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TOWN OF JOHNSTOWN — In 2022, the town of Johnstown corrected a zoning law. It’s not clear if the changes are effective.
And this is why: town officials say that the state Secretary of State has not filed the local law. The Daily Gazette family of newspapers has not been able to independently verify this.
“It was mailed in and for reasons known only to God I guess, it just never got recorded,” said Town Supervisor Jack Wilson.
This pushed the Town Board on Monday to send back the legislation with a different date in hopes of possibly getting it into the system.
The law includes restrictions on new solar farm zoning, in addition to setback, fencing and screening requirements. The intent is to tame the burgeoning solar industry from taking reign over local resources and burdening property owners.
Similar legislation was passed in 2021, but never sent to the SOS. As a remedy, the law was re-approved in April of 2022.
After it was sent to Albany, however, officials noticed an error in the language. By writing “except” instead of “only”, development was mistakenly banned in manufacturing, commercial and agricultural use zones.
“One allowed building in those zones and one did not and [the town] wants it so that you can only build within those zones,” said Town Clerk Caitlin Hart.
The town sent a corrected version to the state. Hart, who was appointed clerk this year after serving in a deputy capacity, hasn’t heard why the old version is only publicly available from the state.
About three months ago, she was informed that the incorrect version was posted online.
“We just want to get it changed because we have people calling left and right about this solar allowance,” Hart said.
All local laws are sent to the SOS through the mail.
