Great Valley Public Hearing
Proposed Zoning Laws Get Residents Attention
By Jim Gill (8/15/2008)

On Monday August 11, 2008 the Town Board held another public hearing on the new zoning laws, unlike the meeting on July 8th that was sparsely attended by residents this meeting was standing room only. Supervisor Dan Brown opened the meeting with an overview on the initial comprehensive plan and the need for zoning laws in their growing community.

Numerous unsightly billboards being built along Route 219 was the spark leading to moratoriums being placed on not only billboards but gravel pits and adult only outlets as well. A moratorium only provides a legal means of temporary suspending activity, the ones placed on the above mentioned are due for expiry in September of this year. Consequently the need for zoning laws in the immediate future.

The first step in gaining control over development involved building a comprehensive plan covering the next 5-10 years; a group of volunteers (12-16 people) formed a committee to start the lengthy process. Their first step was to prepare a questionnaire then sent out to all residents in the town, the results from the survey would form the foundation for not only the comprehensive plan but the zoning laws as well. Only 20% of the residents responded.

Following Brown’s opening remarks, the floor opened for resident’s comments and questions. Initially, there appeared to be a strong undercurrent of frustration and fear amongst many in the group (according to a telephone call I received on Tuesday, many of the residents had been paid a visit by some uninformed individual whom for some reason tried to discredit the Great Valley zoning laws raising fears about zoning) as they stated their concerns and displeasure regarding the proposed new laws.

Comments from the residents included; voting rights being circumvented by the town and losing their rights little by little, not being able to plant trees or build fences, not being able to place signs outside their place of business, make some changes but only minor ones, no business owners served on the committee, some claimed they had no idea on what was going on until the last minute, information was not readily available for the people, the whole town should be involved not just people on the Zoning Committee, current buildings could be torn down, not allowed to change the windows in my house, zoning laws are overkill for our community. Without having full knowledge on the proposed laws their concerns were to some extent defensible.

Gradually, as their concerns were addressed by Town Attorney Ron Ploetz, Dan Brown, members on the Zoning Committee and Mark Alianello Town Engineer, the meeting seemed to take a more positive turn, many now realizing a need for the comprehensive plan (already passed) and zoning laws. One key point mentioned by Supervisor Brown was, without zoning laws in place anything can be built, gravel pits could expand, signage i.e. billboards could get out of control once again, new subdivisions may not be built in compliance, adult entertainment places could open, a vague future for the community. He also mentioned the planning board may be able to slow projects down but ultimately they would be built and while it may not be the perfect plan, the board can make small changes once in place.

Following his comments an example on what can happen without zoning laws was cited by a local business owner when he mentioned the foul-ups that occurred in Springville due to lack of proper zoning laws, residents in the town will live with the mistakes well into the foreseeable future.

In the end a compromise was reached, a small group of 4-5 people will review the complete plan then meet with the Zoning Board Committee members at 7:pm on August 26th and present a final plan when the current public hearing resumes at 7:pm on September 8th. In the meantime 50 additional copies of the zoning laws will be printed; they are available at the town hall.