Hello friends and neighbors of Alden
Public Hearing Tuesday Jan 19, 2010 7:05PM
Proposed Comprehensive Plan Final
Proposed Comprehensive Plan Final 
Proposed Comprehensive Plan Final Appendix
Comprehensive Plan Environmental Assessment Form
ALDEN MASTER PLAN CRITIQUE
Respectfully submitted by Eric Chaffee, 441 Cayuga Creek Road, Alden New York
I've written a love letter to Alden. Now, not all love letters are sweet; but they should always be true. So I hope you can detect how much I care for this town. Yes, sometimes what is needed is tough love. I've gone to the trouble of writing out my observations so that, after I read them to you, I can handoff my written remarks to the planning consultants, asking that they been entered into the official proceedings of this project. Here goes:
DEAR NEIGHBORS: I'm an idealist. I had very high hopes when we embarked on this effort to update Alden's Masterplan. I thought, 'what better way could there be to discover the ideal configuration for a community, than to engage in a community-wide discussion of what Alden should become?' Well, I've now read the entire draft plan, and if I were to give this project a letter grade, in its present form, I would have to give it a D — for Deeply Disappointing.
Some might charge "sour grapes" or mere negativity on my part. (FULL DISCLOSURE: I had submitted an application volunteering to be on the masterplan committee, but was not chosen, even though I have excellent credentials for such a project, having owned a small commerical business for over 25 years; I also have a degree in design; I own an organic farm in Alden; and I studied in a graduate program at Harvard. But an insider at town hall told me that the mere mention of my name there "raises hairs on the back of necks." I'm deeply sorry that this is the way some neighbors view my civic contributions. But my daily prayer remains simply this: "to be a blessing to my neighbors, today." Some folks may not appreciate the way I confront tough issues, but I remain dedicated to the observation, that 'those who love truth are destined to agree.' (Yet this platitude doesn't make it any easier to arrive at truth; it takes much courage, and relentless effort.)
So, why am I so disappointed in this plan? For starters, I would characterize the plan to be about as toothless as an old hound dog. Simply put, there are too many weasel words in this document which will enable the town board to duck whenever it chooses, enforcing selectively, or not at all. Frankly, we should all feel insulted by this word play. Everything is linguistics. A more straight-forward approach would bind officials by providing them with clear direction. This document is intended to be a set of instructions written by citizens, for the guidance of our chosen leaders. It should not be vague; it should have real teeth! There should be little doubt about the public will expressed therein.
One of the major failings of this present effort is the way it has constrained public input at the actual work sessions of the committee. The public is allowed to observe the proceedings, but cannot make any comments whatsoever. I attended several of these work sessions as an observer. I finally got so frustrated at some of the ridiculous assertions which were being made — unchallenged by anyone — that I simply quit attending. (Friends, truth is not established by mere assertion! And to leave stupid statements unchallenged implies assent, agreement.) THE PUBLIC SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED A BRIEF PERIOD AT THE END OF EACH OF THESE SESSIONS TO CRITIQUE THE ISSUES RAISED.
Therefore, I now assert that this has NOT been a community-wide conversation, as the draft document purports. Rather, it is the work product of the good old boys, "controlling the ball" as usual. They have been insulated in their work sessions, to decide as they please, without being subject to public purview, rebuttal, or cross-examination, at the end of each session. This is simply wrong. As a result, this plan is a carefully managed document intending to shape this community as certain controlling interests wish it to be shaped. Simply put, the public has been excluded from much of the decision making process. This is contrary to what we were invited to believe at the outset, and it is contrary to law.
Let's consider the issue of town-wide water, for example. A year ago, the town board tried to bring municipal water to the entire balance of the town. That issue was defeated at the polls last spring. But this draft plan, now before us, reveals that the effort is surfacing again, with all the might and financing of our own tax dollars being used against the majority who recently voted to defeat this same issue. And now, it is being justified, underwritten, and inserted into the Masterplan, as though it were the will of the people! Here's some of the language: (Section 4, p.6 item #1) "If water improvement area #5 is approved, the Town will need to institute waterline lateral restrictions to control growth and ease development pressure on rural lands, especially within the Agricultural Districts."
Rubbish! LAWN COURT subdivision supposedly had such protections in place for adjacent farmland, but those restrictions were utterly ignored once a developer bought the land for PERIWINKLE subdivision, across the road from Lawn Court. As a result Alden allowed basements to be planted on 50 more acres of some of the best farmland in the region. So much for Ag protection and lateral restriction! America is devouring 2000 acres per day of prime farmland. Once it's gone, where will America grow our grand children's food?
And then there is the hypocrisy of lecturing the citizens (Section 5, p.17, E3) on how to manage our septic systems, when the corporate entity known as The Town of Alden is the biggest polluter in town. According to an interactive map online at the NYTimes, Town of Alden, as of August 2008, had been cited by the EPA for a total of 33 violations, mostly for illegal effluent discharges, since 2004; but there were ZERO enforcement actions against this polluter, and ZERO fines. So, the planners are yet again trying to persuade citizens to tax themselves for the great service of drinking water from that same source, Lake Erie, where the town's effluent empties. For the record, Erie County Sewer District Waste Water Treatment Plant is also a violator, with 7 citations in two years, along with several major industrial polluters. As you go upstream, the number of violations becomes alarming. Think of the nastiness between here and Milwaukee! Yet this plan now before us would justify bringing this severely polluted resource into Alden's homes.
But water and septic issues aren't the biggest failings in this document. Completely absent is the duty of such a plan to anticipate the arrival of big box stores. A few years ago citizens turned out in droves, monthly, for about 18 months, to lobby the Town Board to restrain the arrival of a big box store which was being urged by a developer seeking a zoning variance. Going forward we will continue to remain vulnerable to such monster projects, because this present plan totally fails to manage excessive growth. The plan simply instructs the Town Board "to consider the size" of such stores. How lame is that? "Consider the size!"
One thing this document does get very right is the putting on record of the strong desire of residents to KEEP ALDEN RURAL. (However, one prominent member of the committee attempted to exclude such language from the document, saying preference for ruralness was so obvious that it didn't even need to be written into the plan! To the credit of our consultants, that manipulative tactic was rejected.) Yet the draft document contains no restrictions whatsoever to limit retail scale, which is a sure impacter of ruralness. There is obviously a deep gap between the public's preference for remaining rural, and the leanings of the louder voices on the committee. Indeed, some committee members may see excluding a big box restriction from the plan as a victory for their position. But absent reasonable big-box limits, Alden will eventually come to look like Cheektowaga. This is contrary to public sentiment. And if this language is allowed to remain, we have mostly wasted our money on this plan.
The yeomen farmers of ancient Athens were small holders when it came to land ownership. Yet they were able to prevail over the rich aristocrats in town by banding together in something which came to be called 'democracy.' Our founding fathers here in America studied the workings of this concept and replicated it to create the most powerful nation on Earth. But this idea depends on the alertness of individual citizens banding together to instruct their leaders how to lead, rather than merely allowing ourselves to be led. As an idealist myself, I daily invite the words of Rabbi Jesus to lead me. He said: "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Where is my heartfelt treasure regarding Alden? It is in finding what is best for the entire group, rather than what is in the best financial interest of a tiny, but powerful segment of the group. What do I really want Alden to look like in the years to come? Well, it isn't articulated yet in this plan — certainly not as well as it should be. I want our leaders to do better than what we've seen in this document thus far. We need to hand their work back to them for revision.
