NEW SCOTLAND – Developer David Moreau will save $2,600 when he writes out his check to the town of New Scotland.

Last month, Moreau went before the town board to contest the lot fees for a subdivision of his property. He would have had to pay $3,000 for a minor subdivision on his land because his property on Youmans Road is in a commercial zone.

On Dec. 8, 2004, the town board voted to increase lot fees for properties in commercial and industrial zones, requiring that all subdivisions of five acres or more, or 500 feet of road frontage, go before the planning board. The board increased the fees from $200 to $1,500 for applications that must go before the planning board.

Prior to that 2004 decision, all subdivisions were subject to the same $200-per-lot fee, Paul Cantlin, the town’s zoning administrator and chief building inspector, told The Enterprise.
Town board member Richard Reilly, at last week’s meeting, said: "If this fee schedule is having unintended consequences, we need to amend it."

Last Wednesday, the board unanimously approved an amendment to the lot fee schedule, stating that the per-lot fee for a minor subdivision requiring planning-board review solely due to the 2004 change shall be charged at the building-department rate. A major subdivision, or, a minor subdivision sent to the planning board for any other reason, is subject to the planning board per-lot fee rate.

What this means for Moreau, is that he will pay the town $400 instead of $3,000.

For Jim Leonard, it means a reimbursement from the town for $2,600.

Leonard, who is the only person who has paid the higher lot fees for a minor subdivision, owns property on School Road, which falls in a commercial zone.

He was billed $3,000 by the town for his subdivision, and he paid it. He will now be reimbursed, as the town board has decided that it was not intended for minor subdivisions to be subject to the higher fees.
"It is clear that the result is not what they intended," Moreau told The Enterprise about the town board members, "They made the right decision to correct that."

Moreau said that he wanted the board to consider how the new lot-fee mechanism resulted in unfair treatment of subdivisions that originated in commercial zones.

Leonard told The Enterprise that the board consulted the town attorney, L. Michael Mackey, and his opinion was that the higher fees were not designed to be for minor subdivisions.

The board agreed with him.
"I guess it was a fluke," Leonard said, referring to the fees he paid.
"I thought I was treated very fairly by the town board," he said.