Dear members of the Town of Dryden Zoning Board of Appeals,
I re-read Lucente Development's appeal to you for a reduced acreage requirement on a Planned Unit Development. If you knew nothing about the state of Dryden's zoning beyond what's stated in this document, this appeal might seem reasonable. Unfortunately, the kindest thing I can say about it is that it's an attempt to grab what it can from the Town's existing zoning while justifying that grab with one small citation from the proposed zoning.
The appeal notes that the proposed zoning removed the acreage requirement for a Planned Unit Development. It omits, however, to note that:
This appeal would be entirely unnecessary under the proposed zoning, which includes language allowing this kind of construction.
The proposed zoning does not, however, allow quite this level of density - 10 units per acre rather than the 14.5 per acre allowed under current zoning or the 16 per acre Lucente Development plans here.
The proposed zoning's Planned Unit Development section continues to change. The acreage requirement in earlier drafts had been reduced from 100 acres in the existing to 25 in more recent drafts, and the requirement only fell to zero in the final Planning Board draft. The Town Board has not yet taken up discussion of this section at all.
The Town seems to have accepted that the proposed zoning's plans for the Hamlet of Varna are inadequate, and has established a Varna Master Plan study. Approving this appeal in advance of that study's work (due to complete in August 2011) seems like an excellent way to waste much of the money the Town will spend on that plan.
In short, I urge you to reject this appeal. The timing is wrong and the arguments supporting it are weak, citing fragments of uncertain future work and ignoring a vast number of counterarguments from that same future work.
Thank you,
Simon St.Laurent
1259 Dryden Road
Town of Dryden