For the forest to be green, the trees must be green. With that in mind, here’s how you can halt the changing character of the Village.
Not by complaining about your neighbor; that gets you nowhere, and you certainly wouldn’t want your neighbor telling you what to do with your home.
The real solution is far simpler. Contact your lawyer and have a restriction, a covenant, put into the deed for your property. Deed restrictions impose rules that you want to place on how future owners may use your land or buildings. These limitations will be binding not only on the next owner but also every future owner.
So, if you wish, your house will never change, will not be altered or torn down, and you will have done your part to preserve the character of the Village. Your neighbors may even be encouraged by your example.
I’m not saying you won’t be tempted, or at least a little wistful, when you see others cashing in. On West Lake Street alone, there was the property with a house, assessed at $2.8 million, that sold for $11 million after the house was torn down. And a property assessed at $2.2 million that sold for $6.9 million, with its house torn down thereafter. And, most recently, a property assessed at $909,500 that sold for $2.5 million.
Be not swayed by these millions. Rather, in their place, imagine the gratitude of generations to come.
Skaneateles 