A stretch of Route 23B in Cairo, by Flickr user dougtone. Published under Creative Commons license.
Unlike most upstate New York towns, the Greene County town of Cairo has never had zoning laws to govern where and how development is carried out. But for over four years, the town has been wrestling with the issue. A town-board-appointed zoning commission recently published the second draft of the proposed zoning regulations, a 163-page document covering everything from where new commercial development should be focused to how many llamas per acre a property owner should be allowed to keep.
Unsurprisingly, everybody's a critic. The Daily Mail reports that a Tuesday hearing about the new draft zoning law drew plenty of ire from local residents and business owners:
Susan Hilgendorf, a member of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce and a Round Top resident, said the zoning is too restrictive and a “slap in the face” to those who’ve lived in the town their entire lives.
A handful of the speakers said they moved to the town years ago because there was no zoning.
The law “in no way represents the wants and needs of this community,” said Ellsworth “Unk” Slater, a longtime resident and owner of the Great American plaza. Slater said he doesn’t support the law as it’s currently written and that the document contains “hidden costs” and rules that could hurt small businesses. “I suggest we start over,” he said.
WGXC recorded audio at the meeting, which can be found here.
To their credit, Cairo's zoning commission has made a wealth of information about the draft regulations and the decision-making process available on a website devoted to the issue. (They also have a Facebook page, but it's not very lively -- perhaps pressing the "Like" button is too much of an indignity for zoning critics?)
