To the Editor:

I have heard a misconception repeated quite often recently, surprisingly even by several people on the various town boards, who say people who own property “have a right to do whatever they want with it.” I think that expresses an initial feeling with many people who are struggling with both sides of the ongoing explosion of development in Guilderland.

The truth is that’s not quite right.  Property owners (like myself) have the right to do whatever they like with their property as long as it is within the law. Property is subject to many laws, including the town zoning code, building code regulations, state laws, highway laws, environmental laws, and a whole host of land-use laws, just to name a few.

The truth is, there are many things you cannot do with your property, and there is no “entitlement” to be able to do things with your property that are outside the law.

For example, if a buyer buys a lot that is zoned residential and wants instead to put a commercial building on it, he buys the property at his own risk because that use is prohibited by law. There is no obligation for the town to rezone it for him.

Put another way, I have a residential parcel and I can build whatever house I want on it, but I can’t have a chicken farm; neither can I demand the town rezone it so that a developer can build the Chrysler Building on it just because I’d make the most money if I could sell it to that developer.

There is no entitlement to get a special law written for you to change the zoning of your property, any more than you have an entitlement to defy the building code or any other law. That is precisely why these requests for rezones need special approval from the town, and call for what’s supposed to be a lengthy review process, and a new law just for that parcel has to be passed.

It’s not supposed to be easily or always granted. But, many people think, “Shouldn’t I be able to do whatever I want with my property that makes me the most money?”

Money is not the controlling factor. We are all limited by the law in everything we do. Property is no different. And there is a good reason for that.

The purpose of creating a town zoning code is to provide a general scheme for the development of a community; a framework whereby the town can in effect be mapped out in advance, at great length and with great time and thought by duly elected officials, who develop a large picture of how the town should look, then put that into law.

It gives the residents a sense of security in what their neighborhood will always look like. It is used in creating the master plan, which also is drafted with lots of time and forethought by town officials and hopefully residents to create a big picture of the town and what it should look like for generations to come. The exact purpose of this is to give some stability and prevent a mismatched patchwork of different land uses in areas that were designed to be consistently kept residential, or commercial, or agricultural, etc.

When a property owner goes to the town and requests a rezone of his parcel in order to, for instance, create a PUD [planned unit development] in a zoned residential area, what he is doing is asking the town not to enforce the current zoning code as to that property owner, and to allow him a special exception from the law.

Once you start granting every request for a zoning change (as I believe the town board is beginning to do; I think the board is at least 3 for 3 so far this year), you thwart the whole rationale behind having a zoning code, and the exceptions soon swallow the rule and you end up with a town that is no longer planned, but is a conglomeration of uses in an unattractive, illogical patchwork with no character or forethought, over-stressing the entire infrastructure.

The town itself loses its identity.

It’s important to remember that the town board members are appointed or elected and sworn in to enforce the laws (including the zoning laws) as they exist, not look for ways around the laws for favored developers or property owners. There will necessarily be instances that require exceptions, but exceptions should be rare, and never so enormous as to change the character of the town itself, or to thwart the plan already established and relied on by the residents in favor of a whole new town plan created by a only handful of board members or the town planner.

If that happens, there is no point in making laws or master plans; they are just a mirage, and the town no longer belongs to the residents. I fear we are fast approaching that point now. I encourage everyone to start following the town, planning, and zoning board meetings. Now is the time.

Laurel L. Bohl, Esq.

Guilderland

Editor’s note: Laurel L. Bohl is a member of the newly formed grassroots group Guilderland Citizens for Responsible Growth.