Thursday, July 06, 2006
Kiryas Joel request reveals other park projects
Montgomery had an emergency communications problem. Orange County had the hilltop aircraft beacon to solve it.
So, without so much as a legislative request or a heads up to the executive's office, county officials gave the Montgomery Fire Department permission to enter county-owned Winding Hills Park two years ago and attach a new ultrahigh-frequency radio system to the tower.
Such a violation of rules meant to protect county parks are not uncommon.
In recent years, county officials have approved or claimed ignorance of half a dozen efforts to use county parkland for non-recreational purposes. Aside from Montgomery's radio project, two cell towers were built in county parks and at least three agencies were allowed to lay pipes or access roads across the Heritage Trail.
That track record places lawmakers in an awkward position today as they rally around the latest parks flare-up: blocking the Village of Kiryas Joel's request to build two water tanks in an undeveloped section of a county park.
Rejecting the request could leave lawmakers open to claims that the insular Hasidic community has been singled out. Kiryas Joel says it needs the tanks for firefighting in a particularly fast-growing section of town.
"I don't see the logic to opposing this based on our pattern of past behavior," said Legislator Michael Amo, R-Central Valley, who represents Kiryas Joel. "Over the years, nobody raised a question about whether or not we could do it. All of a sudden, when Kiryas Joel wants to place water towers in a county park, everybody wants to stop it."
None of the agencies allowed to alter the Heritage Trail, however, left any large above-ground structures on the linear park. And no known parkland encroachment involves as much land as Kiryas Joel's plan to build two 750,000-gallon tanks on the Gonzaga property.
The more egregious violations, such as the radio system in Winding Hills and cell towers in Thomas Bull and Cronomer Hills parks, never got proper legislative approvals.
County Executive Ed Diana, who ordered a countywide survey of park properties, didn't learn of the Winding Hills radio until the Times Herald-Record asked about it last week.
Diana said yesterday that former Parks Commissioner Graham Skea and Fritz Kass, the airport director, didn't properly report the project.
In light of such confusion, some lawmakers see Kiryas Joel's water-tank plan as a good time to try to draw a line. Legislator Spencer McLaughlin, R-Monroe, says the project's potential to feed future growth makes it fair to single out.
"Parkland is parkland and to surrender parkland for the purpose of overdevelopment is adding a cherry on top of this already corroded sundae," McLaughlin said. "I would never support something that permanently takes away parkland."
And the Winding Hills radio outpost?
"Well, that's going to have to come down," he said.
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2006/07/06/news-bsparks-07-06.html
Montgomery had an emergency communications problem. Orange County had the hilltop aircraft beacon to solve it.
So, without so much as a legislative request or a heads up to the executive's office, county officials gave the Montgomery Fire Department permission to enter county-owned Winding Hills Park two years ago and attach a new ultrahigh-frequency radio system to the tower.
Such a violation of rules meant to protect county parks are not uncommon.
In recent years, county officials have approved or claimed ignorance of half a dozen efforts to use county parkland for non-recreational purposes. Aside from Montgomery's radio project, two cell towers were built in county parks and at least three agencies were allowed to lay pipes or access roads across the Heritage Trail.
That track record places lawmakers in an awkward position today as they rally around the latest parks flare-up: blocking the Village of Kiryas Joel's request to build two water tanks in an undeveloped section of a county park.
Rejecting the request could leave lawmakers open to claims that the insular Hasidic community has been singled out. Kiryas Joel says it needs the tanks for firefighting in a particularly fast-growing section of town.
"I don't see the logic to opposing this based on our pattern of past behavior," said Legislator Michael Amo, R-Central Valley, who represents Kiryas Joel. "Over the years, nobody raised a question about whether or not we could do it. All of a sudden, when Kiryas Joel wants to place water towers in a county park, everybody wants to stop it."
None of the agencies allowed to alter the Heritage Trail, however, left any large above-ground structures on the linear park. And no known parkland encroachment involves as much land as Kiryas Joel's plan to build two 750,000-gallon tanks on the Gonzaga property.
The more egregious violations, such as the radio system in Winding Hills and cell towers in Thomas Bull and Cronomer Hills parks, never got proper legislative approvals.
County Executive Ed Diana, who ordered a countywide survey of park properties, didn't learn of the Winding Hills radio until the Times Herald-Record asked about it last week.
Diana said yesterday that former Parks Commissioner Graham Skea and Fritz Kass, the airport director, didn't properly report the project.
In light of such confusion, some lawmakers see Kiryas Joel's water-tank plan as a good time to try to draw a line. Legislator Spencer McLaughlin, R-Monroe, says the project's potential to feed future growth makes it fair to single out.
"Parkland is parkland and to surrender parkland for the purpose of overdevelopment is adding a cherry on top of this already corroded sundae," McLaughlin said. "I would never support something that permanently takes away parkland."
And the Winding Hills radio outpost?
"Well, that's going to have to come down," he said.
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2006/07/06/news-bsparks-07-06.html
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