Grassroots group forms

Residents Protecting Montgomery favors ‘smart growth’

By Laura Fitzgerald
Posted 7/24/19

Montgomery residents are organizing in opposition to large-scale development in the town with the formation of the group Residents Protecting Montgomery (RPM).

“We’re for smart, …

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Grassroots group forms

Residents Protecting Montgomery favors ‘smart growth’

Posted

Montgomery residents are organizing in opposition to large-scale development in the town with the formation of the group Residents Protecting Montgomery (RPM).


“We’re for smart, sustainable growth,” RPM member Karina Tipton said. “We understand that this is a town with businesses, and it needs tax revenue, but we want it to be done the right way.”


Tipton said the group’s main focus is to build a sense of community engagement by giving residents a voice during the comment process.


“The process can be very opaque, and it can feel very overwhelming. We want to demystify that process and help people understand how they can take a role in how Montgomery is being developed,” Tipton said.


RPM member Don Berger said another focus of the group is to spread the word about the large projects before the town planning board. The group wants to make themselves visible before the planning and town board.


“We’re letting the village and the town boards know where we stand and what they should be doing in support of the residents,” Berger said. “We feel that the town and village do not lend the village residents any support on this. They’ve seemed to have taken a direction and they’re sticking to that direction and not listening to the concern of the residents.”


The group met for the first time at the Village of Montgomery Memorial Park on a drizzly Wednesday night. Signs sporting the words “No Medline” in bold red, white and blue lettering surroundedthe group as they spoke of the projects they see as threatening their town.


“Amazon and Medline are oversized and they’re out of character for the Town of Montgomery,” Tipton said. “They’re going to be the largest warehouses in Orange County, and we recognize that our town infrastructure and the county infrastructure is not equipped to support them.”


Tipton said for now, the group will review the Draft Impact Environmental Statement (DEIS) for Medline, a proposed 1.3-million-square-foot warehouse just outside Village of Montgomery limits. The Town of Montgomery planning board will hold a public hearing for the DEIS on Aug. 13.


“We want to make sure that people have the opportunity and the understanding to comment on that document and to engage with the State Environmental Quality Review process,” Tipton said.


The group will host meetings so residents may review documents together and bring up their concerns.


The group will also set its sights on the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Project Sailfish—a one-million-square-foot Amazon warehouse—when the document is released.


The group proposed a moratorium on new development in the town. RPM created a petition on their Facebook page for a “moratorium on mega warehouses in Montgomery, NY” with 56 signatures as of July 22.


The group is grassroots at its most basic, an assembly of residents who decided to get together around a common cause in their community. Tipton said she wants to bring more residents to the table because the projects currently before the planning board are not final.


“These projects aren’t final projects. They’re not done deals, and that’s a really common misconception when we’re talking to our neighbors,” Tipton said. “That’s one of the reasons we want to bring more people to the table. By having more voices in the room where the decisions are being made, I hope that people feel a little bit more empowered and energized to take action about these projects while the town is concurrently figuring out their zoning and their comprehensive plan.”


Those interested may contact the group at stopmedlinemontgomery@yahoo.com or visit “No Medline in Montgomery” on Facebook.

Montgomery, residents protecting Montgomery, planning, building projects