As Leishman Point Referendum nears
A Third Group Enters The Fray
BY KRESTIA DeGEORGE
As the controversy surrounding Leishman Point comes to a head with
Tuesday's referendum, another citizens' group has emerged and is trying to position itself
as a neutral third party in the conflict.
Friends of Leishman Point is a loosely-knit group of residents who wish to see the point
kept undeveloped or developed only minimally as a public recreational area. In the dispute
between the residential development advocated by the town and the commercial development
which the Waddington Redevelopment Association (WRA) has proposed, this third group of
citizens feels silenced. Although the vote is a yes or no vote on the resolution passed by
the town council, the controversy has framed the question as one between two different
forms of development, they claim.
"A lot of people in the town feel like the vote is between residential or commercial
development," said Elizabeth Pier, a founding member of the group.
According to Pier, many peopie to whom she talked were fed up with one or both sides of
the debate and planned on voting against the stance taken by the group which angered them
most. Among her ranks Pier counts both those who were frustrated with the town
government and those who were upset with the WRA. "I think at this point Leishman
Point's become a war trophy" in the dispute between both sides, she said, adding that
this had disillusioned many voters. Pier sees Friends of Leishman Point as an apolitical
group hoping to appeal to those voters who feel alienated by the conflict. "We want
people to vote their conscience," she said, "Don't vote because you're mad at
one group or the other."
Still, the group does hold a political position in the upcoming referendum. They are
urging voters to reject the town proposal, in favor of leaving the point as a public
recreational area. Although Pier acknowledges that the town needs to get more of the 72
percent of tax-exempt land back on the tax rolls through some kind of development, she
believes that the affect the point's 22 acres will have is negligible.
"Why does it have to be Leishman Point? Why can't they use Whitehouse Bay?" she
asked. Her group believes that the Whitehouse Bay property, with its 450 acres, has more
than enough space for both residential and commercial interests, she said. According to
Pier, before the New York Power Authority seized it, the land at the point was left to the
Methodist church in Fellar Leishman's Will, the point's former owner and the person for
whom it is named, to be held for the public. "He did that for a reason, not so that a
select group of people who could afford it would live there," she said.
Although she concedes that some of the point will remain accessible to the public, she
said the group feels that is not enough. With some 2,100 residents in the town, the
group feels it is unfair to take away public access to the majority of the land. "Why
should only 16 families be able to enjoy everything out there?" she asked.
Friends of Leishman Point hope that a "no" vote will pull the town together to
plan the point's future in a less combative way Ultimately, Pier said, "Everyone
want's what's best for Waddington."
Originally published 10/10/2003
Ogdensburg Journal
Used with permission