Housing plan's critics fault Waddington ad
by Itai M. Maytal, Times Staff Writer
Critics of the town's residential development plan on Leishman Point accused the town of
"severely misleading" referendum voters through a last-ditch advertisement.
In the ad, published Sunday in the Ogdensburg Advance News, former mayor and candidate for
the Town Council Roger J. Shadow urged voters to support today's resolution and allow
residential development on former New York Power Authority land because it would increase
the tax base. He was referring to 16 lots proposed for a 22-acre property the town
received through its relicensing negotiations with NYPA.
Using the example of Clark Point, a 25-acre Waddington housing subdivision with more than
30 lots, Mr. Sharlow wrote that "taxes collected before development at Clark Point in
1998 = 0" while "taxes collected after development at Clark Point in 2003 =
$73,814.16.". Mark Scott, head of the Waddington Redevelopment Association's surplus
lands committee, said town residents should worry more about their property tax levy than
the town's tax base, since the levy more directly affects their lives. He asked residents
to compare their tax bills from 1998 to the present to see what kind of gains they
received from the Clark Point development.
"If in fact ClarkPointwas that beneficial, we should have seen a more significant
impact on taxes," Mr. Scott said. "But in fact, we have not." According to
his calculations, the revenue generated from Clark Point actually amounted to a savings of
only $6 per year per homeowner with an average assessment of $67,200, assuming the town
did not increase spending. Furthermore, he said it would take at least eight to 10 years
of expensive construction for similar tax revenue to be realized at Leishman Point.
"I don't question that the development would broaden the tax base," Mr. Scott
said, "but I do question it being significant enough to justify wasting a valuable
resource on dead-end development like residential construction."
Instead of housing, Mr. Scott and the Waddington Redevelopment Association have advocated
for a multipurpose development of the property which would include a mixture of
recreational and commercial initiatives. Ideas under consideration include a marina, a
hotel and convention center, and an RV park. This alternative has frustrated Mr. Sharlow
and the town council, who find it more expensive than their residential proposal.
"It will cost taxpayers nothing to maintain residential property on Leishman Point
because those residents will pay," Mr. Sharlow said. "In contrast, whatever the
WRA proposes, whether it's a marina, or a windmill or whatever, if it stays in public
hands, it will have to be maintained by taxpayers, which in this town are mostly senior
citizens with fixed incomes." Mr. Sharlow indicated that the residential plan would
leave very little in public hands outside of access to the waterfront.
Moreover, while he welcomes outsiders, he questioned the credibility of Mr. Scott's advice
to the town, given that he has been a resident only six years, compared to Mr. Shadow's
42. He also questioned the motivation behind Mr. Scott's aggressive resistance to
waterfront residential development. "I think its peculiar that the people living
along the St. Lawrence River are the same people trying to prevent others from living
there," he said.
While accusations and contrasting claims were exchanged between town officials and the
WRA, Michael T. Murphy, a truck driver and three year resident of the town, enjoyed a
quiet afternoon on Lieshman Point, with his 4-year-old keeshond dog, Diamond. He expects
to vote no to residential development, but not because he prefers the WRA's plan as he
understands it. "I'm a Republican and I don't like raising taxes," Mr. Murphy
said, "But I would be happy to pledge the money the town needs in order to keep this
place vacant."
Originally published 10/14/2003
Watertown Daily Times
Used with permission