The Partial Observer by Joseph Homburger

Manocherian Plan Is Neither Financially Sound Nor Sustainable

With 1,500 acres of largely undeveloped land in play with the proposed subdivision, there is the need to address the consequences of transforming the property as it currently exists into the plan the Manocherian family continues to pursue. The Manocherian plan is unsound from an economic perspective as well as from a sustainable environmental standpoint.

Calls for a moratorium on subdivisions of properties greater than 20 acres in size as the Town of Otsego moves forward with its comprehensive plan and the subsequent revisions to zoning maps, codes rules, and regulations that will be necessary to fully implement the vision of their revised comprehensive plan have gone unheeded by the Otsego Town Board. A moratorium continues to be relevant and desirable in light of the pending Town of Otsego process as well as “The Nine Element Watershed Management Plan” currently engaging the Towns of Middlefield, Otsego, Richfield, Springfield, and the Village of Cooperstown (with an investment of $750,000.00 in taxpayer funds).

Otsego Lake’s highest and best use is for its utilization as a potable public water supply. Provisions of New York State Codes, Rules and Regulations, Public Health Law 1100, and other measures are in place to guard this resource attribute. The best way to protect this public water supply (as well as the fish, wildlife and scenic/historical attributes of Otsego Lake) is to greatly limit development in the watershed (e.g., those lands over which water flows before reaching the lake). The Village of Cooperstown, Cooperstown Watershed Supervisory Committee, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, entrepreneurs, the public, and the environment are stakeholders in the outcome of this critical land-use decision. I am calling upon the Towns of Otsego, Springfield, and each of the administrative bodies associated with reviews and approvals of this proposal to initiate steps to preclude the subdivision and buildout of the subject 1,500 acres of land.

I am aware of instances where entrepreneurs and developers have strategized for achieving enhanced prices for property they wish to sell by obtaining authorizations, permits or approvals as a means of gaining higher appraised values on their holdings prior to offering it for sale. Let one not forget that in Upstate New York property appraisals are based, in measure, on comparable local sales. Larger forested and agricultural lands historically sell for less per acre than building lots or smaller rural developable parcels.

It is fair for the Manocherian family to gain fair market value for the property it owns. They have paid taxes, yet they have also gained revenue from timber sales on their holdings. Now they are spending irretrievable money on attorneys and consultants in a drip, drip fashion on a proposal with a highly speculative outcome. Groundwater quality and quantity, wastewater management, highway construction and maintenance, potential open space (islands of such places do not ecosystem connectivity or sustainability make) are only some of the issues that would be avoided if another option was taken.

It will take the intent of the Manocherian family to be a willing seller of the vast majority of their holding to a willing buyer for the greater good and to avoid costs to the public for additional municipal water treatment, roadway upgrades and maintenance, watershed land-use inspections, plus numerous other such details. One-stop shopping for the Manocherian family and an end to a drip, drip, drip that could end in no viable subdivision approval?

The Glimmerglass Historic District (established 2000) is a notable cultural element worthy of valuable consideration in the context of what can become next steps.

The New York State Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022 provided $650 million for open space conservation and recreation throughout the state.

Is there among all the interested parties one willing to facilitate communication with the Manocherian family and be willing to take on the procurement of funding for a purchase to conserve these critical sensitive lands?

Joseph Homburger is a resident of the Town of Middlefield, a retired New York State Department of Environmental Conservation environmental analyst/permit administrator, and longstanding environmental advocate. The above comments were submitted to the Otsego Town Board on June 23, 2026.