The view from local government: "The only defense we have is litigation"
I interviewed Fred Monroe this week about a plan by North Country counties to sue the Adirondack Park Agency.
Fred is supervisor in Chestertown and heads the Adirondack Local Government Review Board. During our conversation, he described what he views as a profound shift in the region's relationship to Albany.
The political climate is obviously changing.
In the past, Adirondack residents and local governments have seen that their Senator -- Senator [Ron] Stafford and more recently Senator [Betty] Little -- have been our defenders.
When there's been legislation proposed that we feel would be harmful to our residents, our Senators have been able to block that legislation.
But now with the change in Albany to a Democratically-controlled Senate, we think that the stopping power of our representatives -- our Senator, particularly, has been substantially weakened.
It's likely that the only way we can defend ourselves is through litigation. What other recourse do we have?
Our legislators can propose a bill. But that's unlikely to be adopted through the legislature. So the only defense we have is litigation, it seems to us.
That doesn't mean that we can't work together with environmental groups or the APA or the DEC on things we can agree on.
The environmentalists have done this for years. Every time they're unhappy about something they start a lawsuit.
And yet they still seem to have the ear of the DEC and the APA.
I think we should be viewed the same way. If we think an agency is going the wrong direction, we have the right and responsibility to challenge it.
And we don't have any other way to do it.
--Brian Mann -- channeling Fred Monroe, supervisor in Chestertown
posted by Brian Mann @ 12/04/2008 06:53:00 AM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
Fred Monroe has been a leading pro-development, anti-environment, and anti-APA voice but it's no wonder why he is organzing towns to spend our tax dollars to support people with homes on lakes - HE OWNS ONE.
If we could be clear for just one minute, for once, about what is going on. The APA ended provisions that allowed UNLIMTED EXPANSION of lakeside homes that existed before the APA and that violate today's zoning rules.
Now most expansions will require a variance, just like what is usually required for other non-conforming buildings under local zoning.
What Monroe and his lakehome owning cronies want is what he has on the lake Monroe lives on - unlimited development.
Brian Mann, if you want a story that illustrates the problem, go out onto Loon Lake in Chestertown and take a look at the enormous boat house that was built with Monroe's blessing just a few years ago by a local developer / builder. It's an outrageous eyesore, that probably violated if not the letter, certainly;y the spirit of the law (not to mention his neighbors' privacy)
While you're at it, look into Monroe's own lakeside home - it was built on what was once a historic hotel, torn down for a rich guy's house.
Of course Monroe doesn't want his house to have to abide by simple zoning rules that the rest of have had to live with since the 70s.
He needs to be voted out of office, but more importantly he needs to stop wasting our government time and money trying to protect his own out-dated interests.
Anonymous, you are one righteous dude! Thanks. The Fred Monroes of this world routinely get away with murder (so to speak), and the media, including NCPR, never call them out.
Gromit is also correct. Just once I would like NCPR to note that Fred Monroe has made a bunch of money from real estate transactions in the past. And even though he is no longer an active real estate attorney, his wife is a real estate agent in Chestertown.
He is no altruistic champion of the little guy. He's a man who has profited handsomely from the very types of development that the APA is trying to get a handle on.
And he skilfully manages to get the real little guy to do his legwork for him by convincing them to work against their own bet interests. Namely by increasing the spread of gentrification of the Adirondacks.
I don't know enough about Fred Monroe's background to make any sort of character judgement on him. I met him once, to photograph him - a pleasant fellow to talk with and persuasive with his arguments. But I would like to add to the other's that have commented here regarding a particular issue - whether Mr Monroe falls into the category or not, I don't have enough knowledge to determine, however, there are several people in the Adirondacks that have "championed" the little guy in very public ways, taking environmentalists, the APA, etc. to task for "taking away their rights". Most often one doesn't need to dig far to find their connection to "profiteering" on the Adirondack landscape. Those things described on Loon Lake in Chestertown is the sort of "profiteering" one can find all over the Adirondacks. It is true that the media in general, not just NCPR, doesn't point out these conflicts of interest between what these people do behind the scenes and what they grandstand with.
Facts
My home is not within the setback. I do not now and never have intended to expand my home within the setback. I built my home myself, with my father's help for about $15,000, almost all of it borrowed in 1971. The rest I saved while I was an Air Force officer from a meager salary. Most of my "lake home owning cronies" have similar stories and similar or smaller original investments.
I helped my father tear down the old hotel when I was 10 years old. He had borrowed all of the money to buy the hotel from a relative and used the materials to build housekeeping cabins.
I did not "bless" the boathouse on Loon Lake. In fact I had absolutely nothing to do with it.
Senator Stafford negotiated with Governor Rockefeller's staff and suceeded in providing protections in the APA Act for homeowners who owned their property prior to the creation of the APA. Local government believes that what the legislature giveth the APA is not empowered to take away.
I have not made a "bunch" of money from real estate. My net worth, if you exclude the value of my home (which has increased in value, but is primarily a real property tax burden, because I do not want to sell it)is extremely modest after helping four children with college.
I am willing to abide by teh APA rules. I believe APA is also required to abide by the law.
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