Letter from Joseph Homburger
Project Lawyer Got It Wrong
In the article in “The Freeman’s Journal” on Thursday, June 25, 2026, attorney Allyson M. Phillips, representing the Manocherian family in the current proposal to subdivide the family’s property in the Towns of Otsego and Springfield, presented inaccurate and incorrect information under the headline on page 1 which read: “Lawyer: Town Rushed Proposal Without Adequate Public Input.”
Phillips was quoted in part, stating that “public outcry alone doesn’t justify land use changes.” She is accurate in that statement, however, for those exercising due diligence the record is clear that the Town of Otsego had no notion that the Manocherian Family Sketch Plan Review was forthcoming when it did arrive.
There are several points that are worthy of public enlightenment regarding what can be viewed as separate administrative considerations that have become linked due to the unforeseen sketch plan submission by Manocherian.
The Towns of Middlefield, Otsego, Richfield, Springfield, and the Village of Cooperstown are currently engaged in a comprehensive management planning process for Otsego Lake and its watershed. These communities were awarded $503,456.00 on March 25, 2025 (CFA Number 129336) to develop and propose for adoption “The Nine Element Watershed Management Plan.” A plan such as this would have a profound positive outcome for protecting a major drinking water supply, fish and wildlife resources, scenic historic values of state and national significance, and guide economically sustainable land-use options for this important community asset. This initiate predates the Manocherian sketch plan submittals, too.
It is a fact that the Town of Otsego launched the comprehensive plan review and evaluation process June 12, 2024. It is a fact that the town had no indication or knowledge that Manocherian would submit a sketch plan for a 1,500-acre proposal in late July/earlv August 2025.
I previously wrote the Town of Otsego and others that initiating a moratorium would be a prudent action in light of the ongoing land use planning process and that a moratorium should not target a specific project but rather it should serve as a pause in accepting, reviewing or approving any projects affecting greater than 20 acres until the review and evaluation process of the comprehensive plan and an adoption of what will likely be modifications to current zoning, policies, procedures and local laws for administering an updated comprehensive plan. I believe that establishing such a moratorium remains relevant.
The comprehensive planning and review process is an independent action separate from the unanticipated Manocherian sketch plan review submission. The Town of Otsego resolved on June 12, 2024 to engage with Mohawk Valley Economic Development District for technical and administrative assistance in updating the town’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan of 2008. I believe the Town of Otsego had initiated discussions regarding assistance from MVEDD well before June 12, 2024 but the town’s earlier efforts with MVEDD met with pitfalls and circumstances that caused delays regarding grants/contracts/etc. in getting started with the Comprehensive Plan review process.
MVEDD contracted with the Otsego Town Board and has provided the Town of Otsego Planning Board with guidance and technical assistance in reviewing and upgrading the town’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan (enabled in-part by a significant grant of taxpayer funds) well before the Manocherian sketch plan was submitted for consideration.
Joseph Homburger
Cooperstown
In reviewing the facts, it appears Attorney Allyson Phillips, when referring to the “plan being rushed” was referring to the numerous mis-steps taken by the town board regarding the development of the proposed comprehensive plan, specifically, the lack of transparency and public involvement are troublesome. The town board purposefully chose to forgo mailing surveys/questionaries because of the postage expense. Instead, residents and concerned parties were expected to find copies at the general store, or stumble upon it on the town’s website, leaving many people unaware.
While it’s clear a lot of effort and time was spent developing the proposed new subdivision and short term vacation rental regulations, it’s also clear the process was not transparent. Take just a few minutes to review the published minutes of the sub-committee meetings. The 9/25 minutes reveal the issues were identified and the notes show the member’s questioned how to address them.
It would be reasonable to expect to read in the succeeding monthly minutes how and why their recommendations were determined. Instead, the complete lack of documentation concerning these deliberations leads one to believe their recommendations were arrived at arbitrarily.
The board now has another chance to ensure the public is notified and invited to participate as the comp plan is being sent back to committee. How will the board notify the public this time?
Let’s hope the new version of the comp plan is arrived at through careful, factually based, and most importantly, documented discussion.
The big picture is that all towns that border the lake were well underway in comprehensive review of the watershed and that the Town of Otsego had already started the process of updating its land plan. The Manocherian scheme was presented as a sketch after that process began, was withdrawn, then reappeared with greater density and un-developable areas marked as “open space.” When I first saw the plan, I thought it was an attempt to pump up an appraisal for a conservation easement donation. It’s not even that clever. It appears to be an ill-considered scheme that would be uneconomic for the towns to service in exchange for a trifling increase in property tax revenue.