Proposed Zoning Change in Alton

[Slickcraft]

In Today's Baysider:

Vote against Amendment 8
To the Editor:
Amendment 8 will set a dangerous precedent for the entire town of Alton. This citizen’s petition based amendment proposes to change zoning of nearly 400 acres of land along Robert’s Cove Road from Rural to Lakeshore Residential. The town did not start this proposal. This is a situation where one summer-use family’s personal vendetta against year-round neighbors has turned into something that impacts many more people than it should. Instead of talking things over with the neighbors, they started a petition among their friends to rezone the entire area.
Other than the one bullying neighbor, not one family within the affected area signed the petition. Several property owners in the area are committed to keeping the land relatively undeveloped, forested, and comfortable for rural living. Restricting this land to Lakeshore Residential land use would make this difficult and impractical to maintain, not to mention the fact that for all practical purposes the affected land is nowhere near the lake. I live in the affected area of Robert’s Cove Road, and no one I have spoken to about this rezoning thinks it’s a good idea. When we organized the protest petition, more than 393 acres of property, more than 80 percent of the affected land and owners, was against this change. The planning board also unanimously does not support this rezoning. If the town had done a study, or if someone had genuine reasons why this change should happen, it might be another story. But, this petition to rezone was pushed upon us by people, most of whom don’t even own property within two miles of us. These neighborhood bullies had enough friends willing to sign a petition that tries to change Alton into the city it is not, but imagine the precedent this sets for our town.
Rural areas are relatively undeveloped compared to Lakeshore Residential zones, but once rezoned they would have not only the same land use restrictions, but developers would be allowed to potentially triple the population density. A three-acre lot in Rural could be broken into three single-acre lots in Lakeshore Residential. More houses on fewer acres of land would devastate the rural character of our town, and be a crushing burden on our year round residents who have chosen not to live in the city. The town was required by law to accept the citizen petition since 35 people signed, several of whom were husband and wife doubling the numbers. Now it is presented for the town to vote upon and it is up to the common sense of the people of Alton to set this straight. Please keep in mind that several owners of 393+ acres of affected property are actively working against this proposal, and consider the precedent this sets for other Rural areas of the town.

Amanda Eason Alton

[MAXUM]

What I find amazing with stories like this is how some people can be so, what's the right word I'm looking for here, inconsiderate comes to mind. Now granted obviously the chicken woman legally has the right to own those chickens, but really if it's that much of a problem with the neighbors, clearly it is if 1/2 of what nature lover said, why be a complete (bleep) about it? I have no idea what's up with people these days, but everyone once in a while you hear of stuff like this and it leaves me to wonder why. I just can't even comprehend doing this to my neighbors, has this woman completely lost any sense of decency? Sad to see - and worst off it's so avoidable. Nothing is worse than a crappy neighbor especially when they are that obstinate.

[Argie's Wife]

...remember, you're only hearing one side of the story.

There was a public hearing about the zoning amendment already - both side had the opportunity to present their cases; the ZBA did not recommend the proposed zoning change.

I've been in a very similar situation but maybe I'm a country girl - it didn't bother me... I have a third of an acre, and my neighbor probably has less land... I don't recall a big din of noise... (but then I have kids...)

[Rusty]

The problem would go away if that lady in Alton would only get her roosters some ladies.


The rooster in this video stops crowing once his ladies are home:

[nature lover]

Originally Posted by Slickcraft

In Today's Baysider:

Unbelievable!! There would have been no petition proposed had this person just once in the last 41/2 years made one effort to sit down with her neighbors to discuss how much they bothered people. She was called many times, the police tried to get her to sit down with the neighbors, and letters were written and she either didn't respond or wrote a nasty letter back saying she was not going to do anything because she had the right to keep the roosters because she lived in a rural zone. Unfortunately that rural zone abuts the lake and that meant that everyone in the lakeshore residential zone right across the street has to put up with all the rural uses including crowing roosters. So if the neighbors in the rural zone want to be angry at someone your friend the rooster lady is your gal. We have all lived here for 50 plus years and no one had a problem with the rural zone or with each other till this person moved in and brought her 5 roosters 41/2 years ago.

As for the people who signed the petition they are all registered voters and many have been to our houses and couldn't believe what we have all had to put up with and worse that the town of Alton was basically ignoring us. We exercised our democratic right to do this petition and the rural people exercised their right to counter it. We respect their rights to protect their property and we only ask they respect our right to protect our properties. We also ask that they get both sides before they rush to a judgement and hate their neighbors for doing what we think they would have done if they had to put up with what we have all had to endure for the past 41/2 years.

The town of Alton is at fault too for having a noise ordinance that exempts roosters. Our hands were tied and this petition was one way to get them to pay attention to a serious problem of very valuable property and as a result very high taxes, not being protected due to unfair zoning.

This lady is angry right now because the lawyer found out that she has a nonconforming lot and now she either has to go before the Zoning board to get a special exemption to keep her chickens and roosters or get a lot line adjustment to get the 2 acres she needs to keep them. If the town of Alton had just once responded to our letters and phone calls they could have told us this before we spent thousands on a lawyer to help us and felt we had no choice but to do this petition. If she had not ignored our numerous calls and letters she would have her chickens (we have no complaint with them and never did), there would be no petition, and this neighborhood would not be torn apart. She might even have kept her 5 roosters because we were willing to agree to ask her to just let them out 1 or 2 hours a day. We are tired of being villified. We think we have been more than patient and have tried every way possible to solve this neighborhood nuisance. And just to let everyone know, several of the people complaining live in the rural zone.

Nature Lover

[Jonas Pilot]

You should live near me! My neighbor has horses, ducks, geese, a donkey that braes and peacocks that make the weirdest sound you can imagine. Another neighbor has chickens and a rooster. Almost every neighbor has at least one dog. Another neighbor drives a school bus. In the summer time an ice cream truck comes around playing loud music. These are the sounds of my neighborhood. I look forward to all these "noises". I guess if I let it bug me it would lesson my enjoyment of the time I spend outside. But I like it. It makes my neighborhood different and therefore special.

[Argie's Wife]

By the way, this failed at the polls yesterday... no zoning change.

[ghfromaltonbay]

Heard this report earlier in the week on the radio. The town of Howell is in central NJ west of the shore area. This area and Toms River had been very rural 40+ years ago, and there used to be a lot of poultry farms there. When I was a kid back in the late 50's and early 60's we would stop for eggs on the way back from a day at the beach. Today I saw that the ordinance was passed and is now the law.

(CBS/AP) HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) - A New Jersey town is considering an ordinance that would regulate when a rooster can doodle doodle do.
Officials in Hopewell Township say they need to do something to keep the henhouse noise down in a suburban town with agrarian roots.
The rules would apply to roosters and hens on properties of less than five acres.
Small properties would be allowed to keep up to a half-dozen hens. But roosters would be allowed only 10 days a year for their conjugal chicken visits. And they'd be barred from crowing (cock-a-doodle don't).
If a rooster is too loud, the property wouldn't be allowed to host any roosters for two years.

[Kamper]

I'm glad everyone here is being respectful of the legal process. Nature Lover, you and your neighbors should be careful not to leave your bird-feeders out too long. You might be blamed if a bear wanders through your neighborhood and eats a few chickens, when it's probably the chicken-stink that attracted the bear to the vicinity of your bird-feeder.

Good luck! I hope it all works out for the best.