I would like to thank Mr. Petersheim for all his concerns regarding the Town of Lumberland’s Zoning rewrite and for suggesting in an email that the town “obtain a second, unbiased, independent review of the new zoning being proposed’’ as a precaution so that we are led “down a safe path.” It seems that Mr. Petersheim must not fully understand that the SEQRA process and NYS law require a substantial review process of the new zoning document.

Section 264 of the town law requires that notice of the proposed law be given to all neighboring municipalities of the Town of Lumberland for their review. Notice has been sent along with a copy of the proposed document to NYS Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets, NYS Commissioner of Environmental Conservation, NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation as is required by law. Each of these entities has their own in-house attorneys and all are welcome to comment on the document. The law also requires that the county planning department review and comment on the document. Besides the above entities, the town also has the town attorney and the planning board attorney reviewing the document. I believe that this is a substantial review by various independent entities, which should alleviate any concerns anyone should have. The process regarding the zoning rewrite in the Town of Lumberland is a good one.

I welcome Mr. Petersheim’s actual concerns regarding the proposed law. So far there have been no specific criticisms of the law that we can address.

Nadia Rajsz

Supervisor, Town of Lumberland