Pine Plains United Sees Moratorium as a Time to Learn

By: Darryl Gangloff Register Herald   March 3, 2006

The co-chairmen of Pine Plains United are pleased that a moratorium is now in effect for major subdivisions in the town, and they are taking this time to gather information that will inform the public, as well as the organization's members, about the handful of development proposals that could double the size of the town.


Paul Spencer, co-chairman of Pine Plains United, began the group in his hometown of Ancramdale over a year ago.
"The scale of the Durst scoping session intrigued me," said Spencer, referring to the Carvel development project that proposes to add 951 homes on 2,200 acres, along with a redesigned golf course.
Spencer was also interested by the ideas of James Sheldon, a columnist for The Independent.
"He's a fiscal economist who wrote about how over-development raises taxes significantly," Spencer said.
In January of 2005, Spencer held a gathering near his home with Sheldon as a speaker. According to Spencer, approximately 70 to 80 people who were concerned about development attended this meeting, which began the idea of Pine Plains United.
"We kept in touch through e-mail and had a meeting a couple weeks later in Hammertown. Jim showed up for it," said Spencer, referring to Jim Mara, who is now co-chairman of Pine Plains United.
The organization made its first public appearance in February 2005 at the scoping session for the Village green, which is a proposal for 281 residential units, including a supermarket.
Spencer, who has been in advertising for the past 20 years, made bumper stickers to promote Pine Plains United, which can still be seen on cars around town.
Since its inception, the organization has increased in size. Mara said that Pine Plains United currently has well over 500 members, with the majority being residents of the town.
Mara acknowledged that town residents sometimes view Pine Plains United as a group of out-of-towners, but he emphasized that many of the members who do not live in town still live within the Pine Plains School District.
"What happens in Pine Plains will affect all tax payers in the Pine Plains School District, no matter where they live. In my opinion, everybody in the school district has a right (to be concerned)," Mara said.
Mara, a Pine Plains resident and member of the town's board of assessors, said that if over-development will spread if it appears in the middle of an area.
"People even in Millerton, Red Hook, and Rhinebeck know and appreciate our town. We don't want to see its character destroyed," he said.

Mission of PPU

Mara emphasized that Pine Plains United is not anti-development, but would like development to be controlled, environmentally sound, and aesthetically pleasing.
Mara said that the group is not involved in town politics and has not endorsed or opposed candidates. The members consider it a public information organization.
"We want to support the efforts that are underway. We're not trying to tell people where to build," Mara said, noting that development should be consistent with the town's Comprehensive Plan.
Both Spencer and Mara agree that the development process needs to be fair and transparent, which is why Pine Plains United petitioned for the proposed 40-home Parkview Estates development to receive a positive declaration from the planning board.
The positive declaration, which required developer Robert Hausmann, Jr., to submit a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the project, received a 4-3 affirmative vote on July 27, 2005.
"The development deserves to go through a thorough review process. That's what we advocate with everything, then let the chips fall where they may," said Spencer.
Hausmann filed an Article 78 lawsuit against the planning board in an attempt to annul the decision, which was recently dismissed by Acting Supreme Court Justice Thomas Dolan in its entirety.
Spencer was surprised by the lawsuit, since the positive declaration did not mean that Parkview Estates faced opposition.
In the lawsuit, Hausmann accused members of the planning board of being members of Pine Plains United, which both Spencer and Mara dismissed.
"No members of the planning board were members of Pine Plains United, and we were never asked," said Spencer.
Spencer said that he has a lot of respect for the members of the planning board and zoning commission, and noted that they work very hard.
"I have a lot of faith in the town," said Spencer.
"There have been no back-door politics as far as we can see. We've had good communication. Gregg has been helpful with information," Mara said, referring to Supervisor Gregg Pulver.

PPU hires own experts

While Pine Plains United has faith in the town's government, the co-chairs have decided to collect their own information about the Carvel project by hiring a group of experts to perform various studies on the development.
The Pine Plains United steering committee has met with attorneys Joel Russell, John Caffry, Drayton Grant, and John Lyons to discuss town planning.
The organization has hired Ken Bowers, an economist and principal at Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates, to do a fiscal impact study on the development.
"We also have a visual impact study underway," Mara said.
Neither Mara nor Spencer had a projected completion date for these studies, but noted that they will be put in the public record.
"The town is outgunned, and we're trying to give the town more information," Spencer said about their decision to hire their own team of experts. "These experts are from all over and are well-respected. They have often worked for towns or developers."
Mara noted that they will be able to use different techniques to gather information so comparisons can be made.
"When we look at projected revenue increase, we're going to use a different method," Mara said.
Pine Plains United hired these consultants through the donations of its members, which Spencer said has totaled over $75,000 so far.
Spencer said that the group's next goal is to have more office hours at their new location next to the Peddlar's Café so residents can stop in for more information.
"More members have been pouring in lately, and approximately 80 percent of them volunteer," said Spencer.

For more information, Pine Plains United can be reached at (518) 398-0229 or www.pineplainsunited.org.

©The Register Herald 2006

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