Town of Springfield

The trials of drafting a law to stop only a controversial project . .

DEVELOPMENT MORATORIUM TO BE REWORKED:

At Tuesday night's Springfield town board meeting, the board did not decide to adopt the moratorium the planning board has been working on, in hopes of slowing down town development before a comprehensive plan is created.

However, after a long, heated discussion between board members and the public, the board agreed to form a committee in order to continue working out glitches in the proposed moratorium.

Town Supervisor Tom Armstrong said the board would leave it in the hands of the committee, which will be made up of two town board members and two planning board members, to come up with something new for the board to hear in a few months.

"As it (the proposed moratorium) stands, it looks like a blank check and I cannot vote for it," said Councilman Richard Rathbun, who said he had difficulty understanding some of the language in the proposed moratorium.

For example, the proposed moratorium said the town would not approve any "unprecedented" projects.

Rathbun said he believed the word unprecedented could be interpreted to mean just about anything and needs clarification..