|
||
|
Environmental Compliance Alliance ........ New Citizen Organization To Be Created As you know Canandaigua Lake has been inundated with developer plans to significantly and forever alter this beautiful landscape we all love so much. Some of the plans already approved or under construction involve literally hundreds of home sites up and down the hillsides stretching down the lake on both sides. - Morrell Builders began constructing 230 homes in 2003 at Lakeview Meadows, near Middle Cheshire Road, in phases lasting years. - Morrell has now applied for 62 new homes in an adjacent south parcel. - RSM Development Corp. (Mancini’s German Brothers Marina project) proposes 67 exclusive luxury homes on the hillside next to the Marina. - Ketmar Development Corp. plans 20 homes in two phases north of Bristol Harbor Resorts. Homes will replace the existing hillside forest, which is one of the most spectacular on the lake. This is in the approval process but under litigation. - Bristol Harbor Resorts just received approval for a 63-unit expansion by removing the forest behind the cliff-side condos. Two new access roads will be carved. This amount to nearly 400 combined homes, with a total value of about $200 million. This figure does not include the large East Lake Estates project under construction near Deep Run, another adjacent 63 unit project, Spring Hill, or the innumerable private homes being built at this time. These developments will raise the area’s population by more than 1,000 people and significantly add congestion to the lake. Much of this explosive development activity is the result of developer-friendly town boards (some having members with serious conflicts-of-interest) that have aided developers through the approval process with next to no consideration for the severe environmental effects: aesthetics, noise pollution, safety, traffic, consideration for public opinion or public involvement in the democratic process. Yet all is not lost. Construction is not well advanced, so the integrity of the environment has not been irretrievably compromised. It is little known but developers and towns are required by New York State Conservation Law to perform comprehensive and significant environmental reviews (SEQR) of major projects prior to approval. Aesthetics, noises, loss of habitat, affect on community character, lighting, traffic patterns, storm water discharges, etc. are ALL to be thoroughly analyzed. It’s the law! Strong requirements to alter designs may be imposed that will help to SIGNIFICANTLY preserve the environment. Public input is important and required. What commonly occurs however is that towns short-circuit the SEQR process to save themselves and the developers the time consuming, expensive and potentially adverse process of the proper and lawful review procedures. Sadly, the SEQR process does not have any enforcement agency and it’s not the DEC as one might expect. When projects have been improperly approved the decisions generally must be overturned in NY Supreme Court. This is routinely done and there are excellent environmental law attorneys that specialize in appealing improper SEQR findings. All of the local projects underway are a Type 1 (“likely to cause significant environmental harm”) and hence are subject to careful scrutiny, which has NOT happened yet for the reasons given. Therefore, to help guarantee the future of Canandaigua Lake, and indeed the region, a new organization is being formed: the Environmental Compliance Alliance Corporation (ECA). This non-profit (tax deductible upon IRS approval) corporation will lead the fight necessary to ensure the public’s voice is heard, that developers and towns must adhere to the law and that significant mitigation measures MUST be imposed on many projects to adequately protect the environment in all its forms. It is NOT the intention to spend a lot of money on litigation and legal fees. A great deal of preparation work can be done outside the legal community but at first more legal effort may be required to get towns and developers to comply. The ECA will help educate the public about the powerful SEQR process, encourage strengthening the law, and support the efforts of other groups such as the Canandaigua Lake Watershed Alliance and East Shore Association in their efforts at protecting the area and lake from harmful projects. Thank you, Rick Bolton, for the Environmental Compliance Alliance For more information or to find out how you can participate, please contact : Rick Bolton 262 East Lake Rd. Rushville, NY 14544 CURRENT EVENTS From the NYS DEC website: Positive Declaration Steuben County - The Town of Cohocton Planning Board, as lead agency, has determined that the proposed Cohocton Wind Power Project may have a significant adverse impact on the environment and a Draft Environmental Impact Statement must be prepared. The action involves UPC Wind Management, LLC proposing an approx. 82 megawatt (MW) wind-powered, electric generating project in the Town of Cohocton, Steuben County, New York. The project will occur on approximately 6,800 acres of leased land. The land is primarily in agricultural use, but also includes forest land and small areas of successional old field, brush, hedgerows, and wetlands. Farms and rural residences occur along the public roads within the project area. The project will include approx. 41 wind turbines, each with a generating capacity of 2.0 MW. Each wind turbine will include an 87-meter (285 foot) diameter, three-bladed rotor mounted on a 78-meter (256 foot) tall steel pole tower (total maximum height of 121.5 meters [399 feet]). Three, 50-meter tall, self-supporting (unguyed) meteorological towers will also be installed. Other project components include approximately 13.5 miles of gravel access road, 24 miles of buried gathering lines (electrical interconnect) among the wind turbines, and a 9.4 mile long overhead transmission line that will connect a collection station (approximate dimensions of 160 feet by 120 feet), located off Kirkwood-Lent Hill Road, to a substation (approximate dimensions of 400 feet by 250 feet), located off Preston Road. The project is located off Lyon Road, Pine Hill Road, Kirkwood-Lent Hill Road, Mattice Road, Rynders Road, Edmond Road, and Preston Road, Town of Cohocton, Steuben County, NY. Contact: Sandra Riley, Town of Cohocton, P.O. Box 327, Cohocton, NY 14826, phone: (585) 384-5330, ext. 1. Positive Declaration And Public Scoping Ontario County - The Town of Canandaigua Planning Board, as lead agency, has determined that the proposed Residences of West Lake Marine Club, RSM West Lake Road LLC, Project Number CPN-125-05 may have a significant adverse impact on the environment and a Draft Environmental Impact Statement must be prepared. Date for written comments, is March 31, 2006. A public scoping session will be held on March 27, 2006 at 6:30 p.m. at the Canandaigua Town Hall, 5440 Route 5 & 20 West, Canandaigua, NY. The action involves development of: 69 single-family residential lots; a homeowners association lot for recreation, open space and conservation easements; and a lot for private clubhouse and boating facilities for the project’s residents, consisting of a clubhouse, lakeside deck, 90 boat slips, 35 mooring spaces, a boat ramp and lift, a lakeside accessory structure, a marine fueling facility, and accessory parking. The project is located at 3907 and 3950-3952 County Road 16 (West Lake Rd.), adjacent to Canandaigua Lake in the Town of Canandaigua. Contact: Ronald L. Brand, Town of Canandaigua Planning Board, Canandaigua Town Hall, 5440 Route 5 & 20 West, Canandaigua, NY 14424, e-mail: rbrand8@juno.com. |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|