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Before the floodgates open

Bill Greenfield, Liberty
Posted 7/13/21

To the editor:

Thirteen years ago I moved to the Town of Liberty because of its rural countryside, peace and tranquility. More recently, others have moved here for similar reasons, to escape the crowded environment of New York City and other urban settings...

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Before the floodgates open

Posted

To the editor:

Thirteen years ago I moved to the Town of Liberty because of its rural countryside, peace and tranquility. More recently, others have moved here for similar reasons, to escape the crowded environment of New York City and other urban settings. Anyone living in the town of Liberty is undoubtedly aware of the rise in the sale of existing homes and the building of new homes.

Last year, one of the new residents wrote me a letter. Some quotes from that letter are as follows: “It is our strongest desire that you remain living between us. We value and respect diversity and by no means are we seeking to overtake the neighborhood. We do not want to urbanize the area. We are privileged to have you as neighbors and we want the area to stay exactly as it always was.”

The person who wrote this letter, coincidentally, has recently requested a subdivision in the area of Huschke Road. On Tuesday evening, July 6th, the Liberty Planning Board held a public hearing with regards to this request as well as a subdivision for an adjacent piece of property. The purpose of the subdivisions is to allow property owners to build additional homes.

I attended the hearing. In addition to pointing out the contradiction between the letter I had received and the subdivision request, I pointed out that, once this subdivision request is approved, others will follow, and more after those and more after those until a peaceful rural community is transformed into a densely populated urban setting.

Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional.

But, alas, the Planning Board has no “teeth” with which to preserve the rural settings that Liberty is known for. If the only concerns are zoning laws and statutes, they must be changed before the floodgates open.

 

Bill Greenfield

Liberty

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  • lhfc1563

    Your Planning Board sees one thing and that is MONEY! It's ALWAYS about the MONEY! You get more tax money from 2 buildings than 1 bldg on a piece of land. The Floodgates opened a long time ago (over 6 decades ago) with NYC and now the water's are starting to rise and they will rise higher and higher now that precedent has been set.

    Saturday, July 17, 2021 Report this