Zoning is the issue in the Town of Bethel

Candidates have sparred over one acre or two

By FRITZ MAYER

BETHEL, NY — Growth has been a concern over the past five or six years in all towns in Sullivan County, but because of the birth of Bethel Woods, nowhere has the concern been greater than in the Town of Bethel. It’s one of the central issues in the race for supervisor between the Republican incumbent Harold Russell and Democratic challenger Daniel Sturm.

To deal with the issue, the town adopted a new comprehensive plan in December 2006. The plan allowed for houses to be built on one-acre lots throughout the town, but lawmakers passed it with the understanding that zoning changes would be made to adjust lot sizes in various parts of the town ranging from one to five acres.

According to Sturm, who has been a Bethel councilman for almost four years, that was a mistake. He said because of the one-acre rule, the town was besieged by developers who wanted to overdevelop certain areas. He calls the adoption of the plan “one of the worst pieces of legislation in the history of Bethel.” He said the one-acre rule will cause problems with the environment and threaten the rural character of some areas of the town.

The town board adopted a moratorium on developments of five lots or more in June, and on September 27 voted to extend the moratorium by three months to give the zoning committee time to update the zoning laws. But Sturm’s view is that the comprehensive plan should never have been passed with the one-acre provision.

Russell, who has been the supervisor for almost two years and was a councilman for 12 years, said the one-acre rule was needed in the town. His position is that with land prices having gone so high in the past several years, older residents and those just starting out would be priced out of the area if the town-wide zoning minimum were two acres as Sturm and others had advocated. Russell was the only member of the five-member board to vote against the moratorium and the extension.

While they disagree on acreage requirements, the candidates do agree that the coming of the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts played a major role in spurring development in the town, and it is an asset to the community.

Russell said that some of the problems that surfaced after the opening in July 2006, such as the traffic snarls surrounding the concerts, were ironed out this year, and “cooperation between Bethel Woods and the town was much better this year.”

Sturm said he would like to see all areas of the town prosper by the Bethel Woods economic engine, “and I think it can be done,” he said, but it must be done with proper zoning.