Big_Spinner
Trout Hunter
11-8-2006
DEP blasts Delaware towns on land-use regs
By Patricia Breakey
Delhi News Bureau
DELHI _ The Delaware County Board of Supervisors is expected to go into executive session today to discuss an allegedly threatening letter from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Hamden Supervisor Wayne Marshfield said Tuesday.
The Board of Supervisors meeting is at 1 p.m. in the Sen. Charles D. Cook County Office Building in Delhi.
Mark D. Hoffer, DEP spokesman, wrote the letter dated Nov. 1 to William C. Harding, Department of State Watershed Protection and Partnership Council executive director, after several watershed towns proposed adopting regulations requiring that all conservation and agricultural land easements must come before the town planning boards.
In the letter, Hoffer wrote, "We cannot and will not accept the imposition of the right of veto or the creation of new legal impediments, in any form, on the city’s ability to acquire conservation easements that are otherwise eligible under the (Memorandum of Agreement). ... We view the adoption of any such ordinance a material breach of the MOA."
He continued, "We reserve all of our rights and remedies, including (without limitation) the right to recover any and all sums advanced by the city under the MOA which have gone to, or benefited, any MOA parties who have participated in the adoption of such ordinances, and the right to recover damages in the event the adoption of such ordinances prevents the city from proceeding with any transaction and/or results in any adverse impact on the ability of the city to continue to maintain filtration avoidance for its Catskill and Delaware water supplies."
Marshfield said that on Oct. 4, the Hamden Town Board passed an amendment to the town’s subdivision regulations addressing easements and driveway policies. The intent of the regulation is to give the Planning Board an opportunity to advise the landowners of anything that may be in their best interest to review before negotiating any easement, he said.
Marshfield said the DEP’s threat of legal action is unacceptable.
"The whole thing just makes you angry," he said. "It just defeats the goals of the partnership we are striving for (with New York City)."
Glenn Nealis, Delaware County Economic/Industrial Development director, said in a media release that Hoffer’s letter "further endangers the continuance of the landmark Watershed MOA by threatening to renege on the city’s commitment to fund future water quality improvement projects in communities that enact such local ordinances."
Nealis said land-use ordinances are being discussed in Walton, Roxbury, Meredith and Hamden.
Delaware County IDA Chairman James Thomson said, "Delaware County and other counties of the west of Hudson Watershed have attempted to develop a true partnership with the DEP. The city’s stance against basic land-use planning is bewildering."
Meanwhile, Dean Frazier, Delaware County Watershed Affairs commissioner, wrote a rebuttal letter to Harding on Nov. 3 saying, "In the spirit of partnership, Delaware County and numerous federal, state, city and local watershed partners met on Nov. 1 to consider ways that the West of Hudson local initiatives for watershed management, such as the Delaware County Action Plan, can improve communication and working relationships for the next Filtration Avoidance Determination renewal. I was stunned when I returned to my office to find a copy of Mr. Hoffer’s letter regarding the local review of conservation easements. More disturbing still was the tone of the letter.
"Using extortion to threaten the very communities who signed on as partners to the MOA is wholly unprofessional and devoid of the spirit of partnership," Frazier continued. "County and NYCDEP staff have been working together to resolve this issue and will continue to do so until a resolution is achieved."
_____________________________
DEP blasts Delaware towns on land-use regs
By Patricia Breakey
Delhi News Bureau
DELHI _ The Delaware County Board of Supervisors is expected to go into executive session today to discuss an allegedly threatening letter from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Hamden Supervisor Wayne Marshfield said Tuesday.
The Board of Supervisors meeting is at 1 p.m. in the Sen. Charles D. Cook County Office Building in Delhi.
Mark D. Hoffer, DEP spokesman, wrote the letter dated Nov. 1 to William C. Harding, Department of State Watershed Protection and Partnership Council executive director, after several watershed towns proposed adopting regulations requiring that all conservation and agricultural land easements must come before the town planning boards.
In the letter, Hoffer wrote, "We cannot and will not accept the imposition of the right of veto or the creation of new legal impediments, in any form, on the city’s ability to acquire conservation easements that are otherwise eligible under the (Memorandum of Agreement). ... We view the adoption of any such ordinance a material breach of the MOA."
He continued, "We reserve all of our rights and remedies, including (without limitation) the right to recover any and all sums advanced by the city under the MOA which have gone to, or benefited, any MOA parties who have participated in the adoption of such ordinances, and the right to recover damages in the event the adoption of such ordinances prevents the city from proceeding with any transaction and/or results in any adverse impact on the ability of the city to continue to maintain filtration avoidance for its Catskill and Delaware water supplies."
Marshfield said that on Oct. 4, the Hamden Town Board passed an amendment to the town’s subdivision regulations addressing easements and driveway policies. The intent of the regulation is to give the Planning Board an opportunity to advise the landowners of anything that may be in their best interest to review before negotiating any easement, he said.
Marshfield said the DEP’s threat of legal action is unacceptable.
"The whole thing just makes you angry," he said. "It just defeats the goals of the partnership we are striving for (with New York City)."
Glenn Nealis, Delaware County Economic/Industrial Development director, said in a media release that Hoffer’s letter "further endangers the continuance of the landmark Watershed MOA by threatening to renege on the city’s commitment to fund future water quality improvement projects in communities that enact such local ordinances."
Nealis said land-use ordinances are being discussed in Walton, Roxbury, Meredith and Hamden.
Delaware County IDA Chairman James Thomson said, "Delaware County and other counties of the west of Hudson Watershed have attempted to develop a true partnership with the DEP. The city’s stance against basic land-use planning is bewildering."
Meanwhile, Dean Frazier, Delaware County Watershed Affairs commissioner, wrote a rebuttal letter to Harding on Nov. 3 saying, "In the spirit of partnership, Delaware County and numerous federal, state, city and local watershed partners met on Nov. 1 to consider ways that the West of Hudson local initiatives for watershed management, such as the Delaware County Action Plan, can improve communication and working relationships for the next Filtration Avoidance Determination renewal. I was stunned when I returned to my office to find a copy of Mr. Hoffer’s letter regarding the local review of conservation easements. More disturbing still was the tone of the letter.
"Using extortion to threaten the very communities who signed on as partners to the MOA is wholly unprofessional and devoid of the spirit of partnership," Frazier continued. "County and NYCDEP staff have been working together to resolve this issue and will continue to do so until a resolution is achieved."
_____________________________
