Present Moment, LLC of Staten Island, NY has a contingency contract with the heirs of the Hald estate to purchase the 11+ acres of the Hald property, located at the junction of Duck Hole and New Road. 
 

In the spring of 2007, Present Moment submitted the proposed Highway Economic Services District (HEDS) amendment.  This amendment intended to change our town's zoning regulations to create a "HEDS" zoning classification.  HEDS zones would have been allowed near any I-95 entrance or exit in Madison and would allow various commercial uses such as hotels, retail, restaurants, etc..  Upon successful approval of the amendment, the developer would then have applied to zone the Hald property as a HEDS zone.
 

MCCC mobilized a campaign to "Chop off the HEDS".  We distributed thousands of flyers to homes all across Madison and alerted the public to the many negative consequences that HEDS entailed.  Despite a very short time-frame in which to do this, our efforts resulted in what the Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Committee Chairman stated was "probably the largest turnout for any Madison P&Z hearing... ever".  Turnout was estimated by many to be somewhere between 300-400 citizens, and when the public hearing was abruptly cancelled by the town's Fire Marshall for safety concerns, we continued to get word out to our community.  Attendance for the subsequent public hearing (at a bigger venue) was even higher than the first.  MCCC delivered several convincing presentations and a legal brief regarding the many harmful effects that HEDS could have afflicted on our town's character.  The vast majority of citizens also spoke out against HEDS (if you want to read more about why HEDS would have been disastrous for our town please click here).
 

In a unanimous decision, the town's P&Z declined the proposed HEDS amendment.  While the committee members all cited problems with the amending our zoning regulations as the reason for denying HEDS, it is beyond a doubt that the tremendous public turnout had a significant impact on the committee.