Letter: Caroline zoning debates continue

When the first Caroline Town Comprehensive Plan was created, nearly 30 years ago, it very specifically  did not include zoning. It was felt, at that point, that we did not yet need additional protection beyond  the comprehensive plan, though we realized this could possibly, even likely, come later. I was a Town  Board member, having campaigned for the Town’s need for Planning, I pushed for that early effort. 

Now, my perspective from the outside is that it seems that the potential establishment of a “General Dollar Store” caused disturbing discussions at the Town Board as they deliberated how to rule on that  development. Apparently, it was realized that the Town did not have all the tools to make a fair, reasonable or informed decision, even leading one board member to exclaim “We need zoning!” The  Board wisely put into place a moratorium so that they could have the time to build a framework for  appropriate decisions of this nature. Hence the creation of the Zoning Commission.  

The Commission’s approach has been excellent and I appreciate the hard work of this group. It has a chair and other knowledgeable members, who have great organizing and research skills to have put  together a thorough draft. Their process of beginning with a complete coverage of all zoning  characteristics and then whittling it down to what Caroline needs seems to have accomplished what I  think is needed: a very limited zoning that protects our natural environment and farmlands and  maintains the quality and type of life our residents have become accustomed to over the years.  

Just as when we first proposed comprehensive planning in the 1990s, the response by a vocal minority of town residents is mostly misinformed. Much of the outcry is about issues that the zoning draft does  not promote and that the comprehensive plan has never argued for. The negative energy that is  generated is magnified by the national political background of polarization that is inflamed by  everyone’s ready access to multiple media avenues. This only adds to our citizens’ anxiety about the  future and increases the feelings of lack of control over their lives. 

I believe that a majority of Caroline Residents would have little problem with, or would endorse, the  zoning commission’s current draft. After the first comprehensive plan reactions in the 1990s, the  hubbub quickly died down and people realized that their lives and their comfort with their Caroline  community had changed very little. To me, that means that the planning has achieved the oft-stated  desire of most all residents: ALLOWING THEIR LIVES TO BE THE SAME or KEEPING THINGS THE WAY  THEY ARE. 

Ed Cope