By MICHELLE MILLER
Staff Writer
FLY CREEK — The town
of Otsego planning board approved
Edward Walker’s
three-lot subdivision proposal
on Otsego Lake at a special
meeting Monday night.
The development was approved
five to two with two
street layout and design
waivers and a handful of
conditions after a very long
application process. Chairman
Paul Lord and Vice
Chair Donna Borgstrom voted
nay.
Conditions include: approval
by the New York State
Department of Health prior
to the issuance of any building
permits, construction of
an asphalt turnaround subject
to the approval of the
Cooperstown Fire Department,
storm water basins
will need to be built with approved
SWIP when the first
lot is sold and no certificate
of occupancy will be issued
until any storm water facilities
have received final approval
from the Department
of Environmental Conservation
(DEC), the developer
will need to establish a Home
Owners Association at the
time of the first lot sale and
an access easement to the
basin area will need to be established
to allow annual inspections
by the developer’s
engineer that will be submitted
to the town engineer for
final approval.
Before a decision was
made, each planning board
member was allowed to make
comments and bring up concerns
to discuss.
Steve Purcell, the newest
member of the board, said he
had little confidence in his
knowledge of the town’s comprehensive
plan. He said it
has been difficult to make up
his mind about the project
and said he could sympathize
with both sides. The decision
made tonight is very important
because it will most
definitely influence the future
of development in the
town, said Purcell.
Purcell, who described
himself as a dairy farmer
and a conservationist, said
he is very concerned about
the environment.
He said something that
does not sit well with him is
the fact that there are already
conditions around the
lake that are not being addressed.
He said he doesn’t
like that the planning board
puts so much effort into
screening a situation that is
yet to come versus things
that are existing now. This
will affect the way I vote, he
added.
``I don’t take this issue
lightly at all,’’ he said. ``I am
a landowner in the town of
Otsego, have been since
1981, and I don’t like people
telling me what I can and
cannot do with my land.’’
Doug Green, said the
Walker project has probably
been the longest case he has
had to deal with over his 17
years serving on the board.
He said it has gone on for too
long and he finds it troublesome
that one person is be-
ing singled out because
Walker has gone above and
beyond what has been
asked of him. Walker has
been a good steward of the
land and if others would do
what he has been doing the
lake would be far better off,
said Green.
Green applauded Walker
for his diligence, perseverance
and sensitivity to a
very difficult site and making
it a situation that believes
will protect the watershed.
Joe Galati said he believes
the Walker application
is a ``poster child’’ for
how an application should
be done. According to Galati,
Walker has done an exemplary
job in working in
the framework within the
law. This project does not
have zero runoff it has negative
runoff, he said.
Galati said the Watershed
Supervisory Committee
does not have the authority
to go any farther
than to inspect septic systems.
The organization does
not have the right to discuss
sedimentation, he
said.
``It just seems like it has
been kind of bulldozered
over us that these are the
people in charge,’’ said
Galati. ``They are not, it is
the Department of Health
and the DEC that is in
charge of what we are doing
here.’’
The requirements asked
by those organizations have
been met by over 100 percent,
said Galati.
``I want to see this project
approved with waivers.
It has been too long. I am
tired and I want it over,’’
said Galati.
Wes Ciampo said he felt
there were many grey areas
in the proposal, but said
the planning board is always
going to have to deal
with that.
He said he believes this
project will be used as an
example for future developers.
According to Ciampo,
this may be a good thing
because developers down
the road will not just submit
a plan without thoroughly
thinking about it
first.
Donna Borgstrom said
Walker has been one of the
most accommodating applicants
she has had to deal
with while on the board.
However, she said when
looking back on the original
waiver for his road, she said
if she had been sitting on
the board at the time she
would not have approved it.
She said she does not feel
Glimmerhill Lane accommodates
traffic going both
ways.
Borgstrom said she was
also concerned about the
deep slope development.
She said she was afraid
with approval of the project
that the board might be
getting into a ``slippery
slope.’’ What if developers
down the road are not as
accommodating and are not
good stewards of the land
such as Walker, asked
Borgstrom.
John Phillips said the
decision should not be
based on potential future
applications. He said if people
really wanted to preserve
the land they could
purchase it.
Phillips agreed with Ciampo
and said the Walker
case will probably serve as
a ``daunting exercise’’ for
future developers.
They will think back to
this project and perhaps
think twice before possibly
having to go through an 18-
month planning review
process such as what Walker
had to endure, said Phillips.
Lord prepared threepages
worth of concerns
and comments. He said his
first concern, was the fire
safety issue. Lord said he
exposed this concern as
early as the first night the
application came to the
board.
Lord said he was also
concerned with lot size and
its conjunction with deep
slopes and said he would
like to see one less development
to address that issue.
Lord said he had a number
of concerns dealing with
maintenance. He said the
key to the development
would be good maintenance
of the road. Lord said he
wanted water basin maintenance
responsibilities to
be clear to new owners of
the lots.
Despite comments from
a couple people at the last
meeting, the lake is something
special and should be
of great consideration, said
Lord. There is not another
lake within 50 miles that
has a cold water fishery, he
added.
``Otsego lake is not special
because it is near Cooperstown,
but rather I
would like to thing Cooperstown
is special because it
happens to sit on Otsego
Lake,’’ said Lord.
The cold water fishery
has come within days of dying
twice within the last 20
years because of nutrient
inputs into the lake, said
Lord.
``Our lake is suffering of
wounds of a thousand paper
cuts,’’ said Lord.
Everyone has had a paper
cut and knows one
hurts badly but is not memorable
in a person’s day-today
existence, said Lord.
However, he said if a person
were to get 1,000 paper
cuts it would.
Lord said most people
only get involved or oppose
a project when it is something
happening in ``their
own back yard,’’ and he
feels this has been the case
in the Walker case.
He told those who did
not like the decision made
that they could invite fellow
citizens to change their
voters registration to the
town of Otsego, could vote
for a like-minded supervisor
or council persons, or
could volunteer to serve on
the zoning board of appeals
or planning board and get
involved in something more
than a single project in
their back yard.
Marilyn Bradshaw, who
has been one of the people
spearheading the efforts to
oppose the project, said she
was surprised the planning
board waived the road laws.
She said she hopes the
members of the board along
with Walker realize that
the DEC will have to approve
his plans for a turnaround
because it will disturb
additional soil and
may require re-calculation
of run-off and a re-do of the
SWIP.
``I think our group will
want to review the wording
of the motion and implications
of the waivers and the
approval because it sets a
precedent and does show
the need for change in steep
slope development around
the lake,’’ she said.
Bradshaw’s sister Carol
Akin, who has been helping
with opposing efforts, said
at the very least the groups
hard work has caused regulations
to be passed to seriously
limit steep slope development.
