Issues You May Have Been Wondering About

By The Courier Staff

September, 1977

A number of people have been coming to the editors of the Courier with questions about issues concerning the Corporation. Here are some of the answers we found by speaking to the Board of Directors and to town officials. Many people wanted to know what the Board of Directors has accomplished with regard to a barrier at Lucille's Bend (see Courier #6). President Bolsterle went to town hall a week before the town meeting of August ninth to have us put on the agenda for that meeting.

The town clerk checked with the mayor and informed Mr. Bolsterle that because our road is private, the town was unable to do anything about a barrier on it. Mr. Bolsterle has since checked with a number of firms looking for an inexpensive way to build it ourselves. So far he has found nothing good, but he is still looking. He has also met with the developer of Powdermill Estates, Mr. Mossberg, to try to get him to build it with us in our mutual interest. The Courier suggests that everyone at the Lake support Mr. Bolsterle by keeping out eyes out for a cheap way to build the barrier. It is essential that this important issue not be forgotten. The Courier will keep you posted on any developments that occur.

A number of people have also expressed concern over a new township zoning map which was passed at the meeting of August ninth.

This map, which appeared in certain newspapers, depicted Powdermill Road as going straight through to Route 10, and gave Tabor Lake the same zoning as Powdermill Estates -- not the green area that we had been counting on (see Courier #2). The zoning, as it turns out, has not been changed at all. The concept of a green area does not come under the zoning map but rather in the "master plan" of the township. This is because the green area is not absolutely binding law but a guideline that the township will most likely make binding should a situation arise. The zoning district for "recreation, conservation, and wildlife" is reserved for very large areas. While neither the zoning nor the master plan has been changed, it is important to note that we have never had more than a small portion of our land within the green area (see the map on the cover of this issue). If a developer were to try to buy this land, the green area would represent exactly the areas he would probably not develop anyway. A copy of the full Master Plan and the new zoning map are available from the editors.

All town maps (including zoning maps, master plans, and tax maps) show Powdermill Road as going straight through to Route 10. They do not show our loop, which runs around the back (see again the map on the cover). A town engineer explained to us that the loop did not show up because it was a private road. Why, then, did the rest of the road show up? This engineer felt that that made it a public road, unless there was a mistake in the original tax map. Such a mistake, he said, was very unlikely. Mr. Bolsterle has a letter from the assistant planning director of the town stating that the road is shown that way only because the town would like to pave the road for through-traffic if we ever sold the land. This implies, but does not state directly, that the road is private. The Corporation has Mr. Denning and Mr. Nemo to thank for bringing the Environmental Protection Agency in to look at the storm sewer at Lucille's Bend in June.

During early June, that storm sewer was dumping very large amounts of mud into the lake after every rain. The lake became a permanent brown. The E.P.A. had a report sent to Mr. Mossberg, the Developer, who then improved the filtering system of the storm sewer. The lake is still not perfect, but it is at least green. Some have suggested that we may have lost the outside memberships of people who saw the lake in June. Perhaps it would be a good idea to have a committee check that storm sewer earlier next year.

We hope all of this clears up some of the things people have been wondering about. In the future we will always be happy to research similar questions that may arise.