OXFORD – The Village of Oxford held a public hearing on Wednesday, Aug. 13 in an effort to gain some feedback on some purposed changes to the town's zoning ordnance.
The new laws, if passed by the Town Board, revolves again around the controversial issue of Hydrofracturing (fracking) for the acquisition of natural gas that is believed to be present hundreds of feet below the surface throughout the Marcellus Shale tract situated in New York and Pennsylvania.
Specifically, Town of Oxford zoning regulations adopted in the early 1970s that were revisited and amended in 2007 to include the authorization of fracking and drilling for gas under special exemption by the towns zoning board of appeals.
Now, the Town Board is proposing yet another change to the law, which would shift the authorizing body from the town's Zoning Board of Appeals to the Town Planning Committee, a move that has area residents up in arms.
“We jointly felt that the planing board was much more in tune to the zoning regulations of the town than the zoning board of appeals are as [the planning board] meets more frequently and deals with these issues on a regular basis,” said board member Jerry Locke.
The majority of area residents that spoke out at Wednesday's meeting voiced frustrations with the town for spending as much time tending to these issues along with their opposition to fracking in general.
Paul Brennan, Oxford resident, said, “The option to allow drilling is still available at the discretion of the planning board. The purposed 2014 law lacks specifics as to the procedure or protocol to follow in the issuance of special exception permits. The planning board is unregulated in preserving the intent of the law – the board of appeals has very detailed procedures to follow in making decisions: the planning board does not.”
“A non-publicized regular monthly meeting at which an unannounced special exception was under consideration could slip under the radar and would deprive residents the opportunity to offer input and possibly challenge any decision made,” Brennan said.
The addition of “material staging areas” in non-residential zoning districts within the town as part of the proposed changes was also scrutinized by area residents.
Primarily due to the potential environmental impact, agricultural district resident Mina Takahashi urged board members to consider the potential adverse outcome.
“My husband and I would never allow shale gas development on our property. The problem with gas drilling and all of the industrial ancillary activities that are associated with it is even if we disallow it on our property, we are not protected of the pervasive environmental effects of those activities occurring next door,” said Takahashi.
“I just have a hard time understanding why my family, our animals and I could be put at risk for groundwater contamination just because we reside in a agricultural area as opposed to our neighbors who live in a residential area, all within the same town, why are you even considering this?” asked Oxford resident Betty Solewater. “We chose this area over Pennsylvania because we didn't want to have to deal with this.”
For now, the board has stated that they will take time to consider the public comments before making any final decisions on the new laws and will meet again on September 10.
Additionally, The Chenango County CSEA workers union picketed outside of Wednesday's meeting to voice their concern over the county's lack of a “fair contract.”
Union members demonstrated for more than two hours along the sidewalks in front of the Oxford's Fort Hill American Legion where Town of Oxford Supervisor/County Board Chairman Lawrence Wilcox officiated a public hearing pertaining to a change in local zoning laws.