Bethel board passes six-month building moratorium

Town to complete comprehensive plan before new projects go forward

By FRITZ MAYER

WHITE LAKE, NY — “For sale” signs on Route 17B in Bethel are sprouting like dandelions as property owners seek to take advantage of the growing town and the opening of Bethel Woods Performing Arts Center this summer.

The prices of properties on the market are impressive, even in light of the recent real estate boom in Sullivan County. A remodeled, five-bedroom farmhouse on three quarters of an acre across from the White Lake firehouse is listed at $799,000. The owners of a 3,500-square-foot building on 1.79 river front acres near Royce Road are hoping to get $1.5 million. The asking price for a single-family farmhouse on 20 acres near Britman Road is $1.75 million.

But possible buyers will have to wait a few months before beginning any new building projects. On Thursday, February 23, the Bethel Town Board enacted a six-month moratorium on new construction.

The board first announced the idea of a moratorium at its January 26 meeting, and specified that it was a step to protect the town from unplanned growth for the intervening months before the comprehensive plan was completed.

The moratorium could be renewed after the six-month period, but supervisor Harold Russell said, “It’s not the intention of the board” to extend the moratorium.

In fact, Russell hoped to have the comprehensive plan finished in late spring. The building moratorium would be lifted at that time.

The moratorium will not include projects that are underway, but will regulate improvements to existing buildings for any project that requires a permit.

Several residents expressed concern that the moratorium would inhibit development. Tax assessor Marguerite Brown said she knew of a buyer who was planning to add a deck to a building he wanted to buy for his business. She said the moratorium “could kill the deal.”

Councilman Daniel Sturm explained, however, that anyone who might be financially harmed by the moratorium could appeal to the board.

In response to other concerns, Russell said the board needed time to work out details, such as road setbacks. The comprehensive plan, he said, would address lot size. Current zoning allows for building on one-acre lots outside of the sewer district. Some people want to change that to two or five acres. Russell prefers to keep the lot size at one acre, except in cases where the lot is not buildable, because of wetland, steepness or other adverse land conditions.

Planning board chairman Herman Bressler said that code changes might be necessary before granting new permits, because “the planning board can’t prevent a developer from doing something if the code allows it.”

In a related discussion, Russell said that he attended the annual meeting of the New York Association of Towns and found there was a lot of interest in Bethel because “it is the fastest growing town in New York State.”