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Opinion: Praise to officials who denied church activities at former club, says Canton resident

Posted 1/23/19

The Village of Canton is long known for clean government, outstanding and forward-acting public service in our elected officials, appointed boards and employees. The recent decisions on the former …

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Opinion: Praise to officials who denied church activities at former club, says Canton resident

Posted

The Village of Canton is long known for clean government, outstanding and forward-acting public service in our elected officials, appointed boards and employees. The recent decisions on the former Canton Club restaurant property is an honorable and laudatory case in point.

Last Wednesday's 5-0 vote by the Canton Zoning Board of Appeals, denying the Christian Fellowship Center of Madrid, a change in Canton's 25 Court St. C-1 zoned property of the former Club restaurant for the CFC to use the property as a church, is a tribute to the honest hard work, fair and ethical approach by the women and men volunteers of the ZBA.

ZBA members Debbie Gilson, Caitlin Gollinger, Sally McElhearn, Mike Snow, Chairperson Conrad Stuntz, and alternative-member Andy Whittier did their homework, made a unanimous decision to deny the property use for a church and deserve our thanks.

The work of Murray and Ducharme is appreciated. Two professional gentlemen working for the Village of Canton deserve appreciation. One for the research and legal decisions by Canton Code Enforcement Officer Jeff Murray who denied the CFC requests to establish a church and also a CFC office on the property, keeping the code intended only for commercial and fraternal use, set the tone and standard for the ZBA's decision.

The other for the rigorous and thorough legal work and case research with helpful legal advice of Canton Village Attorney Gerry Ducharme.

Many Cantonians were surprised and disappointed that the CFC ignored the Canton Village government and went ahead to purchase the property several days before the Zoning Board of Appeals met to vote on the zoning issue. And many people who favor a major restaurant and tavern on the former Club property hope for payment of Canton village and town taxes.

With the questionable intent and remote success of the CFC declaring they might appeal the ZBZ's decision in court, ZBA members pointed out the CFC was treated equally and fairly with the Village of Canton providing property zones to include churches in other locations in the community. The CFC moved ahead early and surprisingly without an escape clause agreed to get out of their purchase and mortgage if they would happen to lose the ZBA vote, which the CFC did lose unanimously.

CFC'S Jamie Sinclair agreed for me to help him find other possible backup properties. I sent him to the county planning office and Ben Dixon, St. Lawrence University's Coordinator of Regional Development, came up with two different six acre SLU ownerships in the Village of Canton and already off the tax rolls. One is behind the new Walgreens and Seacomm and the other behind the Mobil gas station.

The CFC is not allowed to undertake any office use or church-related activities on the property, nor any construction work done inside or out without a work/building permit approved and issued by the Canton Code Enforcement Officer to avoid shut down and/or fine.

A commitment to ethical behavior and obeyance of the law is a Canton Village government model we trust the CFC to follow.

Brad Mintener

Canton