Disappointed!
Disappointed there is no Lancaster Bee report on Monday’s town board meeting. A full house, 30 resolutions, an important lot size code change, and several public comments on Stony Road flooding issues and the town’s commitment to seek grant funds to mitigate the flooding issues.
I was looking forward to the Bee’s perspective on developer / builder petitions to have the board table the lot size resolution for reasons they gave that were in the best interest of their clients:
• Affordability – home prices would increase by $30,000 to $40,000.
• 15,000 square feet lots would be overkill for clients seeking less land management responsibilities.
• Some builders live in Lancaster and want to keep housing affordable for their families and others in the future.
• They have brought tens of millions in revenue to the town tax base.
While the developers / builders pontificated on their contributions to the town and desire to work in their clients best interest, some of us have seen experiences and examples of town development that have had significant adverse impacts on the environment, infrastructure, public safety from overburdened roads, and the school district.
For too many years these developers have been granted rezones and rezones of rezones to meet their marketing needs that resulted in town sprawl and dumb growth.
Too often the town and associated state and federal agencies permitted creek tributaries to be filled in, creeks to be relocated, the filling in and or destruction of valuable and functional wetlands resulting in flooding and drainage issues, bogus wetland delineations and segmentation, all for developer best interests.
The lot size change will help to reduce the number of Zoning Board of Appeals petitions for variances. Variances petitioned for because of lot sizes that do not allow for land use that should protect both property owner and neighbor needs and rights.
In the same meeting, the Republican-Conservative Party candidates denied rezone of a Harris Hill project by a 3-2 vote – a rare event in the past 27 years of Democratic Party controlled town bords. Reason? There doesn’t have to be one.
There is a new sheriff in town and developer and builders who contributed 100% to Democratic candidates in the 2019 town elections are going to be pissed.