A day before releasing the draft of an updated Comprehensive Plan, the Hurley Town Board held a public hearing Tuesday evening on a proposed nine-month building moratorium. The moratorium, which would cover Hurley’s A2.5 and A4 zones, was proposed last month, supporters saying the pause would give the town an opportunity to review zoning and subdivision laws while it updates the comprehensive plan.

The April meeting was crowded with Hurley residents. Some expressed their opinion for or against the moratorium; others were simply curious about what the law meant for the community. Town Supervisor Melinda McKnight opened the hearing with a statement about the moratorium, describing the affected zones as particularly “vulnerable” in what she said was a transitional development period for Hurley.

“The proposed moratorium is designed to provide the community with the time it needs to digest the draft Comprehensive Plan and to develop revisions to the town code that will support what residents want,” she said. “Without a moratorium, we are forced to work with an antiquated town code that is inconsistent, confusing and may or may not be in alignment with the wishes of town residents.”

Hurley resident Dean Osterhoudt of Osterhoudt Masonry Inc. was the first to speak at the hearing. He said that in his opinion, the language in the proposed moratorium was “subjective and broad.”

The text of the proposed moratorium states that because the Town of Hurley is under increasing pressure from developers, a moratorium is necessary to “prevent inconsistent and incongruent development” while the town reviews its comprehensive plan. According to the proposal, the moratorium will “preserve and advance public health” by protecting the people of Hurley from the effects of large developments.

“Yet beyond the shallow language the document describes no specific threats to public health, or quality of life that would require overriding property rights,” Osterhoudt said.

He added that the phrase of the law stating that current zoning laws permit “intense development” was vague and argued that people selling land to supplement income or parents parceling land for their children could be affected.

“These are the people you are hurting with this law — the common folks just trying to get by,” he said. “You're not hurting the big developers. They will adapt and build anyway.”

Attorney Charles Gottlieb, who represented the applicants of the ill-fated Dunkin’ Donuts project at the corner of Routes 28 and 375, echoed Osterhoudt’s sentiment, saying that the law did not specify what development pressure the town faced or prove that the town faced an “emergency condition” justifying a moratorium.

“The moratorium is purely conclusory statements to further a political agenda and could be based on generalized community concerns,” he said.

Gottlieb spoke on behalf of Southern Realty Development Corporation, the owners of the proposed Dunkin’ property, who are currently in litigation with the town. Gottlieb said that he had repeatedly filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the town for documents relating to the draft comprehensive plan and received no documents that detailed a crisis that would warrant a moratorium. Gottlieb added a request submitted in late January received an acknowledgement at the beginning of April, despite, he said, state FOIA laws requiring acknowledgement within five days.

In a later conversation, McKnight told Kingston Wire that the town’s concern about developments in the A2.5 and A4 zoning districts stems from the districts’ slopes and wetlands. McKnight mentioned Ohayo Mountain and said that previous developments on the land had cleared trees from sloping areas, causing water runoffs and flooding.

“There are a lot of environmental factors,” she said. “If the trees are clear, and there's a lot of runoff, you're also not getting water going into wells and recharging the aquifer system.”

The draft comprehensive plan released on Wednesday suggests making a new residential zoning district for the area that encompasses both Tonshi Mountain and Ohayo Mountain and limits land use in that region to “open-space related uses and single-family detached residential uses.” Any new developments, the plan stated, should pursue “terrain-adaptive housing.” The draft also suggests a review of the A4 visual assessment area, “to ensure it meets the goals of protecting sensitive viewsheds by limiting tree clearing and grading of steep slopes.”

Previous town planning board chair Mitchell Cohen said he believed that the moratorium was necessary to clear the way for effective development.

“The purpose is not to deny building permits and building, the purpose is actually the other way — it’s to actually grant for development,” he said of the moratorium.

Later in the meeting, resident Matt Jared described problems with a neighboring property’s means of egress and said he felt a short moratorium might be necessary to bring “clarity to zoning laws.” A few other residents voiced their support for the moratorium while maintaining that the proposed law’s language could be changed to accommodate nuances.

“That's what this public hearing is about,” said resident Tobe Carey. “To hear from people so that it can be revised to reflect the wishes of the community and the needs of those who are working on the comprehensive plan going forward.”

Former town supervisor John Perry, however, argued that the zoning laws accommodate the town’s needs; the planning and zoning boards are in place to make sure the laws were administered appropriately. He called the moratorium’s justifications “fraudulent,” because, he said. none of the results of the public surveys regarding the comprehensive plan had been publicly released.

“Unfortunately, this moratorium is based on [the poll results], that we have not seen,” he said. “The people have not even had an opportunity to see what the people want.”

However, on the day following the hearing, a characterization of the survey results appeared in the town’s draft comprehensive plan. Results of the online public surveys, which asked Hurley residents 18 questions on topics such as demographics, development preferences, housing, recreation and tourism, were visualized in word clouds, emphasizing phrases like “historic characteristics,” “good community” and “development.”

“Respondents felt that Hurley’s history, small town-rural feel, and overall beauty ranked highly,” the draft stated. “Development, housing costs, and high taxes were ranked highly among the identified threats to Hurley.”

The draft also included a review of public feedback from workshop meetings on the comprehensive plan. The feedback, it was stated in the draft, reiterated that “threats to the town’s values were mainly on the topic of development, as participants felt that increased commercial, industrial and residential development threatened the character of the community.”

The draft released Wednesday described the vision behind the plan: “Preserve and protect Hurley’s scenic beauty and rural character by respecting its environs — its natural resources, climate, history and small-town atmosphere. Allow incremental, sustainable, well-designed and community-scale neighborhood expansions that are consistent with the town’s vision of maintaining a small, locally oriented, socially vibrant, creative and connected community. Respect the town’s autonomy to pursue its vision.”

The town board took no action on the proposal at Tuesday’s meeting. The board voted to adjourn public hearing; it will continue on May 16 at 7:15 p.m.

In other Hurley news:

Brush Pickup Begins Monday

The Town of Hurley Highway Department will begin picking up brush on Monday, April 24. Pickup in West Hurley will start on that date. Pickup in Old Hurley will start on Monday, May 1. Once pickup has been completed in a given area, crews will not return there.

West Hurley residents should place their brush at the edge of the road the weekend of April 22-23. Residents of Old Hurley should do so the weekend of April 29-30. There will be no brush pickup at homes located on state highways.

Brush should be placed at a 45-degree angle to the road, making it easier for a loader to pick it up and place it in a truck. Brush items should be no larger than four inches in diameter and six feet in length. No yard debris or leaves should be mixed in.

VFW Post 5086's Recruiting

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5086 in Hurley is in need of new members to support its activities and the services it provides.

The VFW post’s membership has been shrinking as veterans of World War II and the Korean War pass on, and its continued existence could be in jeopardy.

Post 5086 (the John F. Jordan Memorial Post) provides services for war veterans who live in Hurley and for the community at large. It meets at the Hurley Reformed Church on Main Street in Old Hurley and participates in such activities as parades, cemetery ceremonies and the retirement of flags.

Anyone interested in joining VFW Post 5086 should contact Post Commander Don Sayut for more information and to learn about eligibility. He can be reached at (845) 338-4929 or dsayut@hvc.rr.com.

Grievance Day is May 23

The Hurley Board of Assessment Review will hear property assessment challenges starting at 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 23, (Grievance Day), at Town Hall, 10 Wamsley Place.

Property owners wishing to challenge their assessments that day must make an appointment in advance by calling the Town Assessor’s Office at (845) 331-7474, ext. 4, or by emailing assessor@townofhurley.org.

Property owners who grieve their 2023 assessments will need to submit a Grievance Application (Form RP-524) to the Town Assessor's Office by May 22. The Grievance Application can be found online at tinyurl.com/39edz84d. (Instructions for filling out the form are at tinyurl.com/3e66hd58.)

Completed applications should be emailed to assessor@townofhurley.org or mailed to Town Assessor's Office, P.O. Box 569, Hurley, NY 12443.

For more information, contact the assessor’s office at the above phone number or email address.

Kingston Wire's new coverage of the Town of Hurley is underwritten by Hurley Up. Kingston Wire has complete editorial control of what is reported and published. We accept submissions of letters to the editor, longer opinion pieces, community event notices and story ideas: email us at info@kingstonwire.com