BETHEL — The concerned citizens group known as The Bethel Roundtable presented a petition with 515 signatures requesting a six month pause on multi-family and large-scale construction to the Bethel Town Board at its meeting March 12. The petition was introduced by Lois Berkowitz, who said “There is a need for a moratorium that allows the Comprehensive Plan Review Committee the time to do its work.”

“Once completed, in turn, the Town will need the time to make any necessary changes to its zoning laws in support of the Plan’s vision and goals,” she went on to explain that the petition is not electronic, and the signers are local landowners, renters and taxpayers — or “people with a stake in the community.”

Jeffrey Baker, a lawyer hired by The Roundtable, presented a draft moratorium law document that he drew up with Attorney Crystal Peck of the firm Bailey Johnson of Albany, for the Board’s consideration. He referred to the current updating of The Comp Plan, which will “set the vision and establish priorities for development and infrastructure…environmental sustainability, and community character.” 

At the time of presentation, Baker noted that in the town there are “at least nine different commercial, multifamily, and hotel/motel applications are pending or have been approved.”

More on the moratorium 

The moratorium applies to large scale multifamily dwellings, mixed use developments, conversions of seasonal dwelling communities, and major subdivisions; of particular concern is the impact on groundwater.

“Existing zoning laws are inadequate to deal with the sudden surge in applications for dense multifamily developments.” 

The “demand on resources necessitates a pause…so that laws can be updated,” Baker explained, “[SEQRA, or State Environment Quality Review Act] is an imperfect tool” to limit development as a fundamental criteria in evaluating a proposed project. “If the laws are outdated, SEQRA alone cannot solve the problem.” Laws must be adopted “that set parameters for the Planning Board’s review.”

“The proposed moratorium law only stops the influx of pending and new applications and construction being reviewed by the Town. “We impress upon the Town the importance of allowing its Comp Plan Committee time to complete its process and (allow) the Town time thereafter to review and revise its zoning regulations to allow for responsible development.”

The draft of the Local Law is pursuant to Section 10 of NYS Municipal Home Rule Law and Town Law, Article 16. Its purpose is to allow time to address….the “present, legitimate concerns of the citizens of the Town about the potential for unsustainable expansion…which may exhaust “water supplies, increase groundwater pollution, and (cause) traffic congestion and irreversible change to the character of the Town.”

The scope of the moratorium is for six months past the date of its adoption, allowing for modification by repeal or amendment. 

“No new or pending building permit application shall be approved unless the application has already received Site Plan approval, Special Use Permit approval, or subdivision approval, and no suspended or revoked building permits shall be reinstated for the development of large-scale multi-family developments.” 

The time period may be reasonably extended by the Board if it appears that any review and action will not be completed within the six months. “This local law is classified as Type II action which requires no further review under the State Environmental Review Act.”

A member of the audience stated that the zoning laws in the Comp Plan were last updated eleven years ago and that they are a critical component. Denise Frangipane stated that The Bethel Roundtable was “very diligent in making certain that all [the signatures] on the petition were Bethel residents. We hired Mr. Baker and his firm to take the burden off the Board. I’m hoping to hear back from you what progress is done on your part.” 

“We are at the precipice of what matters…with deliberation, we hope a public hearing is held [on this issue] with a sense of decorum and respect.”