SWAN LAKE  — The owner of the Swan Lake property that recently was considered for a Planned Unit Development (PUD) has been denied their request for a zoning change by a failed 2-3 vote from the Liberty Town Board.

The shot-down resolution, set in motion by board member Vincent McPhillips, sought to begin the process of rezoning, giving KBSL Holdings a chance to look at rezoning two parcels of land from RD to R1. 

Prospective developer and owner, Wolf Friedman, previously stated in mid-September that if the rezoning was approved, he would look to turn the one landlocked 127-acre plot into a conservative easement, conduct various studies to ensure low visibility of buildings from the lake, establish a $150,000 escrow fund in case of any environmental emergency with the lake and capping the unit limit at 180.

However, Town Board member Dean Farrand remained sided with his previous disposition that even with all of the promises from Friedman, there was not enough legal binding, and likened any approval of a zoning change in this instance as “opening Pandora’s Box.”

“I do not believe that there could be enough constraint put into a deed that would make this [work],” Farrand said.

Joining Farrand was Town Supervisor Frank DeMayo and recently-seated board member, Bruce Davidson, whose caution warned against “setting a president that is not conducive to proper planning,” as well as going against the wishes of the original committee for the hamlet who set the zoning back in 2012.

The two votes in favor of rezoning came from board members Vincent McPhillips and John Lennon Jr., the former of whom said that Friedman has “kept to being honest” in his intents. McPhillips also noted that one way or another, the property will be eventually sold and could jeopardize the town board in ways yet unimagined.

“He had the property, he was willing to give up the PUD process, and he needed to sell the property,” McPhillips said, “and I believe every business person in the town of Liberty is entitled to that.”

“Did he make a bad decision? I do not know, that is up to Wolf [Friedman] to decide – but that property will be sold and it will be developed,” he continued, “and there’s people who are not going to like what is going to come in there.”