8/9/2019 Op-Ed: Arsenal Street, Clayton, N.Y.?

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Arsenal St., Clayton? Formerly known as route 12 and route 12 EBy Phil Randazzo

The Clayton Town Board is now in the fnal process o modiying the zoning onthe north side o route 12 and route 12 E. They are changing many parcels romarine Residential to arine !e"elopment in the name o #economic de"elopment$. %am opposed to any reduction in arine Residential. %&m urther opposed to anyincrease in zoning laws that encourage more 'usiness along the scenic corridor. oretra(c congestion and noise is not what Clayton is all a'out.

The process is mo"ing ar too )uic*ly and as is a Clayton tradition+ "oting isalways done at a time when it&s di(cult or summer property owners to attend suchmeetings. Changes o this magnitude should not 'e rushed through. ,i- or se"enmonths o discussion is simply not enough time. hen downtown Clayton was

rezoned it was more than a two/year process. There were more than 20 meetingsutilizing wor*groups. %nput was solicited rom as many people as possi'le+ and theresults were amazing. % 'elie"e that the town&s desire to hastily ma*e the zoningchange is going to open Pandora&s 'o-. couple o e-amples %n the new arine!e"elopment area they are adding arm wineries and arm distilleries as permitteduse. t the town meeting they supplied a defnition o arm winery 3distillery that theysay+ comes directly rom the state. There is no such defnition4 there is a defnition orarm wineries and there is a separate and di5erent defnition or arm distilleries. 6arm'reweries were let out. as it intentionally let out 'ecause we ha"e too many'reweries7 as it let out inad"ertently7 Either way it&s a pro'lem and a result omo"ing too ast.

Recently it was reported in the T.%. ,un at a 'oard meeting a property ownerre)uested that the proposed law change wait until the summer property owners had achance to study it. 8e was told in that the meeting+ 'y the Town ,uper"isor that thetown 'usiness cannot wait till summer property owners return. e must fnd a way toinclude as many property owners as possi'le in ma9or decisions that a5ect so manypeople. The town ollows state law regarding notice to property owners+ 'yad"ertising in the local newspaper. % thin* 'ecause o our uni)ue mi- o out/o/townand in town property owners it would 'e prudent to loo* at changing our law in theuture regarding proper notice. The town has "ery little di(culty in locating allproperty owners when it comes time to collecting ta-es.

% ha"e 'een personally criticized 'y se"eral 'oard mem'ers that the reason %oppose this pro9ect is 'ecause % want to limit my competition. They are using thisargument to marginalize my comments. % am a strong supporter oentrepreneurialism. % 'elie"e in the merican dream. % 'elie"e e"ery 'usiness ownershould ha"e the right to succeed or ail. :et me 'e perectly clear % am a hugesupporter o any arm/'ased 'usiness in our area+ including all crat 'e"erages. %ha"e no delusions o 'eing the only winery in the Clayton area. Currently there areappro-imately a hal a dozen more winery pro9ects slated or ;e5erson County. ost

8/9/2019 Op-Ed: Arsenal Street, Clayton, N.Y.?

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'usiness owners would preer not to ha"e more competition in their immediatemar*etplace. % guess %&m no e-ception. 8owe"er % cannot ignore my "ision o "inesgrowing throughout Clayton countryside. % am not thrilled with more competition 'ut %thin* Phil !e:u*e should ha"e the opportunity to open a winery. But )uite ran*ly+ theproposed winery that Phil !e:u*e wants to put in can 'e appro"ed without a massi"ezoning change. The Proposed !istillery on the sight o the 6ormer illage downtown hu'+ or ha"e 'eenrelocated+ ha"e created a negati"e impact on the downtown 'usinesses4 %&d li*eto cite two e-amples

1. hen the grocery store was closed and the 'usiness consolidated out othe "illage.

2. hen ?enny&s drugstore mo"ed out on Route 12.

Both o these mo"es had a huge fnancial impact on downtown stores. Peopleused to shop byboat+ 'uy their groceries+ "isit other downtown stores and theyshopped locally. :et@s wor* on 'uilding what we ha"e instead o e-pandinggeographically. :et@s not ma*e our !owntown 'usinesses su5er more in the name

o economic de"elopment.

Marine Residential is the Crown Jewel o Claytonand is what most people thatcome here+ come here or. Peace and )uite ree rom noise pollution. Theproposed law does not address the noise issue at all. The Change rom arineResidential AR to arine !e"elopment A! will open more area to 'usinesse-pansion and create more tra(c and congestion. hat ne-t+ more stop lights7:et@s lea"e The arine Residential property zoning alone. t the last town 'oardmeeting there was tal* a'out may'e ha"ing a noise ordinance+ %n the arineResidential area soon to 'e con"erted to arine !e"elopment+ the use o deci'elmeters to measure sound was mentioned. Decibel Meters! Decibel Meters!,8ereis the easy answeri you need deci'el meter it@s too loud. 8ow many deci'elsdoes the sound o a 9umping fsh splash ma*e7 8ow many deci'els does the'eating o a 8eron@s wings ma*e when they ta*e ight rom our doc*7 8ow manydeci'els is the call o a :oon at sunset on a pristine summer night7 8ow muchmore is our town willing to ris*7 The town o Clayton does not need more'usiness de"elopment it need less.

ay'e the Town slogan needs to 'e changed to #here the Tradition has 'een!is/continued$

8/9/2019 Op-Ed: Arsenal Street, Clayton, N.Y.?

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Contact inormation PhilDrandazzo.us