Sweeton: No short cuts and no sewer plants

To the editor: Several recent letters to your paper leave the impression that the Town of Warwick zoning code allows rampant destruction of our environment and permits building on land that is unsuitable to support a home. I understand concerns over development on lands that to this point have been farmed by aging farmers who desire a comfortable retirement, who have no children willing to continue the business. Nine years and thousands of meetings went into crafting a comprehensive plan and zoning code that is being emulated by communities all across New York State. It is our town residents’ commitment to preserving open space and farmland that has produced a PDR program that has protected more than 2,800 acres, passed a Community Preservation Fund that will preserve another 2,800 acres and has enacted aquifer and ridge line overlay protection zones to protect our critical environmental resources. The Town Planning Board conducts thorough reviews under the State Quality Environmental Review Act, our own code as well as County Health and state Department of Environmental Conservation regulations. This process takes in many cases five or more years and rightfully so. There are no short-cuts in Warwick’s process. One writer mentioned that sewer plants are planned in our town. Let me state that there are no plans for sewer plants for residential development anywhere in our town. The town will continue to refine its zoning process to ensure that we strike the proper balance between land preservation and responsible development that brings diverse residents with all their hopes and dreams to our beautiful valley. Michael P. Sweeton Warwick Town Supervisor