Vestal ZBA didn't act in best interest of residents

Letter to the Editor

By Kevin Millar

Published in the Press & Sun-Bulletin
November 15, 2010

MegaEnergy, a Colorado gas company, drilled a gas well in Vestal without a way to get the gas to a pipeline. It failed to read the Town of Vestal Zoning Law before spending money on plans and property. Vestal residents will now pay for that error.
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The Zoning Board of Appeals voted 3-2 to grant a special permit to build a gas metering station in a residential zone. "Sometimes people build a deck without knowing the law and we approve it later," said one member of the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The Vestal ZBA ignored the pleas of longtime residents who live near the metering station. Those residents spoke out strongly against it in July. At the Oct. 14 ZBA meeting, residents were not allowed to speak. The town attorney said they spoke "ad nauseam" at the last meeting, so the board did not need to hear them again. The ZBA said it was the client's, MegaEnergy, meeting, as residents were reduced to spectators.

MegaEnergy President Scott Hornafuss admitted that his company did not look into any of the alternatives suggested by board members in July, but he did make two phone inquiries on Oct. 14, the day of the ZBA meeting. Zoning board members had no written documentation of some of MegaEnergy's statements. The chairman erroneously said that the New York state Department of Agriculture & Markets approved a pipeline from the gas well; only a plan for ground disturbance and remediation was approved. Board members focused on the inner workings of the metering station and the shrubbery that would surround the 20-foot-by-30-foot building rather than the purpose of the zoning.

Zoning laws are enacted to guide appropriate land use and promote the health and general welfare of the community. That was not done in this case.

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