Town of Canton taking poll on housing outside village

CANTON — The town has sent out surveys to the 177 people who built homes outside village boundaries over the past nine years as a way to develop a housing strategy.

"We're just trying to get a handle on why there's so much greater interest in the town rather than in the village," Supervisor David T. Button said.

The obvious answer could be that homeowners don't want the burden of village taxes, but that may not be the whole picture.

"Some people think that if there were more parcels available, people would build in the village," Mr. Button said. "I believe the disparity in taxes is a factor. I also think people want more space."

From 2000 through 2009, 177 people started or completed construction on a new house or installed a manufactured house for an average of 19.6 annually. In the village of Canton over the same period, building permits were issued for 12 houses, for an annual average of 1.3.

The figures don't include a handful of duplexes that were built or are under construction.

"I expect next year to have possibly another single-family house in the village of Canton," Code Enforcement Officer Russell B. Lawrence IV said, referring to a lot developed and sold by St. Lawrence University on the Grasse River.

The survey, which was mailed Monday, questions residents about the importance of privacy, fewer restrictions, availability of inexpensive land and availability of more space. It asks about the influence of lifestyle demands such as hunting, avoiding the cost of village water and sewer, distance from neighbors, proximity to family, lower taxes and insufficient options in the village.

It also asks whether their property was owned previously by a relative, whether their previous home was in the town of Canton, whether they considered buying an existing home in the town and what their technology needs are.

The town hopes to receive responses back quickly so it can distill a report by the end of November.