An overview of the appeal process in New York.
(And other Knapp comments)

This is about the Knapp rezone that started 14 months ago. The Knapps have been accepted into the Farmland Protection Program that is set up to buy the development rights from farmers whose farms are under commercial pressure. (What commercial pressure?) After the farmer sells the development rights he gets to continue using his farm as before. Nice way to get some money from the government without really doing anything. The rezone was not needed for the Knapps to get the money, it was just wanted so the Knapps could get MORE money. Council person Kate Edinger stated last year when she made the motion to rezone that this would be good for the town. How? The Knapps will get ALL the money, not the town. Preble will not get one red cent, nothing, nada from this. NOTHING, that is but the bill for all the expenses the town has gone through. Probably in the tens of thousands of dollars so far! And it's not over. The town is the only one that started the appeal process, not the Knapps. That means that if the town continues with this appeal then YOU the taxpayer will foot the bill and IF they win the appeal the Knapps will get ALL the money. Someone ask Edinger just how this will be good for the town. Of all the farmers who have asked to get into the Farmland Protection Program the Knapps are the ONLY ones who have asked for this rezone! Why haven't the others asked for this? Perhaps it is because their name is NOT Knapp.

Farmland protection is fine on the face of it but in Preble it is not needed. In 1997, after 5 years of work the town enacted new laws that protect farmers far better than the farmland protection program. It is these laws that the Town board is trying to overturn.

The town has filed their notice of appeal that put them on a time track to 'perfect' their appeal. This gives them 60 days and an additional 30 (maybe) if the judge likes them. The town board could vote not to continue this at the next meeting in May, which was their plan, to decide in May. If they decide to go ahead they have to get their perfected appeal by mid June. This is not an easy or inexpensive task. They have to take ALL of the documents from the trial, a pile over 1 inch thick, and have someone add to the top of each page a description of what is on that page. Then the whole thing has to be copied 14 times and each copy put in a hard bound cover for the court. This is very expensive as you could imagine. The appellate division has to take the appeal and the opposing has 30 days to answer. This takes us into mid July. Then the town has 15 days to respond to that taking it into August. Oral arguments (In Albany) are then scheduled 3 or 4 months from that taking it into December. After that the court may take 3 or 4 months to produce a decision sometime next spring. A year in other words. However, the appellate division has a new mandatory mediation process designed to reduce frivolous appeals like this and if that is used the whole process could be over much sooner.

If the town loses the appeal (which they will) they could then take it to the Court of Appeals. I haven't looked into that yet.

Obviously this process is very expensive and it looks like it will be the taxpayers, not the Knapps, paying for it. It would make some sense if the taxpayers were going to benefit but that is not the case, it's just the Knapps, its always the Knapps isn't it. First the cell tower and now this. I wonder what hold they have over the town officials that get them to do these things? They surly wouldn't do it for you or me.

Frank Hogg
4/16/02