods parts of the city is irresponsible. If Mr. Sommer cares at all about the problems that homeowners can have when homes are built in wetlands and/or in unstable soils, he should request immediately that Brad Guay expand the US Army Corps’ study of Amherst soils to study North Tonawanda soils, beginning with the adjoining southeast portion of our city. Failing to do so could leave the city legally responsible for future damages to home foundations. City taxpayers should not be spending $705,000 on infrastructure for an area that most likely contains suspect soils, i.e., those deposited in the same glacial environment as in Amherst. I recently observed a hydric clay soil on the surface of the ground with the consistency of peanut butter just east of Brentwood where East Goundry is being extended to the east. These wetland issues could have been addressed earlier had the city only consulted with the City’s Environmental Committee, of which I am a member. A 5-minute search of the US Geological Survey website yields very detailed maps of wetlands in North Tonawanda. Mr. Sommer should abstain from voting on these projects if he has already decided these projects must be approved regardless of their impacts on wetlands. Our city is not above state and federal wetland laws! It is time Mr. Sommer started to listen and stopped advocating for the development of wetlands. Commentary Why does it too often happen that when municipalities become designated as “lead agents” in a development project they seemingly absolve themselves from the inherent obligation of protecting the best interest of the community and the environment? "If its ok with the regulatory agencies, its ok with us," is the mantra used too often by municipal administrations; and one that oft times falls short of protecting the best interest of the community and the environment. Why is it municipalities chastise citizen groups who act on their behalf while maligning them as being anti-development? Those citizen groups only request that developers who had no reservations purchasing a piece of property that knowingly had wetlands on it meet Clean Water regulatory requirements before they get permits to disturb wetlands solely for their benefit? Developer representatives have openly stated at public hearings that they can get those regulatory permits any time they want. Why is it that residents have to petition federal (ACOE) and/or state (DEC) agencies to make delineations and determinations outside of those made by the project sponsor’s hired guns to ensure Clean Water permits are issued accordingly and without adversely impacting resident or environment best interests? Should the North Tonawanda Council agree with Mr. Sommer to pursue litigation against any organization or group that is following due process established by the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) they should be viewed as the party circumventing the law and violating citizen rights by denying them voice in the government’s decision-making process. © Copyright 2003 by Speakupwny.com |
