Some Owego Board of Trustees moves to reinstate part of a law that could halt housing project - WBNG-TV
OWEGO (WNBG) -- A housing project in the Village of Owego could be stopped as some Trustees move to reintroduce part of a flood mitigation law.
Tensions continue to be high in the Village as the Trustees go back and forth discussing a compensatory storage law which means if someone builds on their property outside of the foundation of their home, they must remove the same amount of landmass to help in the case of flooding.
"It was overbearing as far as development in the Village," Owego Mayor Mike Baratta said. "Basically what it says is its compensatory storage and what it says is if you add any mass to the flood plain... you have to take that same mass out of the same property or adjacent property."
The DEC and FEMA both suggested that part of the law be removed after some Trustees described it as too restrictive.
"It also affects every homeowner in the village because it says you can only build on the current footprint that you have," Mayor Baratta said. "If you put a garage that wasn't there, if you put an addition on your house you have to comply with this code."
If the law is reinstated, it could stop a major housing development project that officials have been working on for some time now.
"I would like to see development in the Village, obviously we have to keep our neighbors safe from flooding because that's a huge concern," Mayor Baratta said. "I think if we can't develop anything that's just far too limiting. And we definitely need housing."
Opposing Trustees say while they want to see housing added in the Village, they're concerned the area of the new project could impact other neighbors when it floods.
"The compensatory storage law comes into act when there's an infill, an increase in development in the flood plain," Trustee Laura Eberly said. "That's what this law is about."
The Trustees who want part of the law added back say it's not to stop this development project, but rather to keep residents of Owego safe.
"That's all we're asking with that is to protect our Village in the flood plain," Eberly said. "This is the only flood law that we have in our books in the Village of Owego that exists to protect our village from infill development."
source: https://wbng.com/2021/09/29/some-owego-board-of-trustees-moves-to-reinstate-part-of-a-law-that-could-halt-housing-project/
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