Canadice Lake

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http://www.mpnnow.com/news/x1049842140/ ... -lake-deal
Canadice, N.Y. —
Canadice is ready to adopt a new zoning law this month with the hope that it be completely forgotten five minutes later.

It’s all part of the last-minute red tape before the state can buy the 7,100 acres of land around Hemlock and Canadice lakes from the city of Rochester. The last wild Finger Lakes would then fall under the stewardship of the state Department of Conservation, protected from development for all time.

“We’re hopefully in the home stretch,” said town Supervisor Kris Singer. “The bottom line is, Canadice is trying to help the DEC transfer this property and preserve it.”

That transfer is nearing its final stages, and the Canadice law amounts to dotting an “i,” at the request of the state Comptroller’s Office, which must bless the transaction.

“It all has to do with the valuation of it and the funds transfer,” Singer said.
And it takes a bit of explaining.

The law in question would establish a new zoning designation in Canadice called a PRD, for planned residential development. It would set the criteria for development within the area currently designated as a conservation zone.

The law would go on the books — but not on any map. Establishing the PRD would only make it an option in Canadice; to actually rezone land as PRD would require another local law. But no one is expected to ever apply for it.



If you go
WHAT: Public hearing on planned
residential
development district law
WHEN:
Monday, Dec. 15, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Canadice Town Hall, 5949 County Road 37


Canadice’s conservation district includes the watershed lands, the Harriett Hollister Spencer State Recreation Area, Nature Conservancy holdings and the Muller Field Station property, owned by Finger Lakes Community College. Neither the state, the college nor the Nature Conservancy has plans to develop these lands.

So why bother with PRD if the chances it’ll ever be used are, as Singer put it, “remote”?
The city of Rochester and the state each began collecting data for their respective appraisals before Canadice adopted zoning in October 2007. The town’s first-ever zoning code set up three districts: The Honeoye lakefront district on the east side of town, the conservation district on the west and the rural district in between.

In theory, a change in zoning designation can affect the value of a property. In essence, to keep the appraisals on track, Canadice had to make it possible for the acreage to be subject to land-use regulations akin to those in place before October 2007. Since Canadice didn’t even have zoning beforehand, the clock can’t exactly be turned back, but the PRD is an attempt to get close.

“It would put the property in a much closer situation in a zoning standpoint to what (it was) when the appraisals were done,” confirmed DEC Region 8 Director Paul D’Amato.

“In simplest terms, this is kind of a shell game,” Singer said.

Canadice, along with other governments in the watershed, is already assured a payment in lieu of tax, or PILOT, agreement when the land changes hands. Rochester currently makes tax payments on the land. PILOT funding was enacted for the project in Gov. Mario Cuomo’s administration, but Gov. George Pataki passed on buying the land.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s team began moving on the sale at last, but after his resignation amid scandal, observers feared the deal would die.

“The change in state administration slowed the wheels down,” said Singer.

As for the appraisals, the figures are still a secret. Rochester and the state have spent the last three months comparing appraisals to come up with a fair deal for Rochester.

A sale will help the city weather its financial squeeze and may eventually create an 8,000-acre wildlife area, if the Nature Conservancy can also make a deal with New York for its adjacent holdings.

Rochester began buying up the land around Hemlock and Canadice lakes in the late 19th century to protect its source of water. Unlike other Finger Lakes, the two bodies of water are not ringed with cottages or mansions. Swimming is prohibited and boating is limited to canoes and boats with no more than 10 horsepower motors.

Though a mere — albeit odd — formality, the new zoning law has caused a bit of a stir on the canadice.org chat site. Singer sought to reassure residents in a post that the sale is on, even though the state is short of funds.

“(T)he money for this transaction was reserved quite some time ago for this purpose, and the transaction was near to taking place until this hiccup,” she wrote.

Voting to make a PRD possible does not mean houses will pop up everywhere.

“It’s not going to be applied to any parcel at this time,” Singer said. “In fact the requirement for a PRD is more stringent than the building code in our current zoning.”

Representatives from the town, the DEC and the city of Rochester will be on hand Dec. 15 to explain the zoning change in detail.

D’Amato said the zoning change needs to come first, then the city and state can finish hammering out the details — including the price.

He, too, is not worried about the money.

“At this point, we feel we can segregate the money to make it happen,” D’Amato said. “We’re currently in a good position to move forward.”
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us. ~Henry David Thoreau
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Matt
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This is such great news. I'm glad it's finally happening.
wtd

This is interesting news. Where is this from?

It is always important to skim the zoning laws section of your local newspaper, as much as it can be really boring, but if you care about this kind of stuff, it's a great way and sometimes the only way to find out about what is going on in your area. It is also important to note, but not related to the sale of Hemlock and Canadice Lake - that Livonia is considering changing some of the zoning laws surrounding the Hamlet of Hemlock to make more "development" possible in certain areas.
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cbobcat49
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Wait a minute... the supposedly cash-strapped state is buying the lakes? hmmm.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/art ... /1002/NEWS
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us. ~Henry David Thoreau
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Of course the state has money...they bought two $400,000 trailers for conjugal visits for our inmates.
This purchase confuses me. Since they proposed to close a bunch of State Parks and or cut back services...what is the rationality of purchasing more land....?
“There’s an inconsequentiality to our lives that living in the wilderness shows up. Mountain are real, they set their limits, they set ours. They expose us, make us vulnerable and strong at the same time. “
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cbobcat49
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exactly. :roll:
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us. ~Henry David Thoreau
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Matt
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protecting the water supply ... the money probably comes from federal homeland security funds.
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cbobcat49
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oh... good point.
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us. ~Henry David Thoreau
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