I’ve always assumed we live in a country where the majority rules. However, much like the federal government, which thinks it knows how to spend our hard-earned money better than we do, it seems the Lumberland zoning rewrite committee and town board think they know how to use and take care of our land better than each homeowner. Other than a few attendees who are subject to group-think mentality, the majority of the 70 to 80 attendees at the latest public hearing were strongly in favor of a rewrite of the rewrite.

Another question begs to be asked: Why was so much attention paid to Section 10 (industrial use prohibitions) for so long when it was acknowledged by the council president, Nadia Rajsz, that no extractable gas exists under Lumberland? While everyone was fighting over the perceived threat by the big, bad gas companies, all of these stringent and highly questionable zoning regulations were passing under the radar. It seems like the anti-industrial use regulations were a smoke-screen for the land grab that the town board is trying to initiate. Had it not been for a few brave individuals who were willing to stand up and yell “fire” when there really was a fire versus the Concerned Citizens of Lumberland leading the charge of a non-existent cause, we would be completely ignorant of what the town board is attempting to do.

No one debates that the huge undertaking of the zoning rewrite was an unenviable task and the committee should be commended; however, now that the “sleeping giant” has been awakened, it’s time to revisit the rewrite and take into consideration what the taxpayers and voters actually want.

Janice Torretta

Glen Spey, NY