Letter to the Editor: Leishman Point
When I first learned of the Waddington Town Board's desire to develop the people's
Leishman Point property with houses, it seemed adequate because they made it sound so
beneficial. I started to have doubts when they could not sufficiently answer questions
about their proposal; which prompted me to begin investigating it. After all, I'm a
Waddington taxpayer and I live near the proposed project with my wife and three young
children. I should have an interest in what happens with this land. It wasn't until after
hundreds of hours of research, study, and having conversations with professional planners
from around the country, that I realized developing our waterfront exclusively with houses
is not the best option for the future of Waddington.
There are many reasons why I, and many others, believe an all-residential development is a
missed opportunity, and I have gone to great lengths to share those reasons with the Town
Board and the public. Many of the reasons are summarized in a report which I can send to
anyone who is interested. You can call me at 388-4991 to request a copy, and discuss this
or other issues in more detail. The information is also available on-line at
www.waddingtonredev.org.
The Town Board, to date, has not provided citizens with enough information to convince us
that their plan is, indeed, the best option. Otherwise, there would have been more than
20% of all registered voters (from the Town's recent survey) in Waddington that favored
the residential proposal.
The selling of Leishman Point for an all-residential subdivision would be analogous to the
Red Sox selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees. For those of you who are not baseball fans, and
don't know, the Red Sox owner sold the Babe to finance a musical on Broadway. The Sox have
not won a World Series since (it's painful to say that was 1918 - I'm a big Sox fan) and
the musical was a flop. Obviously, this was not a wise choice, and in both cases long-term
benefits are compromised for marginal short-term gain.
The only argument from the Town we have heard to date is, "we have to get the land
back on the tax rolls." Yes, it is true that Waddington has a significant amount of
land off the tax rolls, but even the Town Board recognizes that adding 16 houses will not
make a large impact on our tax base. Selling one of our most valuable resources should not
only increase the tax base significantly, but also increase economic development, job
creation, and social and recreational opportunities. An all-residential plan does not
fulfill these objectives adequately.
Financially, Waddington will be in a very enviable position over the next few years with
the influx of additional NYPA money. If the Town's only objective is to lower people's
property taxes, the town would be better served by using some of the NYPA settiement money
for tax abatement.
I'm not advocating this, but, as an example, if the Town used all of the NYPA settlement
money to offset taxes, there would not be any Town of Waddington property taxes, based on
2002 figures, and we could save the land for future water-dependent and water-related
development options that ensure a vibrant and sustainable community well into the future.
To put this in perspective, it would take more property than we have in all of St.
Lawrence County (over $3 billion; Waddington has around $57 million) to reduce the Town of
Waddington tax rate to 1 cent per assessed thousand (no increase in assessments can ever
make the tax rate zero).
Over the next few weeks, leading up to an October 14th referendum approving or
disapproving the Town Board's resolution to sell Leishman Point for residential housing, I
urge all Waddington citizens to get involved and take the time to leam as much as possible
about this important issue. Then vote for what is best for Waddington's future.
Mark Scott
Originally published 09/21/2003
Ogdensburg Journal
Used with permission