Gardiner’s Democratic Committee (GDC) has endorsed all Gardiner’s current Town Board members. Yet voters may be unaware that the Board’s majority acts contrary to Democratic values. In an effort to promote its endorsee, incumbent Supervisor Majestic, the GDC is pitting itself against progressive democrats, distorting truth and severing long-term ties.
Besides the nuts and bolts of town management, Gardiner’s most fundamental duties are to engage its public, shape its community, and adopt zoning laws that determine land-use and environmental protection.
Government transparency took a hit with a failed motion to require the Board to provide the public with “tracked changes” of proposed amendments to local laws. Code enforcement remains understaffed, yet certain applicants were offered so low a salary they lost interest. Despite agreeing to do so, Gardiner’s website still does not have a job “tab” listing openings.
Most notably, contrary to GDC endorsements, conservative “property rights” values control the Board’s land-use decisions with only lip-service paid to environmental protection. The Board has grasped the low-hanging fruit of Climate Smart Gardiner’s efforts and almost unanimously embraced the Open Space Commission’s heavy-lifting to roll out the Community Preservation Plan to purchase open space.
But what about the rest of Gardiner’s privately-owned forests, wetlands, and Ridge properties? The Board rejected inclusion of the word “biodiversity” in protections listed in the amended Comprehensive Plan’s mission statement.
On the table are amendments to Gardiner’s zoning law to be decided by the incoming Board. The Board’s majority is willing to limit stream corridor buffers and Supervisor Majestic is showing her disdain for the requirement that development in the Ridge’s SP-District be sited at the lowest elevation of the property. Eliminating this provision will erode the…
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