Bethel comprehensive plan needs tweaking

Officials split on one acre or two for new houses

By FRITZ MAYER

BETHEL, NY — Should new homes in Bethel be built on lots at least two acres in size, or is one acre enough? It is a question that is pitting the members of the Bethel Planning Board against the town’s supervisor, Harold Russell.

The question came up at a public hearing regarding the comprehensive plan that is being prepared for the town by the comprehensive plan committee.

As of now, the plan calls for new homes outside of sewer districts to be built on lots at least one acre in size. Several residents spoke out at the meeting against the one-acre plan. They argued that raising the lot size to two acres would help preserve the rural character and open space of the community, a goal that was given the highest priority by residents who filled out surveys regarding the comprehensive plan.

In a subsequent telephone call, Leon Smith, chairman of the planning board, said a majority of planning board members had voted in favor of recommending the two-acre option to the town board.

At the meeting, Russell, who has voiced objection to the two-acre option in the past, re-stated his opposition. He said that as a farmer who made his living on open land, he had strong feelings about the question, and that by requiring two acres per house, open farmland would be eaten up that much faster. Russell also said that the two-acre option would put housing prices beyond the reach of young people who live in the town.

The town board will have the final say on the matter, but board members other than Russell have not yet made their preferences known.

Hamlet density

Another contentious issue that arose was the question of housing density in the hamlets of White Lake and Kauneonga Lake as addressed in the comprehensive plan. Resident Jeffrey Cohen objected to the creation of a “community settlement zone” along Route 55 and White Lake in the two hamlets. He read from the comprehensive plan: “it is intended that this area accommodate higher density residential development that might otherwise take place and detract from the rural parts of the town.” Cohen noted that two developments comprising 49 units had recently been approved for the area, and said that officials are “shoving developments down our throats and using the comprehensive plan as the vehicle.” At the conclusion of his remarks, other residents applauded in agreement.

At the end of the hearing, Russell said the board would consider all of the comments and decide how to proceed. He later said changes to the plan as it now exists would almost certainly be forthcoming and that he would like to get the plan adopted by the end of the year.

The lack of a new plan is holding back extensive re-zoning plans intended to help manage the strong growth that has come to the town with the arrival of the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.

Smith said the Route 17B corridor is especially critical.

Many zoning changes for the busy state highway have been agreed on, but the zoning changes can’t be made until the comprehensive plan is in place. He said the zoning changes must be “in sync” with the town’s master plan, which has not been updated in 40 years.

In the meantime, a building moratorium on Route 17B expired in August, and the board has not moved to extend it. It is therefore possible that developers could move forward with projects on Route 17B that don’t match the aims of the coming comprehensive plan and the zoning changes that will come with it.