Victory In Colonie SPB Stops GEIS
Victory In Colonie
SPB Stops GEIS
By Daniel Van Riper
Late breaking news as we go to press: Save the Pine Bush attorney Lew Oliver said we had a really good case. As usual, he was right.
In a major victory for Save the Pine Bush, State Supreme Court Justice Harold J. Hughes has declared the Town of Colonie Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) null and void. Among the issues raised was that the large piece of Pine Bush in Colonie that was virtually ignored and dismissed by the document.
This GEIS, like others before it, is essentially an attempt by the municipality to bypass environmental regulations and public input. Taxpayers foot the bill for this give-away to developers. The idea is that if environmental regulations are dismissed in a "generic" manner, then developers will not have to pay for their own impact statements, and will flock to the Town in record numbers. Naturally, such a GEIS would be a disaster for the Pine Bush.
During the 1980’s, the City of Albany produced three of these turkeys at enormous expense, and Save the Pine Bush’s attorney Lew Oliver had all three thrown out. The battle is not over yet, Colonie officials have said that they are considering an appeal of the decision.
Printed Feb/Mar 97
