NARROWSBURG, NY — How long can a town reasonably invoke a moratorium? That was the question at the Tusten Town Board meeting on October 11. It was raised when Councilman Ned Lang asked about the moratoriums on commercial solar farms and large-lot subdivisions.

At last month’s town meeting, the board voted to extend the moratorium on commercial solar for another six months. There is also currently a moratorium on large-lot subdivisions. At the town meeting, Lang said he spoke with an attorney about the moratoriums and their legality. “My attorney says the moratorium won’t hold up in court,” he said.

The courts have historically allowed a moratorium to hold for up to a year. The town board has to be able to show that they are working on it. Otherwise, citizens can sue. Lang said he is waiting to put a commercial solar array on his property, so he does have some personal interest in it.

The zoning re-write committee is the body that works on these issues. Members of the zoning committee were at the meeting, including board members Carol Wingert and Jane Luchsinger, and they said they have been working on it, but it is a complicated issue and they want to do it right. They also said they got sidetracked by the camping zoning laws, which took a lot of time.

“The zoning committee has got to get moving here,” Lang said. There is currently no chair of the committee. Lang recommended that Kathy Michell be appointed as the chair of the zoning committee. Michell was in the audience and said she would accept. However, Wingert and Luchsinger said they were uncomfortable appointing her because that is the job of the zoning committee, not the town board. It went to a vote and Lang, Councilman Tony Ritter and Councilwoman Brandi Merolla voted in favor. Wingert also mentioned that with regard to any vote on the matter of the solar moratorium, Lang should recuse himself due to conflict of interest.