Master Plan needs help

A Master Plan for West Monroe is being drafted. The current proposal for West Monroe designates the Rt 49 corridor as the only Commercial area. It cripples business expansion of the numerous small businesses’ that we are fortunate to have located throughout the town. Business owners won’t be able sell their business property unless they are zoned Commercial or are located on Rt 49. They won’t be able to expand their current buildings, or build new ones. Your equity vanishes, Goodbye retirement! The major property owner’s rights are also endangered. The plan will restrict any property away from the Rt 49 corridor to be Residential. That means you, the property owner, will have no right to orchestrate a sale to Corporate America…. So long Home Depot! The current plan does not thoughtfully review the possibilities of the town. Creating a town with a massive majority of residential use and not allowing future expansion of a current business is outrageous. We are a working, commuting, recreational and business community. Land owners have rights too. They pay taxes, vote and supply your beautiful scenic view we all enjoy. Should you dictate who can sell or what their property must be used for? Rt 49 will become an even more dangerous and congested nightmare by making it the only commercial business area for our town. The road supervisor can certainly advise about traffic issues relative to the current transportation system, and I am sure has already done so. If the traffic count increases, I would guess NYS will add another exit to Rt 81 and change the current master plan. Alternate areas will develop on their own, if allowed. Some members of the committee selfishly want to create rules that that eliminate their own problems with the neighbors, or unsightly items across the street. The responsibility of restriction belongs to all of the local property owners in conjunction with the Town board. The Planning board administrates rules that the town and property owners must agree upon, through public meetings. We are a rural community and we need to think urban expansion, not metropolitan design