Luiz Aragon, head of the Planning Division of Sullivan County, only in the community for a few years at most, not even a resident of New York (unless you count the fake apartment above his gallery), and now proposing to TAKE YOUR LAND through a fear-mongering 'don't turn Lumberland into a suburb' zoning initiative.
Luiz Aragon states (I can hardly believe it) that most of the land in Lumberland is in private hands, so is at risk of over-building and bad use practices!! Private property bad - government knows best good.
After at least 5 conversations with his department and his chief of staff Heather Jacksy where he denied having anything to do with the Lumberland zoning other than technical assistance and facilitation, he now comes out at last in The River Reporter and admits that this aggressive and non-necessary new zoning provision was his idea, and that he supports it in theory, and in relation to Lumberland.
What is Conservation Subdivisions? It's when the planning board requires a developer of over 5 lots (or a homeowner with more than 25 acres) to give 50% of the land to 'green space'. FIFTY PERCENT!!. And if you have wetlands, slopes or other non-buildable areas, that land doesn't count so they want MORE THAN 50% of your land.
And what is this 'green & open space'? It's shared land - taking your land, and making you share it with your neighbors with trails, homeowners associations, tree counting, and wildlife management.
And are these people smart enough to look around and find one example in Sullivan County where this idea was used, or proved profitable? Did Luiz Aragon talk to anyone doing business in Lumberland to see if they thought this was a good idea?
Let me ask you something - would Steve, Wendy, John, Daniel, Richard, Bryce, Thom, Justin, Jason, Courtney and Bronson like to share a trail in their backyard with their neighbor? Would they like the expense, politics and administrative burden of a Homeowners association to manage their 'green space'? I think it's exactly what they don't want.
And maybe he's never been to the Lumberland Planning Board, so maybe he doesn't understand that neither the planning board nor the applicants will be prepared to handle these complicated zoning programs.
It's ludicrous and infuriating that Luiz Aragon thinks he can come into this community and take away our private property, without any real knowledge of the few success stories that exist in this economically downtrodden town.
I think it's clear, that if Luiz Aragon is going to mess around with the livelihoods of the existing business community, it's only fair that he gets the same treatment, because while he wants to change 200 year old land use rights, maybe I want to change self-dealing and self-enrichment at the expense of others.
As a business person most of you readers trust as a forward-thinking community member, I ask you to boycott the Brookhouse Gallery until Mr Aragon gets real, and stops attempting to harm this community with pie-in-the-sky theories of land use.
If you go back and read this blog, you will find zero political posts - but I'm so insulted by his arrogance that has now changed.
Love when someone from the Concrete Jungle comes sashaying into town on their high horse to tell the common people to give up their land rights for his parks and rec utopia. This is bullshit and I don't even live in NY. But I do recognize a slippery slope when I see one.
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