PLYMOUTH – Plymouth is pretty in the spring and summer, several residents and one local leader say, only because trees hide the clusters of junk and other debris collecting in the town.
It’s now, when the leaves fall, that the problem shows itself, Town Councilman Robert Baker claims.
“I’m sick of defending Plymouth every time I hear people ‘hee-hee’ and ‘ha-ha’ because of the type of town we have,” said Baker. “You see it whenever the leaves fall.”
The Town Board passed a local law 4-1 Monday that gives it the authority to curb the growth of visible junk piles on private property.
Councilman Robert I. Brown was the lone dissenting vote. Councilmen Baker, Richard Thompson, and Lewis Somers, along with Supervisor Jerry Kreiner, were in favor.
Prior to its passage, 19 Plymouth residents offered their opinions of the law during a public comment period that lasted 30 minutes. Chris Steiber, one of the 11 residents in favor, said it’s a good start toward cleaning up the town.
“It’s pretty open-ended in some spots, but it protects us from having more (junk),” said Steiber, who lives on Inman Road. “It’s a good place to start.”
The ordinance is complaint-driven, and allows a number of exceptions, including farm equipment and commercial junk. It does not subject existing lawn debris – of any kind – to penalty, unless the pile gets bigger.
Others like Laurie Will, who owns a greenhouse and nursery on county Rt. 21, see the new restrictions as unfair and unnecessary.
“My family has lived here for five generations and always paid their taxes, and the town has never had to have these laws. We already have state, county and DEC (state Department of Environmental Conservation) laws. We don’t need a town law, too,” said Will, who recycles broken pottery as part of her business, and says sometimes it accumulates on her lawn. “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. As long as I pay my taxes and obey the law, who’s to tell me what I can and can’t have, or that it has outlived its usefulness?”
Walter Rogers, an emergency coordinator for Plymouth Fire Department, says all taxpayers are already subject to health, code, and DEC permit laws that say how people can and can’t use their property.
“You’re already told what to do, and those laws are reasonable laws,” said Rogers. “So is this one ... have pride in your community.”
Residents John Engles and Ken Manley, along with Councilman Brown, suggested the law be put on the 2008 ballot so the public could voice more than their opinions.
Others said the law could affect their livelihoods.
