Lawyers have begun to file papers in a class-action lawsuit brought by eight Adirondack counties and numerous municipalities against the Adirondack Park Agency, disputing new shoreline setback regulations.
Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board Executive Director Fred Monroe said last week the office of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo recently requested an extension to respond to papers entered by Glens Falls-based lawyer Dennis Phillips in the lawsuit.
Fulton County and Hamilton County are among the plaintiffs, as are the towns of Caroga, Broadalbin and Northampton, among others. Phillips will file papers in response to those filed by the attorney general's office.
Supervisors of towns in the Adirondack Park, who vehemently opposed the regulations when they were announced in November, have continued to say the new regulations could have a devastating effect on property values in the park.
"It has already had an effect on people, because if you talk to some of the contractors that build homes, they'll tell you they lost business," Wells Supervisor Brian Towers said last week.
The regulations limit shoreline development near any body of water within the APA's jurisdiction, modifying a regulation that had been in place since 1973 that allowed properties built before then to be expanded away from the water without restriction.
How far away one can build from the water depends on shoreline setback regulations, which vary from area to area. Generally, they would apply to buildings within 50 to 100 feet of the water.
They new regulations state "an existing structure within the shoreline setback area may not be expanded in any direction within the shoreline setback area, including an increase of structure height, without a variance."
Northville contractor Thomas Groff of Ginter & Groff said the economic climate has made this winter difficult, and the new laws are not helping.
"I'm kind of sick of the regulations," Groff said. "They don't want anything to happen, and then they can't understand why they don't have any tax base, because all they do is regulate, regulate, regulate."
Zach Subar covers rural Fulton County news. He can be reached at ruralnews@leaderherald.com