For the Second Time, Manhattan Developer Challenges Town of Otsego Over Land Plan

By DEBRA MOFFITT
FLY CREEK

It’s one step forward, two steps back for the Town of Otsego’s comprehensive land-use plan, a document designed to guide sensible development and future ordinances. Fraydun Manocherian, a Manhattan developer who owns 800 acres and wants to build 50 homes in the town, still objects to the plan, despite recent amendments, according to a letter from his lawyer.

At a recent public hearing, Town Supervisor Pat Kennedy shared the letter and expressed concern it may be a prelude to a lawsuit against the town. Manocherian has proposed 126 new housing units on the west side of Otsego Lake in a development that spans the towns of Otsego and Springfield. Residents and local officials have raised questions about the impact of construction and more residents on the region’s roads, water supply, emergency services, and natural environment.

The latest letter from Manocherian attorney Allyson Phillips accused the town of directly targeting the development in its first version of the Comprehensive Plan Update—something town officials have repeatedly denied. She previously accused the town of rushing the new plan through without following the rules about public hearings and open meetings.

“While the Town has sanitized the Revised Plan Amendment to remove specific recommendations around limiting large-scale subdivisions in the Agricultural District which were developed in response to the Manocherian Landowner’s proposed subdivision project, it continues to recommend modifications to the Zoning Law to discourage large-scale subdivisions,” Phillips wrote.

Manocherian and Pamela Equities Corp. now object to language in the revised land-use plan that “encourages subdivision patterns that preserve the rural landscape, protect agricultural lands and natural resources, allows for open space and that will recognize the need for additional infrastructure and long-term maintenance.” It’s not specific enough about how zoning laws would be changed to accomplish that aim, Phillips wrote.

The first version of the plan would have increased the minimum lot size to about 13 acres, up from the current minimum of three acres. The current plan recommends removing minimum lot sizes altogether because New York State already imposes minimum spacing requirements between wells and septic systems.

The plan also suggests:

Updating land-use laws to encourage multifamily housing, such as duplexes, triplexes, townhomes and small apartment buildings.

Giving residents more flexibility to build accessory dwelling units and adapt barns into housing.

Meanwhile, the towns of Otsego and Springfield are dueling to see which will be put in charge of environmental decisions related to the Manocherian development. Both have asked the state for “lead agency” status.

Members of the public who attended the October 21 public hearing were mostly there to oppose another aspect of housing policy—limits on short-term rentals. Though town officials softened language in the latest version of the plan, it continues to say that ordinances “may include owner-occupancy, local (Town or County) ownership, grandfathering of existing business (until such grandfathered property is sold), regulations based on density of certain areas of the Town, etc.).”

One local owner said “grandfathering” should be forever, not just until a property is sold. Others, including Otsego 2000’s Ellen Pope, took the opposing view, saying that limits on short-term rentals could positively affect the region by freeing up housing for full-time residents. And full-time residents make more of a contribution to the community, volunteering, running for local office and having more skin in the game than just a week’s vacation.

“The Village of Cooperstown’s population has gone up, maybe due to short-term rental rules,” Pope said.

She pointed to Otsego County’s 2024 Housing Needs Assessment Update that showed the county’s population fell between 2010 and 2020. Housing units fell by 4 percent and housing sale prices increased 47 percent between 2018 and 2023, according to the assessment.

Short-term rentals reduce the housing supply and increase the cost of living for local renters, the assessment said.

But other attendees said the town was targeting small business owners who run short-term rentals in baseball tournament season when they account for only a small slice of the local housing stock. What about all the vacation homes left vacant when their owners aren’t visiting? The Town of Otsego had one of the highest homeowner vacancy rates, according to the county housing data.

In a difficult economy, operating short-term rentals in the Cooperstown area gives younger people a path to pursue, said Alex Bosc, a realtor.

“It’s hard to have your own business these days,” he said. “Give people hope to build something.”