Bringing the Five Rivers State Preserve into the town of Bethlehem and connecting to it with a pedestrian access is the goal that was discussed at the town’s Tuesday, Oct. 7, Planning Board meeting.
However, a 20-foot strip of land is all that is holding up the deal.
A small eight-lot subdivision near Five Rivers has yet to get planning board approval because of concerns of having landlocked property donated to the town.
Carol Richards has proposed dividing her property off Fisher Boulevard into seven lots, which developers say would be fairly small so as to keep the density of homes on the property low.
A portion of the land would be sold to the Open Space Institute for $60,000, according to Terresa Bakner, who represented Richards at the meeting. If added to the preserve, that land would provide Five Rivers access from within the town of Bethlehem. Currently, the preserve can only be reached through New Scotland.
`It’s taken us a while to get here and there are no subdivisions that we are aware of on the history of this property,` Bakner told the board in April. `The land could have been divided into dozens of lots if they wanted to develop it. While the wetlands on the site are in several locations, it in no way inhibits the development.`
The development plans call for transferring 24.63 acres from Richards’ property to the Open Space Institute and eventually to the Delmar Wildlife Conservation, which is owned by the state.
Planning Board Chairman Parker Mathusa asked for a 20-foot easement on both sides of a potential access point near one of the proposed lots.
`I want 20 feet on both sides; that’s 40 feet,` Mathusa told Bakner. `I don’t mean to be heavy on this, but I want to be sure.`
Mathusa said at the Tuesday, Sept. 16, planning board meeting that there was some confusion over the donated land and he was looking for adequate access to the property
`I, maybe erroneously, believed we had another access because it’s important to get to that park,` Mathusa said at that meeting, calling the property `landlocked.`
At the Oct. 7 planning board meeting, the topic once again came up. The stalemate has caused frustrations for all parties involved, including town planners and Richards, who now lives in California, to the point where one neighbor offered to buy a piece of the land from Richards and deed it over to the town.
Bakner said in September that it was an `oddly shaped parcel,` and that she was unsure if they could give the full 20-foot easement with the current plans.
`If we gave you 20 feet back to here,` she said, pointing at a map during the meeting, `I don’t know what it would give up.`
Bakner reminded the board of what the property would be worth to a developer and, on behalf of Richards, expressed frustration over the delays in approval.
`She’s quite frustrated with the process here, not with the board, but with the process,` Bakner said. `She’s being given $60,000 for 24 acres [the access land in question], and she could turn around tomorrow and get $300,000. At some point, you hit a tipping point. I will ask her, that is all I can do.`
Michael Morelli, the town’s assistant director of economic development and planning, said everyone wants to move forward, and he hopes to see the project come to fruition.
`She just wants to get this done,` he said of Richards’ proposal. `I would hate to see this get hung up on the process.`
Even though the project has been in the review process for several months, dating back to last May, Morelli said the town has been working diligently to move it forward.
`We’ve been moving this thing along at a pretty good clip,` he said, adding that the project has to be reviewed by the New Scotland planning board because of its proximity and also by the county’s planning board.
Add the Open Space Institute, the state’s DEC and the Delmar Wildlife Conservation, and the project was bound to run into some delays.
`In a perfect world we’re hoping the subdivision moves forward as proposed, and we have a walking path to Five Rivers,` Morelli said. `One of the neighbors offered to buy the land and deed the 20-foot easement to the town.`
A pedestrian path to Five Rivers fits perfectly with the town’s comprehensive plan, Morelli said, by making Bethlehem `more pedestrian friendly.`
`The comprehensive plan is a working document,` Morelli said. `A lot of towns make a comp plan and put it on the shelf and then go back to business as usual. We’re actually putting our plan to use.`
“