Heritage group wants town to raze old camp
CANTON — Grasse River Heritage Corp. has turned its attention on the waterfront to approaches to the village other than the downtown islands.
Peter E. Van de Water, a member of the nonprofit organization's executive committee, has put the town on notice he will ask for condemnation of a dilapidated camp near the Miner Street bridge if its owner, Gregory E. Williams, Tampa, Fla., refuses to sell it for $5,000.
"There has been a community-wide effort to improve the Grasse River waterfront in the village and town of Canton," Mr. Van de Water wrote Mr. Williams on Feb. 24. "Your building is an eyesore on one of the main approaches to Canton and should be razed."
Mr. Van de Water provided the letter to the Town Council, which discussed it at a meeting Monday.
According to the letter, Mr. Williams did not want to sell his property for $5,000 when approached by Mr. Van de Water in 2005. Grasse River Heritage's intent was to buy the land, raze the building, and leave the island in a natural state.
"The island is too small for building any other structure and it floods periodically," Mr. Van de Water wrote.
However, the land alone is assessed at $8,200, Code Enforcement Officer Russell B. "Rusty" Lawrence IV told the board, and there is no indication the building floods.
The camp itself isn't on the tax rolls, town attorney Charles B. Nash said.
Mr. Lawrence said family members of Mr. Williams have told him he intends to retire within a few years and rehabilitate the building.
Having an existing structure on the lot would make it easier for Mr. Williams to replace it because he could stay within the footprint and not worry about setback requirements that may have changed since the camp was built, Mr. Lawrence said.
The island is half an acre, although access to it was limited when St. Lawrence County moved the Miner Street bridge in 1991.
The town board agreed Supervisor David T. Button should tell Mr. Van de Water it prefers an amicable resolution rather than condemnation.
