A proposed change to the New York State Constitution would help Adirondack and Catskill communities eliminate the need for individual amendments to build utilites on state forest land, saving time and money.

The changes would allow the citing of utilities, such as broadband, and bicycle paths on roadsides traversing State Forest Preserve lands as well as creating a “health and safety land account” for important bridge, highway and drinking water projects.

Sen. Betty Little, who represents the 45th senate District, which includes the St. Lawrence County towns of Colton, Hopkinton, and Parishville says “the goal is to eliminate the need for an individual amendment each time an important and necessary project emerges that requires use of State Forest Preserve lands. That process, by design, can be time-consuming and expensive – as well as uncertain -- for projects in forest preserve counties that are needed. I’m very grateful for the support of many environmental groups and our local government officials to reach an agreement that satisfies everyone’s concerns. Many months of meetings led to this amendment passing the Senate and Assembly with tremendous support, a testament to a process that will be critical for second passage and the development of enabling legislation.”

In the last hours of this year’s legislative session, the Senate and Assembly approved with unanimous support S.8026a(Little)/A.10721(Englebright), a concurrent resolution proposing an amendment to article 14 of the state constitution.

The amendment would authorize the use of lands in the Forest Preserve counties in the Adirondacks and Catskills, within the legal width of state and local highways, for the citing of utilities, such as broadband, electric, cable and water. Bicycle paths would also be permitted.

The resolution also would enable creation of a “health and safety land account.” The 250-acre account could be utilized to permit the use of forest preserve lands to eliminate bridge hazards, relocate town and county roads to improve safety and public water supply projects.

The state legislature would determine the criteria that would guide the process of approval for each project. That criteria will be established in the enabling legislation that would need to be adopted into law. All other permits and approvals would still be needed before a project could proceed.

For the past several months, state lawmakers, local officials, including representatives of the Adirondack Association of Towns and Villages (AATV) and Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board, environmental stakeholders, including the Adirondack Council, Adirondack Mountain Club, Protect the Adirondacks, Adirondack Wild and The Nature Conservancy, and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) have met in Albany to discuss the issue and work to reach an agreement.

For many years, and most recently led by the Common Ground Alliance (CGA), there’s been an ongoing discussion about the need for a land bank similar to the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) land bank that has been successfully utilized for close to six decades.

The resolution to amend the state Constitution requires approval by successively elected legislatures. If approved next year by the state legislature, the amendment could be placed before voters for their consideration in Nov. 2017.