COUNCIL OF GREENBURGH CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS
Minutes of Meeting -- January 16, 2001
The Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations seeks to provide information to and advance the common interests of member civic groups in important Town affairs. The following civic groups paid dues for the year 2000:
Ardsley Estates Civic Association
Beaver Hill Association
Birchwood Civic Association
Broadview Civic Association
Downing Hill Civic Association
East Hartsdale Avenue Civic Association
East Irvington Civic Association *
Edgebrook Cooperative, Inc.
Edgemont Civic Association
Edgemont Community Council, Inc.
Fort Hill Association
Fulton Park Civic Association
Granada Condominium III Association *
Hillcrest Park - Ardsley Civic Association
Hillside Wyndover Civic Association
Homestead Owners Corp. *
Juniper Hill Civic Association
Knollwood Manor Civic Association
Knollwood Neighborhood Association *
Longview Civic Association
Lower Manor Woods Neighborhood Association
Mayfair-Knollwood Civic Association
North Elmsford Civic Association
Northern Greenville Civic Association
Parkway Gardens Civic Association
Parkway Homes Civic Association
Poets Corner Civic Association
Secor Homes Civic Association, Inc.
Southern Greenville Civic Association *
Stone Oaks Condominium
The Colony at Hartsdale
The Cotswold Association, Inc.
Washington Avenue Civic Association
Westchester Hills Condominium
Winding Road Farm Association
Woodhill Civic Association
* Also paid 2001 dues
CGCA membership stands at thirty-six civic groups -- an all time high. Five civic groups have paid dues for the year 2001. There is $755.00 in the treasury.
Minutes of the December 12, 2000, meeting were read and approved with minor corrections that will be made prior to distribution.
TOWN BOARD CONTINUES TO VIOLATE "OPEN MEETINGS LAW"
On Tuesday, January 9, Madelon O'Shea, Ella Preiser and Francis Sheehan individually called the Town Clerk's office and were told that the afternoon work session agenda was limited to two executive session issues -- personnel at 2:30 p.m. and legal at 4 p.m. The published agenda for this meeting confirms only executive sessions were scheduled. Mrs. Preiser went to Town Hall on another matter, arriving at 2:45 p.m., the same time Mr. Feiner arrived. Mr. Feiner was informed that he was late and immediately entered the closed doors of the conference room. The board was interviewing candidates to fill the seat vacated by Les Adler. At 3:45 p.m., representatives for the Landmark at Eastview arrived. They told Mrs. Preiser they were scheduled for a 4 p.m. presentation regarding new plans for the property. They had no idea why their presentation was listed for an executive session. During the more than one-hour period the Town Board made them wait, they explained the plans to Mrs. Preiser who stayed for the formal presentation.
A similar occurrence happened today when Mrs. O'Shea, Mrs. Preiser and Mr. Sheehan called the Town Clerk's office and were told the only subject open to the public at the work session was a tax grievance case. Mrs. O'Shea noted that at 12:30 p.m. when she called the Town Clerk's office again on another matter, she was informed that the work session agenda had changed and included a public session on the Landmark at Eastview proposal. Mrs. Preiser and Mr. Sheehan, who attended the work session, were surprised when they received the agenda and learned that without prior notice the Town Board planned to open a special meeting to vote on SEQRA issues regarding the Landmark proposal. The board also heard a presentation from Westchester Land Trust regarding the Reverend Moon property; Danny Gold was not given notice this presentation would take place.
CGCA members discussed these incidents. Supervisor Feiner sets the agenda for work session meetings. He appears to be encouraging staff to give out misleading information in an effort to discourage the public from attending work sessions. During the past year, the Town Board has increasingly used "executive sessions" in apparent disregard and violation of the NYS Open Meetings Law that requires most discussions/deliberations to be open to the public. CGCA members suggested that this is not the way "to work toward a whole new attitude between civic groups and the Town Board in the new millennium" that Councilwoman Timmy Weinberg promised at the December 13 CGCA meeting. Chairman Danny Gold was asked to write a letter to the Town Board expressing the concerns of CGCA members.
COMMUNITY MEMBERS WILL HELP REWRITE ANIMAL CONTROL LAW
One of Supervisor Feiner's goals for 2000 was to amend the Town's Animal Control Law to "prohibit animals designated as dangerous." Although the amendments were not adopted in 2000, Mr. Feiner took 75% credit for completion of the goal.
The proposed legislation was scheduled for a public hearing before the Town Board on January 10, 2001. During the meeting that evening (prior to the public hearing), Francis Sheehan spoke with Police Chief John Kapica and raised concerns about a number of provisions in the proposed law. Chief Kapica agreed that Mr. Sheehan's concerns were valid and asked the Town Board to adjourn the public hearing. Mr. Sheehan and Ella Preiser agreed to help rewrite the proposed law and met with Chief Kapica on Friday, January 12. They have obtained copies of the NYS laws regulating animals and have discovered the town's attempt to regulate dogs by breed will require major revisions.
NEW DEVELOPMENT - CENTRAL AVENUE
Danny Gold called attention to an article in the January 15, 2001, issue of the Westchester County Business Journal about numerous development plans proposed for Central Avenue. The article mentions the Midway Shopping Center and also that an as-yet-unknown developer will be filing plans to demolish the long vacant European spa building and construct a smaller development. CGCA members noted that a small strip mall is being planned just across the street from Webb School where a furniture store and two houses are being demolished. In addition, an ad appears on the Internet for an additional 20,000 square feet of retail space at the Staples shopping center.
CGCA members agreed that the Midway Shopping Center is in desperate need of renovation, both the store facade and the substandard parking lot. Questions were raised regarding the structural integrity of the rooftop parking, the number of variances that would be required to erect another 25,000 square feet of retail space and the impact the proposed four-story elevator structures would have on adjacent residences. To date, the developer has not submitted formal plans to the town. The developer plans to make a presentation regarding the rehab and expansion of the Midway Shopping Center at next week's Town Board meeting on Thursday at Seely Place School. Residents of Edgemont have received notice of this meeting and it is expected that a large number of residents will attend.
TAXTER ROAD - PROPOSED LAND USE STUDY/GOLF COURSE
At today's work session, Tom Anderson from Westchester Land Trust (WLT) noted WLT is about ready to hire a firm to complete a land use study for the 250 acres (approx. 190 acres are owned by Rev. Moon) off of Taxter Road. Mr. Anderson discussed organizing an inter-municipal planning board to review plans for the property. Since the Town Board has already declared Lead Agency status for the proposed golf course, the proposed inter-municipal planning board would only be advisory. The board would be composed of four Greenburgh members, two members each from the Villages of Irvington and Tarrytown and one community resident representing the Irvington School District. John Nolon of Pace University School of Law has offered legal aid and WLT would do the administrative work in setting up the board. Mr. Anderson was advised to set up an informal meeting with Mr. Nolon and Fran McLaughlin, Chair of the Greenburgh Planning Board. Danny Gold was not informed about today's work session.
Danny Gold noted that a meeting regarding the land use study and potential development of this property has been scheduled for Tuesday, January 23 at 8:15 p.m. at Greenburgh Town Hall.
LANDMARK AT EASTVIEW - PROPOSED CODE CHANGE/DEVELOPMENT
At the January 9 Town Board work session, representatives from Landmark at Eastview presented a plan to build a 125,000 square foot training facility for the professional sports teams -- Rangers, Knicks and Liberty -- owned by Madison Square Gardens (MSG). MSG seeks to buy 12-15 acres of land, thus the proposal would require subdivision approval from the Planning Board, as well as amendments to the Zoning Ordinance since the current Office Building zoning does not permit sports training facilities. In October 2000 Landmark submitted plans to build a six-story 200,000 square foot hotel with an attached 75,000 square foot conference center and two laboratory buildings (170,000 square feet and 150,000 square feet) on the site. The Town Board declared its intent to be Lead Agency under SEQRA for this proposal at its December 13, 2000, board meeting. Plans for the laboratory buildings remain unchanged but the sports training facility would replace the plans for the hotel and conference center. Supervisor Feiner indicated he wants to expedite approval for the MSG training facility.
At today's Town Board work session, the board opened a special meeting regarding SEQRA requirements for the Landmark at Eastview proposal. The board voted to (1) declare itself Lead Agency, (2) issue a positive declaration, (3) refer the matter to the Planning board and other involved/interested agencies and (4) schedule a public hearing for a scoping session for January 31. Mr. Feiner again declared his intentions to speed approval for the MSG training facility, segmenting the approval process if necessary.
The applicant asked to meet with area residents and a meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, January 24 at 8 p.m. at the Westchester Hills Recreation Hall. Residents from Westchester Hills, Beaver Hill and North Elmsford will be invited to attend, as well as officials from Pocantico Hills School District.
CGCA MISLED REGARDING NEW TOWN HALL/LIBRARY - SCI BUILDING
CGCA members were troubled by the fact that Councilwoman Timmy Weinberg had quoted far lower tax consequences (for both unincorporated and village residents) for purchasing and finishing the SCI building at the December 13, 2000, CGCA meeting than the figures quoted the next morning in the local paper. CGCA members also expressed concern that the CGCA had not been informed that the proposed $7.8 million purchase price for the building included a $3 million profit for the new owners who had purchased the building less than a year ago. CGCA members now question some of the other information and figures that have been quoted regarding this deal.
CGCA members agree that both Town Hall and the Library could use more room. It also is apparent that something must be done to fix the current problems of the energy-wasting heating and air conditioning system and the many unattended to maintenance problems, such as the leaking roof, at Town Hall.
SUPERVISOR DILUTES CAMPAIGN FINANCE COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS
On January 3, 2001, Supervisor Feiner sent out an e-mail stating he was appointing Town Judge Sandra Forster to chair a three-member panel (2 Democrats and 1 Republican) which would develop rules for access of political candidates to Greenburgh's cable television and deal with any complaints from the candidates. Judge Forster originally accepted the appointment but then withdrew, stating it would not be appropriate for a judge. Mr. Feiner told Ella Preiser on January 9 that he was considering asking retired Judge Thomas Facelle, who chairs the Town's Board of Ethics, to chair the panel.
CGCA members debated whether to support this suggestion for a three-member panel. It was noted that Mr. Feiner claimed he was "inspired" by recommendations of the Greenburgh Campaign Finance Commission. The GCFC made no such recommendation. The GCFC recommended creation of a five member, multi-partisan Fair Election Practices Board (FEPB) from candidates recommended by the four political parties receiving the most polled votes and the League of Women Voters. The FEPB would deal with election disputes and also establish rules of procedure, obtain not-for-profit status and determine how members should be selected for an independent, not-for-profit Cable Access Television Board. There appeared to be no strong reason to support Mr. Feiner's suggestion for a three-member panel, which would dilute the GCFC recommendations and continue to give him control over cable TV access. It was recommended that Chairman Gold speak with Harriet Leib, co-chair of the GCFC, to determine if the League of Women Voters could offer any support or advice on how to motivate the Town Board to address the actual recommendations of the GCFC. It was suggested that this is an excellent time to seek campaign reform since many people are still focused on last November's election.
TOWN BOARD FINDS "XXX-RATED" BUSINESSES DON'T HAVE SIGNIFICANT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT & ADOPTS QUESTIONABLE "ADULT USE" LEGISLATION
The Town Board public hearing scheduled for December 13, 2000, on proposed amendments to the Zoning Ordinance regulating adult use establishments was postponed to January 10, 2001, because proper legal notification had not been given. Adopting adult use legislation was one of Supervisor Feiner's year 2000 goals. Although the legislation was not adopted in 2000, Mr. Feiner took 75% credit for completion of the goal claiming it was a mere "technicality" that the legislation was not adopted.
A lengthy public hearing took place on January 10 during which numerous amendments were made to the proposed law at the urging of residents, Town Councilwoman Diana Juettner and Town Attorney Susan Mancuso. Following the hearing, Town Councilwoman Eddie Mae Barnes expressed reservations about adopting the law that evening. The Town Board voted to go into "executive session" to decide what to do. Several minutes later, the board members returned to the dais and unanimously voted to approve the proposed law as amended. They also agreed to review the law again in six months. CGCA members suggest that the Town should review the law even sooner since the law as written could never withstand a court challenge.
The Town failed to follow required procedures in adopting this legislation. The Town Board approved a Negative Declaration under SEQRA indicating the proposed legislation would have no significant negative environmental impacts. The Town Attorney admitted that she had not prepared SEQRA findings and they are still not available a week later. The proposed amendments were never referred to the Planning Board as required by the Zoning Ordinance. The Town Attorney claimed the Planning Board forfeited its right to review the proposed amendments when it failed to make a recommendation to the Town Board within 60 days in 1996 and voted in May 2000 not to make a recommendation regarding the distribution method that should be used for locating adult uses. She seemed unaware that Supervisor Feiner had written to the Planning Board in 1996 to delay any recommendation while alternative locations were explored. She also refused to acknowledge that the Planning Board was instructed at its May 2000 meeting that it was only to recommend a distribution method and would be given the opportunity to review proposed legislation at a later date. (These instructions are repeated a number of times in the transcript of the Planning Board meeting.)
The U.S. Supreme Court has determined that adult entertainment, even nude dancing, enjoys First Amendment protection. While a municipality can adopt time, place and manner restrictions, it cannot forbid adult uses with restrictions that are not "content neutral." At the public hearing, the public raised numerous concerns that the proposed law, as written, was not content neutral and could be successfully challenged in court. The Town Attorney did not satisfactorily address these concerns but a number of times replied "you raise an interesting point" and, on at least two occasions, noted that she was not a planning expert. The Town Attorney even disputed an assertion that U. S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor had given the court's decision in a recent case regarding nudity. (Court documents state: "JUSTICE O'CONNOR announced the judgment and delivered the opinion of the Court with respect to….")
CGCA members expressed disappointment that a member of the Allee King planning staff endorsed the poorly worded document. It appears the legislation as amended prohibits any XXX-rated adult use establishments in Greenburgh, contrary to the Town Board's intent.
COMMUNITY INPUT REJECTED -- PROPOSED ZONING AMENDMENTS -- CANOPIES
The public hearing scheduled for December 13, 2000 was adjourned to January 10, 2001. Madelon O'Shea, Ella Preiser and Francis Sheehan agreed to meet again with Town Attorney Susan Mancuso to make additional revisions to the proposed law regulating canopies for gas stations, other commercial uses and residences but could not find a mutually agreeable time. The tentative agenda for the January 10 meeting indicated that the public hearing would take place so these volunteers continued to work on the revisions and were planning to present their suggestions at the hearing.
On January 10, just hours before the public hearing, the volunteers received in the mail a letter, dated January 9, from Town Attorney Mancuso stating: "To All Interested Parties: Enclosed please find a copy of the most recent draft of the proposed local law concerning canopies. Should any interested persons have comments, please forward them to me no later than January 23, 2001." This letter is particularly insulting since the volunteers had met with Ms. Mancuso for 2-1/2 hours on November 29 and not one word of their suggestions had been incorporated into the "most recent draft" of the proposed law.
PROPOSED LEGISLATION - CONDUCT OF VOLUNTEER BOARDS
In October 2000 Supervisor Feiner requested the legal department to draft legislation establishing minimum attendance requirements for members of the town's various boards and committees. he CGCA welcomed (with caveats) such a law since attendance problems in recent years resulted in the cancellation of some Planning Board and Zoning Board meetings. The town released copies of the newly proposed legislation in December and scheduled a public hearing for the January 10, 2001 Town Board meeting. Because of time constraints on January 10, the board adjourned the hearing to its January 25 meeting.
CGCA members read aloud and discussed the proposed legislation that defines and treats all appointed volunteers in the same way -- as "board members" -- whether they serve on an ad hoc advisory committee or an official board subject to bylaws and regular meetings. The stated legislative intent of the proposed law indicates the law would apply retroactively and prohibit volunteers from serving on more than one "board." (Last year Supervisor Feiner objected to appointing a person to more than one board.) As written, the proposed law would require "board members" to disclose the reason(s) for any absence from a meeting and require the other "board members" to publicly vote to accept/reject the offered explanation.
The CGCA suggests that all appointed volunteers should not be lumped together in a conduct code. The CGCA rejects the idea that a volunteer cannot serve impartially on more than one "board" since a member can recuse her/himself if a true conflict exists. (Mr. Feiner now says he did not know this provision was in the proposed law and will have it removed.) The CGCA also finds the provisions requiring public disclosure and public votes on the reasons for missing a meeting an invasion of personal privacy and an insulting way to treat volunteers. The CGCA continues to support the imposition of minimum attendance requirements for official boards but finds the proposed law poorly worded, unreasonable and totally unacceptable.
ANTENNA REVIEW BOARD
Ella Preiser attended the December 21, 2000, and January 11, 2001, meetings of the Antenna Review Board (ARB) as a representative of the CGCA. She gave the following report to CGCA members.
Michelle McNally has been re-appointed to the ARB for a five-year term. All five members of the ARB were present at both the December and January ARB meetings. Some of the recent troubling problems at ARB meetings have been resolved because the Town has agreed to pay a Town employee for two hours or, if necessary, up to three hours a month for copying/mailing services to ARB members. Elizabeth Curry, the ZBA secretary, will provide the services beginning with the next ARB meeting.
At the December 21 meeting, the ARB reviewed an as-of-right application from Nextel to erect an antenna installation on the roof of the office building at 555 Taxter Road. In addition, ARB member Francis Sheehan provided the other ARB members with copies of the Town Board's proposed legislation regulating the conduct of appointed board members. (See item discussed above.) The ARB discussed the proposed legislation, unanimously opposed the wording and directed ARB Chair Catherine Lederer-Plaskett to write a letter to the Town Board regarding the ARB's position.
At the January 11 meeting, the ARB discussed aesthetic approvals for the Taxter Road site. The ARB also reviewed for completeness a Sprint/AT&T application to erect a monopole (disguised as a flagpole flying the Greenburgh flag) at 301-305 Old Tarrytown Road. The application will require a special permit and variances from the ZBA. Interestingly, the application contained photographs showing the impact of the proposed monopole from various properties near the homes of a number of area leaders -- Lois Bronz, Cleo Oliver, Paul Plaine and Frances Davis.
UPDATE -- ROUTE 9A ROAD IMPROVEMENTS
On December 21, 2000, representatives from the state Department of Transportation provided information on the options being studied to improve traffic conditions in the Route 9A corridor. One alternative would include a number of intersection improvements and widening Route 9A to seven lanes from Route 119 in Elmsford to north of Dana Road in Mount Pleasant. A second alternative would include a loop road beginning near Vreeland Avenue and encompassing the Elmsford Distribution Center and Fairview Corporate Park, in addition to the widening of Route 9A to five lanes and intersection improvements. A third alternative would include Route 9A widening to five lanes and intersection improvements, as well as the construction of a new bypass road extending from Route 119/Route I-287 in Elmsford to Dana Road. The construction costs for the three alternatives are $22 million, $48 million and $42 million, respectively. These figures do not include the costs of purchasing land or the demolition of 22 to 25 buildings.
Inclusion of a bypass road appears to be the alternative preferred by local and Westchester County officials. The current "Expanded Project Proposal" phase should be completed in the next two weeks and copies of the proposal will be mailed to interested parties. The project will then move to a "Preliminary Design" phase and an Environmental Impact Statement will be prepared. A public hearing will be held and a final EIS will follow. Detailed design of the approved project then would be prepared. Bid openings should occur in 2006. The project reportedly would take two years to build.
EDGEMONT - PLANNING/ZONING CONCERNS
Hugh Schwartz, a resident of Old Edgemont, attended the meeting and raised a number of concerns about planning and zoning issues. He noted that some issues come before the boards that shouldn't and applications are not filed for other issues that should be reviewed. He questioned whether a new house being proposed is on a legally subdivided lot. He has asked the Building Inspector to notify him if the developer applies for a building permit without applying to the Planning Board for a subdivision. He also questioned the legality of issuing a permit to demolish the century-old water tower on Old Army Road while there was an application for a subdivision of the property before the Planning Board. He encouraged CGCA members to attend the January 25 Town Board meeting where Edgemont residents intend to raise a number of concerns.
MISCELLANEOUS
Glusker Subdivision -- High Street, North Elmsford. The public hearing scheduled for January 3, 2001 before the Planning Board has been adjourned until February 7 since the developer still has not submitted all requested information. This is the second month in a row that the hearing has been adjourned.
Hillside Avenue Bridge. Questions were raised about the lengthy period of time it is taking the DOT to make repairs to the bridge. It is thought that a truck hit the bridge several years ago.
Hillside Avenue/Virginia Road. It appears that road improvements planned by the DOT for these streets have been postponed because of lack of money.
Multiplex Theater - Traffic Problems. During the 13 months that the Multiplex Theater has been opened, there have been few problems. Attendance and traffic have grown on recent weekends. The confluence of some apparently good movies with the extended Martin Luther King holiday this past weekend resulted in significant trafc problems. A solid two lanes of traffic on Route 9A stretched from Route 119 to the Multiplex entrance, blocking some side streets and causing backed up traffic on the Sprain Brook Parkway and Route I-287. The two police officers that the Multiplex has hired are not sufficient to deal with the traffic problem. Patrons arriving at the theater in the afternoon on Saturday and Monday found the current showing, as well as the next showing, of some films sold out. CGCA members noted that contrary to the statements made by the developers during the review process, the same films are being shown at both the Elmsford and Hawthorne theaters.
Supervisor Feiner's 2001 Goals. It was noted that Supervisor Feiner is placing only $5000 (4.7% of his salary) in escrow to be awarded based on the accomplishment of 80 goals in the year 2001. CGCA Chairman Danny Gold was given a copy of a letter Ella Preiser wrote to Mr. Feiner in which she questioned the way he measures accomplishment of goals at year-end.
"Trash for Cash" Scandal. Concern was expressed that one sanitation worker has been criminally charged in this investigation for a practice that has been ongoing for years in Greenburgh. When Mr. Feiner was first elected as Town Supervisor, he rode a sanitation truck and was offered a share of the "tip" given to the workers who collected extra trash from a commercial business. Mr. Feiner did not accept a share of the money but apparently has done nothing since 1992 to remedy this questionable practice.
Water Filtration Plant. Alice Moroney reported that a preliminary Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed filtration plant was filed on or before December 31, 2000. The DEIS has not been released to the public. Meanwhile, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has been discussing other options with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection that might be sufficient to avoid and/or delay building a filtration plant. One option being considered is ultraviolet radiation disinfection technology to be located at the site of the Kensico aeration plants (closed 25 years ago) or at the Hillview Reservoir site in Yonkers (which would have to be covered).
Distributed. A letter from Joseph Stellato, Director of Real Estate Development for the State of New York, that was received in response to CGCA Chairman Gold's letter to Governor Pataki regarding granting Greenburgh the right of first refusal to purchase any excess state-owned land.