Curse you, Mark King.
Curse you and your Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy.
Curse you for preserving so many of Nova Scotia's rural and agrarian traditions, and for making our town live up to its nickname as the "Jewel of Albany County".
Curse you, Alan Kowlowitz and Dennis Sullivan, for diligently preserving Nova Scotia's rich historical heritage, and you too, Melissa Hale-Spencer, for faithfully recording the life and times of every New Scotsman in these pages .
And while we're at it, curse all of the community officials whose comprehensive plans and business parks and zoning plans have conspired to fight for our hometown for something worth fighting for.
Smallpox on these pillars of the New Scottish identity because we have secured a cultural heritage that we must all preserve now and pass on to future generations. No one has asked these relentless businessmen to make our community so special or to impose on us the solemn burden of defending a way of life against the pressures of modernization and economic exploitation.
So curse you, I say. Thanks to you, there are tons of shows on Netflix that I will never see because it is so time consuming to stay vigilant in the face of the endless efforts to pave our fields and forests. You're idiots.
But what is done is done. And now that these graying local boomers have gone and opened the nostalgic Pandora's toy box, figuring out what issues should influence our vote in the upcoming November 2nd city council election is arguably the first task.
After all, the arrival of the 2020 US census data requires serious consideration. Among other high-profile data points was the revelation that New York City now accounts for 44 percent of the total population of our state after seeing a wholly unexpected increase of 629,000 people since 2010. Stay here. There's nothing to be seen up here.
But the advancing horde will not be banished to the under-state. In our north in Saratoga County, cities like Malta, Halfmoon and Ballston have seen their populations grow by 16-21 percent over the past 10 years. Meanwhile, Albany County has grown by over 3 percent over the past decade, a rate that even Nova Scotia has exceeded by more than 5 percent (for a total of 9,096 residents). As The Enterprise reported last week, "No other parish in Albany County has seen a larger population jump than Nova Scotia."
I welcome this arrival of another 448 residents. By expanding the tax base, patronizing the local business community and increasing the creative energies of our neighborhood, these new New Scots have brought life to a hometown they can now rightly call their own. There are a number of commercial opportunities and quality of life improvements that our new neighbors make possible; their presence speaks strongly to Nova Scotia's open acceptance of those who would follow them.
But it is also true that precisely what draws people to Nova Scotia could be lost if population expansion continues unchecked. And in the short term, as new trappings of luxury companies emerge to suit this larger civic community, the appeal of Nova Scotia will continue to grow.
In my opinion, there is only one compound question for our city council candidates – all other questions are derived from this. *Hm*:
Should there be a practical limit to the total population of Nova Scotia, and if so, what limit?
Is it the current 10,000 inhabitants? Should it be 20,000? 50,000? Or should the population growth of Nova Scotia be completely unchecked, its hamlets buried under an onslaught of dead ends and only be remembered as the branding of massive new residential complexes with names like "Clarksville Commons", "Unionville Apartments", "Tarrytown Meadows"? "And" Feura bushes? "
A population-derived question is whether the city council candidates are willing to use the authorities at their disposal to strategically influence the size of our community by relying on a mix of zoning restrictions, zoning regulations and a campaign to promote Leave conservation easements.
To those who argue that the right to dispose of property should be absolute, unimpeded and unlimited, I say only this: I hear you, I recognize the merits of your perspective, I unconditionally reject it, I offer you my condolences for I have decided to buy a property in Nova Scotia when Bethlehem would clearly have been a better fit, and I'm sparing us both further lip service as our positions are deeply rooted and philosophically irreconcilable. And I really have to go back to Netflix.
Those who argue that logistical barriers or the natural features of the city – e.g. Wherever there is money to be made, there will always be communities and ecosystems that need to be destroyed. Let's not forget how close we were to installing Stewart’s Shops kerosene tanks on the Vly Creek flood plain across from an elementary school.
What is needed, therefore, is the continuation of a proactive and conscious regulatory system that channels expansion, construction and newcomers in a way that is consistent with what New Scotland is doing, well, New Scottish.
Concerned that New Scotland Town Supervisor Doug LaGrange wouldn't give me exactly the pull quote I needed for this column, I decided not to call him for comment. Instead, let us conjure up a reality together, dear readers, in which Supervisor LaGrange bravely walked to the flagpole in front of City Hall last week – I don't know, let's say on Monday – and gave a rousing speech in which he said: “The City of Nova Scotia ”. is closed for further development. ”Take a second; Did we all participate in this shared experience? Okay, let's move on.
Last Monday, New Scotland Town Supervisor Doug LaGrange bravely stepped to the flagpole in front of City Hall to explain that New Scotland was closed to further development. It was a bold statement indeed. For my part, I was shocked.
This so-called "LaGrange Doctrine" has already become a cornerstone of New Scottish domestic politics, angering budding developers and European capitals alike. Supervisor LaGrange reportedly remains undeterred in the face of criticism. "I am a servant who is not only loyal to the interests of my neighbors," LaGrange told me on the phone, "but also to the interests of those who came before us and will one day take our place."
(Um, yeah, so I forgot that part. We all have to go through a reality now where I called Supervisor LaGrange and he said, “I'm a servant who is not only loyal to my neighbors' interests, but also the interests of the neighbors, interests of those who came before us and those who will one day take our place. ”Which sounds more or less like something he would say, doesn't it? Take a second. Got it? Read on .)
I readily recognize the deeply damaging impact of restrictions on housing growth in Nova Scotia, namely the housing shortage. Nova Scotia property values are already skyrocketing; The limits of development will only accelerate this trend. Without tactical intervention, New Scotland risks one day becoming an elite enclave of complacent cereal-crunching capitalists and exhausted, self-gratifying professionals who import the fruits of family farms that can no longer afford to work in the city.
But in this case, perhaps the solution is to “build” rather than “go out”. Perhaps the real question is not how to limit the population of Nova Scotia, but rather how to fortify our undeveloped land.
After all, I'd love to live on a revitalized east side of Voorheesville's South Main Street, where residents of neighboring four-story apartment buildings, townhouses, or condos live above the first floors, home to dry cleaners, hardware stores, convenience stores, and existing staples like Star + Splendor, Purity Hair Design and Gio Culinary Studio. A neighborhood in the style of Albany's Center Square would still provide access to a blue ribbon school district without the side sprawl that too often engulfs the otherwise quaint towns in the backcountry.
So maybe the LaGrange Doctrine requires a reinterpretation. I mean, who does this asshole think he is anyway? (OK I'll fix it: now pretend I called Supervisor LaGrange and he made it clear that he meant to say that Nova Scotia is closed to any further development that leads to the destruction or deforestation of existing open spaces, wetlands and forests All Good? Geez, constructing "alternate facts" is a lot harder than it looks on the cable news.)
This reconstituted LaGrange Doctrine should now assist the Nova Scotia City, Planning and Zoning Authority in assessing the application to build six two-story buildings about a quarter of a mile below Town Hall on New Scotland Road. Yes, the proposed 72 units of affordable housing could offer Nova Scotia more of the socio-economic diversity it increasingly lacks, but does it include an adequate commitment to open space? Regardless of how this particular issue is resolved, city officials must reconcile any ambiguities in the applicable village zoning law in order to preserve the bucolic sensibility of Nova Scotia. Because once they're gone, they're gone forever.
As an illustration, there is still time to share your thoughts on what to do with the historic Bender Melon Farm, which was saved for posterity by the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy in 2020. (For more information, visit https://arcg.is/aOHDK.) And I have no doubt that the veterans of the Big Box Wars welcomed the news of the Bender Melon Farm with certain complacency, and with it the accomplishments of their insurrection from 2008 have firmly established. But their feat, absurdly, created an inland paradise that is now even more welcoming to those who wish to take advantage of the character of Nova Scotia at their own expense.
So what will it be, candidates? Will Nova Scotia look like Delmar in 2050? Like Clifton Park? Or will it look like Nova Scotia? And if the latter, what is your plan to turn today's wooded hometown into that of mid-century?
It is not for nothing that Nova Scotia has long been known as the "Jewel of Albany County". On November 2nd, 2021, vote for the candidates who will fully work to ensure that our jewel shines as brightly tomorrow as it does today – thanks to the efforts of these cursed aging boomers who seem fundamentally misunderstood the concept of retirement.
Editor's Note: Jesse S. Sommer's father is a member of the New Scotland Zoning Board of Appeals.