Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Resident says petition favoring zoning change is dominated by nonresidents; raises infrastructure concerns
Summary
A longtime Highland Falls resident told trustees that a petition supporting a proposed zoning change contained mostly nonlocal signatures and warned the village could shoulder infrastructure costs from new development.
A Highland Falls resident, Merv Lipsian, told the board that a petition circulated in support of a zoning resolution included only about 30 signatures from village residents out of 132 total and that many signatories lived in Fort Montgomery, West Point or out of state. "Highland Falls, the village of Highland Falls residents, taxpayers, is 30," Lipsian said, urging trustees to treat the petition's composition carefully.
Lipsian said his concern was not opposition to investment but to the strain new development could place on village infrastructure, naming water and fire apparatus as potential obligations that would ultimately fall to local taxpayers. He asked trustees to consider whether increased development might replicate neighboring communities’ higher tax burdens. Trustees heard the comment during the public comment period and did not take immediate action on the petition itself.
