Dear Bill,
It depends on what you mean by 'restricted.' The APA is charged with
enforcing/interpreting/refining the Master Plan. As hamlets are do not have
municipal boundaries (not being municipalities), they are defined by the
Master Plan, and therefore the APA. The Master Plan defines what human
activities may occur in each land use classification, including hamlets.
Since the APA must follow the dictates of the Master Plan, then, yes, their
powers are restricted. But not because the hamlet has any authority to
control itself.

What you may be thinking of is the proviso that each Town that adopts a
planning code and board that meets with the approval of the APA will have
local authority to carry out the dictates of the Master Plan (and the APA).
In fact, the past several years has seen a great deal of encouragement on
the part of the APA for towns to do just that. Rather than the result of
some new 'enlightened' attitude on their part, this is more the result of
finances (or lack thereof) and political expediency (get the local board to
do the dirty work and take the heat off the APA).

As you may be able to tell, while I value the natural beauty and resources
of the Adirondacks a great deal (having grown up on the edge of the Park,
worked many years within it, continue to live on the edge of it, drive
through a portion of it on my way to work), I, like a majority of Park
residents, resent having a non-elected body governing the lives of the only
species that the APA seems bent on eradicating (humans).

Wayne Miller

[log in to unmask] writes:

> I believe that within the Adirondack State Park's "Blue Line", the zoning
> powers of the Adirondack Park Agency are restricted within defined "hamlets".
>  These are populated centers but need not be incorporated villages.