Requests for shoreline setback variances have reached record levels in Adirondack communities, particularly those on Lake George, driven in part by a surge of converting camps into year-round homes, Adirondack Park Agency data reveals.
The APA Act calls for shoreline restrictions to limit development up to a certain distance from the waterfront, “in order to provide adequate protection of the quality of the lakes, ponds, rivers and streams of the park and the qualities of their shorelines.”
The 18 towns in the park with APA-approved land use plans make decisions on variances in cases where they deem exceptions to the restrictions are justified…