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Opponents say proposed ban would curb property-owner rights; supporters cite neighbor impacts
Summary
At the New Lisbon hearing, opponents argued Local Law #2-2011 would remove property owners’ choice to allow drilling while supporters countered that incidents affect neighboring landowners and the community at large.
Some speakers opposed the proposed local law on the grounds that it would remove property owners’ rights to permit drilling on their land. Sue Smith said she opposed the law because it "takes away property owners’ rights," criticized the town survey wording and said she did not want to pay to defend the law.
Edward Bohn similarly said he was not opposed to drilling per se and favored leaving decisions to landowners. By contrast, other commenters — including Edward Tracy — argued that landowners' decisions can affect neighbors and that tax and assessment consequences should reflect well operations: "Those who are now assessed as agricultural should be reassessed as commercial if they have a gas well," the transcript records Tracy saying. The hearing record shows both property-rights and neighbor-impact arguments were central to public comment.
