Town of Maine public hearing has full house against potential corporate park

TOWN OF MAINE (WBNG) – On the evening of February 20, a public hearing was held in the Town of Maine concerning a potential corporate park for the area. The Broome County IDA is spearheading the effort for a corporate park.

When it comes to the lengthy process, Tuesday’s public hearing addressed whether or not to pursue the rezoning of 305 East Maine Rd., 1577 Airport Rd. and surrounding properties within the Town of Maine from the Rural Residential and Residential-1 Zoning Districts to the Industrial District.

A strong showing of residents stopped by and all addressed their concerns moving ahead.

“They haven’t performed any site plans, there’s no paperwork,” said Resident Bob Utter who has been closely following the project. “The Town of Maine has not received any paperwork from the IDA in the last year and a half and they’ve asked at numerous public meetings for the information.”

“We should not bow to a group that doesn’t care about us even though they say, if you read their editorials, that this is going to be lower taxes,” said Resident Philip Childs. “The whole thing, that’s always stated.”

Representatives from the Broome County IDA weren’t in attendance, but a letter from Executive Director Stacey Duncan was addressed to the town board and read out loud. “At the IDA’s January 2024 meeting, the Board passed a resolution of the IDA’s intent to declare Lead Agency status for the SEQR process. We have been informed that the Town of Maine Town Board would like to challenge the IDA’s Lead Agency status. We are preparing our response as to why we feel it best for the IDA to serve in this capacity.” In another part of this letter, Duncan also asked the town to “keep an open mind.”

At the end of the public meeting, Town Supervisor James Tokos said, “The Town Board has no intention of pursuing the rezoning of the above-referenced properties to the Industrial Zoning District and we have further resolved that this resolution should take effect immediately.”

When it comes to emails sent to the town board, Tokos said they have not received emails from anyone supporting the project.

This is a developing story, so stay with 12 News in the coming months.

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