Planning Board's caution was merited

It’s been a test of time, and patience, to get through the affordable housing environmental review process that’s been before the Millerton Planning Board for so many years now. And yes, the arduous task of sifting through what must have seemed like an insurmountable amount of paperwork, including applications, bank accounts, communications, reviews and studies, slowed the process down to a near crawl at times.

The process became so mired down that the applicant, Housing Resources of Columbia County, Inc., even sent a letter to the town of North East (why no copy was sent to the village of Millerton, its Planning Board or its attorney remains a mystery) clearly threatening legal action. A previous letter, penned by Housing Resources’ attorney, Scott Longstreet, explained the basis for the litigation. It charged, “... The [village’s] game plan has been to drag the permitting process out until the applicant is financially drained to death.�

It’s easy to understand the applicant’s frustration, and the financial burden of such a lengthy review process, certainly, but it’s the project’s potential impacts on the village of Millerton and the town of North East that demand attention.

The long, drawn-out environmental review for Millerton Overlook, the proposed 20-unit affordable housing project, has been wearisome for many. But that process has now come to an end and the hard work of the Planning Board is, for now, finished. Clearly, the board has had the community’s welfare in mind all along.

The Planning Board should be recognized for sticking to its guns and seeing the SEQRA (State Environmental Quality Review Act) process through to the end in the way it best saw fit. It carried on an extensive review, holding out for all of the analysis it required, information it sought and final details it demanded, before signing off on the final part three of the SEQRA’s Environmental Assessment Form (EAF). With the guidance of numerous Planning Board members and chairmen throughout the years, including Greg Lanphear, and currently, Lance Middlebrook, the Planning Board stuck to its guns and conducted a thorough evaluation. It did not let pressure from the public, or the applicant, rush it through what it deemed to be vital.

When the board believed it was important to wait for data (from the environmental research group, Hudsonia, for instance, for guidance on a wetlands’ buffer distance), it waited. Kudos. That’s the kind of leadership and governing our municipalities need, and deserve, especially with such an important project as this one. It may not have been a popular decision to wait for such feedback, but it was the right decision.

As a result of such thoroughness, the board made a positive declaration, meaning there will need to be a scoping process and document submitted before a site plan review can begin. Those requirements are put in place to protect the village, and residents should appreciate that fact.

The men and women who sit on the current Planning Board are like those who served before them — they are thorough and thoughtful and intent on preserving the integrity of the community. Throughout the review they held intelligent discussions and made considerate choices on decisions that will ultimately shape the future of this community. Millertonites are fortunate indeed to have such balanced, detailed and scrupulous citizens volunteering on their behalf. When faced with such an important and ambitious project as Millerton Overlook, it’s crucial to have a Planning Board with the community’s best interests at heart and its best options in mind — and this board clearly has both.