Rock mecca tunes in zoning nuts and bolts By KATHY KAHN

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Rock mecca tunes in zoning nuts and bolts
By KATHY KAHN

Town of Bethel Supervisor Harold Russell doesn’t want his town to be milked by pricey developers, but he isn’t particularly fond of moratoriums either.

He recently lost a battle when the Town Board adopted a moratorium. But with the threat of lawsuits over the decision, the war is not over.

Russell, who sat on Bethel’s Town Board for a dozen years before becoming its supervisor a little more than a year ago, bought the farm that made Max Yasgur synonymous with the Woodstock Festival in 1969.

Russell’s in the dairy business, and his 160 cows produce the wholesale milk that keeps his business flowing. He’s also watching the increasing traffic “moo-ving” through his adopted hometown and through gated communities, like Chapin Estates, springing up in rural Sullivan county near the $70 million performing arts center that opened in Bethel in 2006.

For a community where the nearest supermarket is 12 miles away and businesses have performed, for the most part, modestly, venues like Bethel Woods Center for the Performing Arts and the proposed Mohawk-St. Regis casino are certainly lighting the once-sleepy town of Bethel. Russell says new business will benefit the town’s tax base and he would like to see the rural character preserved while services like a supermarket would come to the community.

“I am not a big supporter of a moratorium,” Russell told Hudson Valley Business before the Town Board voted on the issue. “The Town Board can handle most of our situations on a priority ‘need to’ basis. We have a committee reviewing zoning and codes. A moratorium could hinder us and cause businesses who are looking at Bethel to go elsewhere.”

For a town with a small commercial tax base, Russell welcomes “well-planned commercialism … It can be an asset to any town, but it has to be done in character. I’ve traveled around the country, and you can visit a McDonald’s that fits in with surrounding architecture. We don’t want anyone putting up a big metal building and start doing business, but we don’t want to chase business away, either.”

Other parts of the town, said Russell, have seen very nice, well-designed homes that are welcome additions. He’d like to see that trend continue, plus a commercial element to balance the residential growth.

Russell welcomes Alan Gerry’s newfound enterprise, calling Bethel Woods, “A fantastic place. They’ve expanded their schedule this year, and the (state) Department of Transportation is widening the turning lanes, particularly at the Hurd Road entrance site. It has brought a lot of excitement to our town.”

On June 14, after a heated two-hour debate at the town’s Senior Center, the board voted 4-1, with Russell the lone holdout, to impose a moratorium on large developments.

Bethel Woods’ 2007 opening night attracted more than 7,000 fans to the Chicago-America concert. With more to come at the venue, Bethel’s challenge will now be to keep business coming, not chase it away, Russell said.

Lawyers for builders who are at the end of the approval process are already talking legal action, something Russell hoped the town would avoid: “It will do the town more harm than good in the long run,” he said.