Bob Rocco has operated heavy machinery since he was 18.
I was working for my uncle and it was one of those deals.
I didn't know I was going to like it.
I worked for him for three years and started my own business at that point.
I was 21.
I've always been in the construction business one way or the other.
He now owns SNR Custom Homes and since 2004 he's been developing Starlight Estates in Camillus, New York.
I think we've got a good system up here. Bob started this. He did a good job.
Stephen Bogozzi was born on Milton Avenue which is less than a mile away.
For a time he lived in Lake Oswego but came back to the area because of Starlight Estates.
If he asked me if I wanted to come here again I wouldn't have meant it. I'd be here in a minute.
Bob has built about 50 apartments and 60 homes on 98 acres of land that he's been developing.
Back in 2002 we purchased it.
It took us about two and a half years to get our approvals.
We developed the land and we're building on it.
In his first year he sold 38 homes. The year after that 14.
Things bought about for SNR when they only sold two homes in 2010.
Open. I'll be here all day.
That was two years ago and as you can see SNR Custom Homes is still going.
That face on the phone.
Business is improving this year.
However it's only a fraction of what it was like in 2004.
We're slowly picking up over the last year.
We're probably building eight or nine houses this year which is slow.
And to add to that decline he says he's starting to run into a few more roadblocks
that he feels are starting to seep in to the profit margin of his small business.
The DEC as a developer seems like they're creating new regulations
almost every year and some of the requirements that they have
that are just ridiculous.
I have to hire an engineer of my choice to come out and do
SWIP inspections here which is erosion inspections until this project is 100%.
So it could be dead in the water like it was last year or two years ago
and I'm still getting my weekly inspections.
Those DEC or Department of Environmental Conservation weekly inspections
check up on Bob's stormwater management plan.
Some of the things inspectors look for are silt fences,
number of exposed lawns, and the cleaning of sediment ponds on his property.
Oh yeah. The pond in phase one, you know the big pond there with the cattails?
They want me to clean that out.
This is the pond that the DEC wants Bob to clean out.
If he cleans it out, it's going to cost him $50,000 in construction costs.
If he doesn't clean it out, it's going to cost him $40,000 in fines.
And remember Steve, the Starlight Estates resident?
He had his own running with the DEC a little while back.
I was on a building committee for our VFW hog that we were going to build over in Lakeland.
After pushing the VFW project through the town's planning board and they were ready to build,
the DEC came in and said they needed a pond there as well.
That was after the fact, that it cost us more money besides.
What are my concerns for the developer's cost, expenses?
It may sound callous, but I'm not too concerned about it.
Tom Price is the code enforcement officer in the town of Camilus,
and one of his most recent responsibilities is to help the DEC enforce the stormwater plans that are within the town.
The ignorant people argue about it.
The informed people may debate it, which is a little different than an argument.
And then I've got cases where they are informed and they don't make those mistakes to begin with.
That's what we require that anyone who is working on one acre or more of disturbed soil
have a stormwater management plan in effect and that that plan be followed so that they don't lose their topsoil.
So that chemicals and pollutants don't wind up in streams and rivers.
Diane Carleton is a representative of the DEC and she says that stormwater pollution regulation is there for a reason.
You have lakes like Anandaga Lake which became extremely polluted.
You have lakes like that out in Cleveland that actually caught on fire.
So the importance of environmental regulations can obviously be seen to the extreme in those two types of situations.
And we have situations like that all over the country.
It's like that song by Don Henley.
You know, we've got to make it here. This is the last frontier.
And if we don't clean and keep clean what we have here, then what are we leaving our children and grandchildren?
When we talk to Don Casper, the president of the Home Builders Association of Central New York,
he said that the builders need to get educated.
Well, when you first buy a piece of property, you have to research it and you got to understand the process.
In every case, you know, there could be some condition on the site that's unexpected.
Sure.
But, you know, a developer is expected to fix it.
Even though Mr. Casper recognizes the need for stormwater codes, he also sees who ends up paying for it.
Do you ever see that growth is sometimes hindered by government?
You know, these regulations cost and they pass it down.
They tell the developer, well, you know, you're going to have to get $2,000 more for your lot.
You know, the developer is saying, well, I'm not going to eat that cost.
And it's the consumer that pays it. That homeowner is paying for it.
It's not going to come out of the developer's project.
However, back at SNR, Bob says that the regulations are hurting.
You could drive developers out of business.
You got to make up the difference somewhere.
So you kind of cut back on health and I'm back into physical labor myself.
As you can see, I'm dirty, greasy, and it's a lot of work.
You're going to have different personalities.
People disagree and they agree.
Hey, this is the same with politics, church, everything.
Department of Environmental Conservation.
It's probably a good thing.
In many ways, it's a bad thing.
Well, I just want to build houses.
I just want to build houses and it's like, just leave me alone.
I'll do what I got to do, but it's not easy.
