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One of the proposals listed in the proposed New York State budget would allow New York Governor Kathy Hochul to control zoning laws within half a mile of any train station in the entire state. Several municipal leaders appeared in Albany on Monday to voice their displeasure with the proposal. Among them was Hempstead town supervisor Don Clavin, who appeared on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning program to explain why zoning issues should be “local, not Hochul.”
“It’s a major issue,” Clavin told Berman and newsman Joe Bartlett, who was filling in for Riedel, “because in Nassau County alone, under the governor’s proposal, she would take over 25 miles of zoning control, and our feeling is, zoning should stay local. Not Hochul control -- local control.”
Clavin used Port Washington, in Nassau County, to further illustrate the flaw local representatives see in the proposal. “[Governor Hochul] would add thousands of units to just the Port Washington area,” said Clavin. “You have a two-lane highway that goes in and out. You know, there’s a little shop there called Rush and Go- it’ll be Stop and Go or Wait and Go because you won’t be able to get around these areas, and that’s the problem with the governor’s proposal. One model doesn’t fit all.”
It wasn’t just Nassau County leaders voicing their concerns with the proposal yesterday. “We had speakers from Buffalo, from Fredonia, from the Albany area, both sides of the aisle,” Clavin told Berman and Bartlett. “This is the largest investment in your life, your home. Under the governor’s proposal, she could wipe away your investment overnight.”
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