New Paltz is refining wetlands draft
By Gabriel J. Wasserman Poughkeepsie Journal

NEW PALTZ -- New Paltz town officials hope a proposed law protecting wetlands will serve as a model for other communities in the region. But before that happens, more changes -- and input -- are expected.

The town's wetlands committee will factor in comments at a public hearing Thursday night, as well as written comments supplied through mid-October. The hearing is set to continue Oct. 21, and more hearings on new drafts may be needed.

''You don't want to rush something like this,'' town Supervisor Don Wilen said. Wilen hopes the law will lead to similar restrictions in municipalities regionwide.

New Paltz environmentalists had hoped to see a comprehensive local law on the books by summer's end to protect watery areas from developers. Committee members, however, said they welcome suggestions as they keep trying to craft the best law possible.

The latest draft calls for hiring a professional ''wetlands inspector'' to verify compliance with a 200-foot buffer for the Wallkill River and dozens of other proposed limits on land use.

Fines for violations could run as high as $5,000. Many agricultural activities would be exempt.

The draft, former town supervisor David Lent told the town board last week, defines wetlands too liberally. For example, it would needlessly protect septic overflow areas, he said.

It would also hurt farming by restricting ditch maintenance, he said, and force excessive bureaucratic delays on dealing with trees that happen to fall across streams.

''I really think that we might have a wetland at the end of the parking lot right here,'' said Lent, referring to a puddled area of the town hall grounds where purple loosestrife grows.

The law would restrict dredging and other damage to ponds, watercourses and the kind of spring pools that harbor sensitive wildlife.

More than 50 people came to the hearing. Several of them called for tightening the proposed language to clarify what developers can and can't do.

Substantial fixes

Town Attorney Joe Moriello said some of the suggestions, if incorporated in the next draft, would be substantial enough to require a new public hearing process. Minor changes to a proposed law can be added without the need to publicly advertise a new hearing in advance.

Town resident Robin Cohen, who lives near the village line, said she hopes the town proposal will be enacted soon so pending developments can be held to the new standards.

''I know we want to balance the desire to be thorough with moving the legislation forward,'' she said. ''It behooves us to get the law done. It's so important. ... New Paltz has been going through a development boom and this is overdue.''

The proposal would give the town planning and zoning boards considerable discretion about how and when to authorize wetland alteration by forcing developers to either pay a fee or pursue conservation projects elsewhere.

How the wetlands inspector post would be funded is unclear. The draft calls for some administrative costs to be paid by developers.

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