Headlines

Here are several interesting stories. The first one is particularly good news for the Southern Tier economy:

CHEMUNG SITE COULD BE NEXT BIG PROJECT:

While local officials celebrated big economic news on the western side of Chemung County on Monday, they hope to have even more good news on the other side of the county by the end of the summer.

The Whitewagon development site in the town of Chemung is the subject of considerable outside scrutiny, and some officials are confident that a major prospect will locate there soon.

Most of the interest in the site comes from distribution-type businesses, said officials who declined to provide further details.

"We're working on a project. I can't tell you any details," said Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli. "I'm hoping that it's something that we'll be able to talk about sometime around Labor Day. We're still working real hard at it."

If a deal comes through with a major business that is looking at the site, it will dwarf Monday's news that Schweizer Aircraft in Big Flats will create 100 new jobs, said Chemung Town Supervisor George Richter.

"It would be extremely significant, not just for the little town of Chemung but for this entire county and this entire region," Richter said.

LOCAL COUPLE SEEKS ZONING STATUTE TO BUILD WIND TURBINE:

After being denied twice by the Town of Dryden, there is still hope that a local couple could erect a wind turbine to power their home.

The rejections came not from any inherent problem with the application, but because the town has no zoning ordinance to regulate wind turbines, leaving applicants in bureaucratic limbo.
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This problem with wind turbine ordinances is not unique to Dryden. Of the nine towns in Tompkins County, only the Town of Lansing lists wind turbines as a permitted use, with some qualifications. The towns of Ithaca and Ulysses plan to review their ordinances later this year.

The lack of town laws for turbines is due, in part, to the relatively few applications towns receive for their construction. According to New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), in the past five years, 16 projects have been approved and built throughout the state using their small wind program. Another 10 are in the development phase and an unknown number were done with out NYSERDA support.

PLAN TO BUILD MORE HOMES:

All over Long Island, proposals for large development projects often run into community opposition. In Kings Park, however, residents are supporting a plan to build 99 homes in their figurative backyards.

That's because the houses will replace industrial property - a sandmining operation and a manufacturer of cement cesspool liners - long considered a blight in an otherwise secluded upper-class area.

STANFORD SUED FOR $10 MILLION BY LANDOWNERS:

Landowners trying to subdivide part of their horse farm have sued the Town of Stanford planning board for $10 million, alleging the board members violated their civil rights during nearly two years of protracted review.
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The controversy comes as one of Dutchess County's most rural towns is beginning to deal with more development pressure. The population of Stanford grew 5 percent from 2000 to 2004, but still stood among the lowest in the county, at 3,729, according to the latest census estimate.