Open Space Committee update - GRIP was at the April Open Space Meeting, and some of the insights there were quite interesting. Firstly, Warren Wiegand, chairman, let it be known that the New Paltz newspaper report declaring that the committee had received 10 applications for open space funding following the Large Landowner meeting was just a tad off the mark.....that in fact the committee had only received one application! Warren had considered contacting the paper to have them make a correction, but instead decided not to, since it gave the townsfolk the impression that there was some legitimate interest in the open space plan funding, when just the opposite was in fact the reality. So much for transparency and truthfulness in our government.

Next, since there was clearly little interest from landowners to participate in the program, particularly the landowners whose property they coveted and mentioned like Wrights, Dressler and Kirnan, Wiegand wondered out loud how the committee could "target" these folks and convince them that the PDR's were the best thing since sliced bread. Committeeman Koenig pointed out that by doing this, it would be in direct opposition to the "voluntary" aspect of the program that the town has been using in their propaganda.

Lastly the committee was given an interesting primer on PDR appraisals from an Orange county based land appraiser who makes his living from doing appraisals for town sponsored PDR's. He cited clearly, just as GRIP has stated all along, that of course when a landowner gives up some of his property rights (development rights), the natural result is that the property appraisal value falls as well. This in fact, is in DIRECT OPPOSITION to what the town board and open space committee chairman have been pushing to the town, which is that values go UP when land cannot be developed. He also stated clearly that complex and restrictive zoning (line Gardiners!) makes land preservation more difficult property less valuable...just as GRIP has been saying all along. So, we know that what the Town Board and Open Space Committee have been touting as fact is just so much cheap lunch meat.

We'll sum up the results of the Open Space Plan and program to date, in Chairman Wiegands own words..."one step forward, two steps back." GRIP is hardly surprised, but gratified to know that we in fact do speak for the majority of the property owners.

The Open Space Committee will hold a town-wide Open Space meeting on Wednesday, May 21 at 7 pm at Town Hall. Since this is strictly a formality to give the impression that they really care about what the property owners want and think, don't expect any representatives from the land trusts like Nature Conservency, Mohonk Preserve or Open Space Institute to be there. They are only interested in the "big fish" not the guppies.

Stay tuned, and we'll keep you informed when we get more.

Hi all GRIP Supporters:

We'd like to report on the Open Space Meeting for the large landowners in Gardiner that took place on Wednesday night. The purpose was to give landowners an update on progress of the Open Space Commission, and to convince any stressed landowners that putting some or all of their land to PDR (Purchase of Development Rights) was the "right' thing to do. The Commission offered applications for landowners to enter in an agreement with the town to sell them their development rights in return for a fixed amount of money, with the money coming from the town (taxpayer) coffers. Our take on the meeting was as follows:

1) the presentation was weak, vague, light on substance, and not substantially new from previously held similar meetings

2) the commission Chairman felt the need to have the entire town board present. (This gathering constituted a quorum and official town meeting, which certainly was not made public in advance) The purpose of their presence seemed to be to field potentially dangerous questions from the landowners, and to "educate" them in the correct way of thinking about Open Space and PDR's.

3) Tough questions from the audience (about taxes, property tax appraisals, etc.) were answered generally in vague, indirect ways by commission chairman Wiegand,,,or they were left to be answered by representatives of the land trusts in presence (OSI, Mohonk Preserve) in vague and indirect ways. The fact that the town kept deferring to the land trusts was disturbing, since these people have no official standing in our town.

Thankfully, commission member Mike Boylen stepped in to set straight some of the fishy or downright wrong answers from Wiegand, town board members, or the land trusts.

We got the impression that the landowners were not any more impressed with the town's handling of the program than in the past. Frankly, with the land trust people sitting in the back of the room, the impression was of vultures eyeballing slowly dying small game. However, the meeting was worthwhile attending if only for Tammy Boylen's fantastic offering of homemade apple betty.

GRIP is all for open space preservation as long as it's not a result of the squeezing property owners through zoning restrictions. Towns should not be in the real estate business, and the taxpayers should not be forced to pay the bill.

On another note, we want to let everyone know that there are openings in the townfor spots on the ECC (Environmental Conservation Commission, the Open Space Commission (2 openings) and most recently the Planning Board (a term expiration). One way to be able to control the loss of our property rights is to be involved in making the decision that affect them. The current boards and commissions are now stackedin favor of those who would like to see restrictions on every aspect of our lives and property. But we need to have people who believe in fewer restrictions on our property rights get onto those boards. We encourage all of you to consider applying for any of these openings. Even if you feel that there's little chance of getting appointed, it forces the current town board to show their hand by choosing against property rights.

And, now that the ink is barely dry on the restrictive zoning, there's more to follow. We just got the agenda for the upcoming Tuesday town Board meeting...and there's the new "Wetlands" law (shades of New Paltz) on the agenda for discussion. We're sure that whatever they have in mind will require tens of thousands of dollars of consultant money. It seems that there is no end to the ways that our town board can find to spend our money and deny our rights.

That's it for now. We'll keep you posted on anything new on the propertyrights front!

3/15/08 Added

The Open Space Commission has been meeting since last year when the Open space law was passed by the town board. GRIP has been attending and monitoring these meetings since then. We can report that the commission has decided to hold a large landowners' meeting on Wednesday, March 26 at the Town Hall Meeting room.



Invitations were sent out to landholders of 50+ acres, (excluding the state). In addition there were invitations issued to outside land trust groups such as Mohonk Preserve, Nature Conservency, Wallkill Valley Land Trust, and others. These land trusts plot with the town to find landowners who may be strapped for funds because of taxes, and who are unable to fully get the value from their properties because of restrictive zoning. They then conspire with the town to take control of the development rights....with the "trust" holding the land use rights, and the town government supplying the funding.



This meeting is, as commission chairman Warren Wiegand puts it, the "pitch" to try and get landowners to give up their development rights. The meeting is required to be open by law, and residents of Gardiner should feel welcome to attend and hear what is being done by the commission.

GRIP NOTES! GRIP has just sent a letter our to property owners of 25 acres or more in the town of Gardiner. The purpose is to educate you about the possible pitfalls of entering into conservation easements. With the letter, we sent some information from Property Rights Foundation of America

Letter to Landowners