Honorable Jason Leifer
Dryden Town Supervisor
93 East Main Street
Dryden NY 13053
Re: Immediate Enforcement of Town of Dryden's 5/25/17 Letter to Dominion Transmission Inc and the Town's Public Utility Approval Moratorium
Greetings:
We, the undersigned, write to request that the Town of Dryden immediately revoke the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan and the Building Permit that it approved for the proposed expansion of the Dominion New Market Pipeline Borger Compressor Station located at 219 Ellis Hollow Creek Road.
The Town publicly announced on May 25, 2017 that it would revoke these local approvals and require a Special Use Permit for the proposed project, but reportedly failed to take those actions according to Town authorities.
We request that the Town fulfill our requests given the letter and spirit of a Public Utility Approval Moratorium that remains in-force until at least July 20, 2017. We also request that no moratorium waiver be granted to Dominion and no Special Use Permit be issued for the proposed Borger expansion because the facility is toxic-contaminated, cannot fulfill Town Zoning Law requirements and is utterly incompatible with Dryden's comprehensive land use plan for that area.
See: Local Law–Moratorium–Public utilities - Town of Dryden
Our request is based on the following well-documented rationalizations:
1. Proposed Borger Expansion Requires Special Use Permit Proceeding
Dryden wrote Dominion Transmission Inc. regarding the Borger facility expansion that: "Section 501 of the Town's Zoning Law states that public utility facilities require a special use permit in the Conservation zone, where this facility is located. The Zoning Law does not state when facility modifications will require special use permit amendments. Because Dominion's 1984 special use permit was specifically for compressor building and control building extensions, it does not cover any modifications made to the site after that date.
Absent criteria in the Zoning Law that spell out when special use permit amendments are needed/not needed, any proposed changes to the site require a special use permit amendment. The special use permit process is in place to assure that the use will not adversely affect the neighborhood. Because the Town Board looks only at the application before it, it cannot and does not make a pre-determination that any facility, no matter how large it gets or how many changes are made to it, will never adversely affect the neighborhood. Many other municipalities require amended special use permit applications for modified projects.
The Town did not require Dominion to obtain amended special use permits for post-1984 Borger Station modifications. However, there is a principle that there is no estoppel against the government, which means that even if a municipality misapplied its zoning law in the past, it is not estopped from applying it correctly in the future."
2. Dryden Public Utility Approval Moratorium Must be Strictly Enforced
It is shocking that the Town of Dryden failed to enforce its own Public Utility Approval Moratorium with regard to the proposed Borger expansion even though it is specifically prohibited according to the Town's own letter to Dominion:
"However, as Dominion is a public utility, special use permit and site plan applications for the project are covered by the Town's public utility moratorium because more than one acre would be disturbed. Dominion could apply to the Town Board for a waiver or wait for the moratorium to expire, which is currently set for July 20, 2017."
Dryden's Public Utility Approval Moratorium bars the Borger expansion because it prohibits:
"Acceptance, consideration, preliminary approval or final approval by the Town of Dryden Town Board of any site plan or special use permit for new or modified public utility infrastructure (including, without limitation, pipelines, pipes, mains, and conduits), that involves an area of land disturbance associated with the public utility infrastructure of one or more acres."
In addition, the Public Utility Approval Moratorium prohibits: "The issuance of building permits by a Town of Dryden Code Enforcement Officer in connection with any activity prohibited hereunder."
We further request that no public utility moratorium waiver be granted for the Borger compressor station expansion project and that the public utility moratorium be extended until all of the toxic pollution concerns documented at the proposed Borger Compressor Station are comprehensively remediated in strict compliance with all applicable state standards.
This request is supported by the goal of the moratorium: "The Town Board will be considering the following Town of Dryden Comprehensive Plan goals, among others, to determine whether Zoning Law amendments are needed to help assure that public utility projects are consistent with such goals: protect and advance the quality of life of residents; protect the unique natural assets of the Town;"
We also request that no approvals can be granted at this time for the Borger expansion project because:
"The Town Board is concerned that any new legislation would be subverted if public utility infrastructure projects that disturb a significant amount of land... were to be entertained and possibly approved before the Town Board considers legislation to address these issues."
3. Proposed Borger Expansion Conflicts With Town Sustainability Goals
Finally, the Town of Dryden has announced that it is taking action to "Create an action plan to implement practices, activities, and policies that will support the achievement of sustainability goals" in order to "integrate sustainability principles into Town policy and decision-making activities to guide the Town of Dryden towards the measurement and achievement of a sustainable future..."
See: http://dryden.ny.us/departments/planning-department/sustainability-in-dryden/
Given that lofty goal, it makes no sense whatsoever for the Town of Dryden to grant any local approvals for a massive fracked gas pipeline expansion project that would pose on-going toxic contamination threats to the rural, residential neighborhood around the Borger Compressor Station while perpetuating Dryden and New York State's addiction to fossil fuels for decades to come.
We believe that those actions would be totally contrary to the Town's avowed sustainability goals and must not be permitted.
Thank you for your consideration. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about our respectful request.
Yours very truly,
Irene Huhner
250 W 94th St
New York, NY |
James Cella
24061 Depew Avenue
Douglaston, New York |
Susanne Donovan
Worker Center Coordinator
WNYCOSH
900 Main Street, Apt 2
Buffalo, New York |
Denise Kooperman
5134 Curry Road
Trumansburg, NY |
John Bowers
1406 Trumansburg Road
Ithaca, NYr |
James Johnson
311 Tupper Road
West Danby, NY |
Gary Mallow
79 Bank St.
Newfield, NY |
Bruce Dunn
Mr.
188 bell hill rd
morris, NY |
Sheila Long
Prioress
Transfiguration Monastery
701 State Route 79
Windsor, NY |
Helen Cotton
317 Savage Farm Drive
Ithaca, NY |
Barbara Chasin
129 Rachel Carson Way
Ithaca, NY |
Jean Locey
Professor of Art
Cornell University
1735 Ellis Hollow Rd
Ithaca, NY |
Jill Weiss
Ms.
Ms.
508 Central avenue
Scarsdale, NY |
Susan Terwilliger
620 Elm Street Ext.
Ithaca, NY |
Cary Fassler
BSRN
398 st. rt. 69
Williamstown (Amboy), NY |
Kristina Fedorov
6920 State Hwy.7
Maryland, NY |
Thomas Reyer
Mr.
211 Gray Rd.
Ithaca, NY |
Martin Jorgensen
1692 Ellis Hollow Rd. Apt 2
Ithaca, NY |
Ellen and Oskar Schmidt |
Karyn Sochacki
9176 Rhodes Road
Lodi, NJ |
James-Henry Holland
Asian Studies, Hobart College, 300 Pulteney St.
Geneva, NY |
Gene Polito
45 Shady Rest Dr
Sag Harbor, NY |
Elizabeth Schaffer
Ms
24 Clover Park Drive #3
Rochester, NY |
James Rauch
Secretary
F.A.C.T.S. (For A Clean Tonawanda Site)
Buffalo, NY |
Richard Hepburn
119 Rachel Carson Way
Ithaca, NY 14850 |
Robert Nickerson
69 Hart Road
Spencer, New York |
John Jongen
Convener
Mr.Citizens' Alliance for a Pristine Perinton (CAPP)
164 West Church Street
Fairport, New York |
William Sharfman
50 Riverside Drive
New York, NY |
Nicholas Prychodko
PO Box 2138
Bridgehampton, New York |
Anna Engdahl
894 County Rd 94
USA, NY |
John Given
118 Lieb Rd.
South New Berlin, NY |
Sally Crow
214 McBerney Rd.
Greene, New York |
ann wexler
220 Pearl St
Ithaca, NY |
william m landau
1943
po box 171
Hankins, NY |
Mark Kuebel
402 W. 148th St #42
New York, NY |
Elaine Sperbeck
main street first
618 e. Monroe st
Little Falls, New York |
ANTONIA Shouse-Salpeter
Ms
116 Westbourne Lane
ithaca, ny |
Mary Boite
Coordinator and member
Honeoye Frackabouts
5080 Purcell Rd.
Hemlock, NY |
Barbara Lattanzi
29 High St.
Alfred, NY |
Petra Hepburn
119 Rachel Carson Way
Ithaca, NY 14850 |
Scott MacDonald
Professor of Cinema Studies, Hamilton College
Mr.
5 Sherman St.
New Hartford, New York |
Keitha Capouya
485 Meyerdierks Road
East Meredith, New York |
Ilse Funk
Otsego 2000
238 Mill Rd
Cherry Valley, New York |
Vera Scroggins
Director
Citizens for Clean Water
71 Gus Park Lane
Brackney, PA |
Nancy Lipshitz
321 Oquaga Lake Road
Deposit, NY |
brenda lee
16 quarry dr
wappingers falls , ny |
David DeVivo
15 New England Dr.
Rochester, New York |
Dan Flerlage
Teacher
Ithaca City Schools
881 bostwick road
ithaca, New York |
EdytheAnn Quinn
Professor
903 County Hwy 3
Unadilla, NY |
Marsha Acerra
PO box 881
ithaca, NY |