COUNCIL OF GREENBURGH CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS
Minutes of Meeting - April 11, 2000
The Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations seeks to provide information and advance the common interests of member civic groups in important Town affairs. The following twenty-four civic groups have paid dues for the year 2000:
Beaver Hill Association
Birchwood Civic Association
Broadview Civic Association
Downing Hill Civic Association
East Hartsdale Avenue Civic Association
East Irvington Civic Association
Edgemont Civic Association
Edgemont Community Council, Inc.
Fort Hill Association
Fulton Park Civic Association
Knollwood Manor Civic Association
Longview Civic Association
Lower Manor Woods Neighborhood Association
Mayfair-Knollwood Civic Association
Parkway Gardens Civic Association
Parkway Homes Civic Association
Secor Homes Civic Association, Inc.
Southern Greenville Civic Association
Stone Oaks Condominium
The Cotswold Association, Inc.
Washington Avenue Civic Association
Westchester Hills Civic Association
Winding Road Farm Association
Woodhill Civic Association
To date, Washington Avenue Civic Association has joined for the first time, and twenty-three of the thirty-four civic groups who were members in 1999 have paid dues for the year 2000. There is $877.73 in the treasury.
MEETING WITH DOT - ROUTES 100A/100B
A representative from the New York State Department of Transportation will attend the Town Board work session next Tuesday, April 18, at 2:30 p.m., to provide information on DOT plans for traffic improvements at the Route 100A/Route 10013 intersection. The meeting will be videotaped and shown on cable television at a later date.
CGCA members noted that the intersection already faces unbearable traffic during many hours each day. New proposals that will add to the traffic nightmares include the Solomon Schechter middle/high school (675 students) planned for West Hartsdale Avenue and Fortress Bible Church and School (150 students) proposed on Dobbs Ferry Road near the northbound entrance to the Sprain Brook Parkway. The State DOT apparently will not be making any intersection improvements until 2003-2004, at the earliest.
GREENBURGH CABLE ACCESS STILL LIMITED
At the March 22 Town Board meeting, Supervisor Paul Feiner signed a two-year lease for the Town to rent a storefront on East Hartsdale Avenue for use as a cable access television studio. Work to reconstruct the interior of the building is underway, and the studio will be operational sometime during the month of April, according to Mr. Feiner.
At the Town Board meeting, Mr. Feiner stated that he had written to school superintendents, encouraging students to get involved and host cable TV shows. CGCA members questioned why Mr. Feiner is writing to others when there already is a year-old waiting list of people who have formally requested but have not been given access to cable TV. Concerns were raised that Mr. Feiner may be trying to box out community leaders who have already requested a show by filling the limited timeslots with programs of students who are less likely to challenge his government policies. The Town Board has supplied no information about whether there are plans for additional staff to operate the studio.
CONTROVERSY CONTINUES RE STATE SALE OF "SURPLUS" LAND
The CGCA has written a letter to State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky in an effort to obtain information about the difference between state parkland and state parkway land. When New York State purchased land years ago to build the Sprain Brook Parkway, residents in the vicinity were told that the lands would remain open space buffers in perpetuity. For years, these buffers have been shown on Westchester County and Town of Greenburgh maps as "parkway land." In recent years the State Department of Transportation has auctioned off parcels of this parkway land as surplus. These auctions affect two neighborhoods - North Elmsford and Orchard Hill.
High Street (North Elmsford) - Chairman Danny Gold received a call from Mark Glusker, who bought a 5+ acre parcel of parkway land at auction and is proposing a subdivision to build five single family homes at the end of High Street (off of Payne Street). Mr. Glusker indicated that he spoke with Stephen Lopez who told him there would be no problem in buying or developing the property since there were no deed restrictions on the parcel and no access to the Parkway. Mr. Glusker was surprised to find opposition from the North Elmsford CA. He told Chairman Gold he had knocked on eight doors in the neighborhood and residents told him they didn't know anything about a civic association. (The North Elmsford CA has been in existence for years and meets regularly.) Mr. Glusker also wants Planning Board member Blanche Alter to recuse herself from participating in the approval process of his application.
The Planning Board has tentatively scheduled the Glusker application for its May 3rd meeting but will cancel the meeting if additional information is not provided by April 18.
Kathwood Road (Orchard Hill). Developers have purchased at auction a little more than an acre of parkway land on Kathwood Road from the state DOT. The developer also wishes to purchase a paper street from the Town and ultimately build 7 new houses. The Building Inspector has issued permits for at least two houses. Neighborhood residents have filed an application with the Zoning Board of Appeals, challenging the Building Inspector's decision to issue permits.
The case has been tentatively scheduled for the April 27 ZBA meeting but will likely be bumped since the ZBA had to cancel its February meeting for lack of a quorum and ZBA rules require that cases be heard in order according to case number.
WATER FILTRATION PLANT
Plans continue for what may become the world's largest water filtration plant, to be located on Grasslands Road at the Greenburgh/Mount Pleasant border. Alice Moroney informed CGCA members that officials from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection have planned to conduct a walking tour of the site at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 17.
Earlier this year, the CGCA submitted an 8-page document to DEP officials requesting that they broaden the scope of study in the DEIS to address a number of additional concerns. A copy of the document was sent to Supervisor Feiner who forwarded copies of the CGCA document to Acting Planning Commissioner Mindy Hartstein and DPW Commissioner Al Regula. CGCA members continue to question why Greenburgh Town officials have not attended meetings or been involved in the scoping process. If the federal government orders the DEP to filter the Catskill/Delaware water system, the wastewater treatment plant would be located in Greenburgh and have a tremendous negative impact on nearby residents.
TOWN BOARD VIOLATES "OPEN MEETINGS LAW"
On Monday, April 3, a sign was placed on the doors of Town Hall stating that the building was closed because of a water main break. Although the doors were locked and no information was provided on how one could obtain access, inside the building the Town Board was holding a "public" work session. This meeting, behind locked doors, was clearly in violation of the Open Meetings Law.
Questions were raised about when or if the Town Board ever discusses the issues they vote on since discussions rarely take place on items on the agenda at regular Town Board meetings. In addition, very few items are discussed at public work sessions. It was noted that lately the Town Board spends most of its work sessions in "executive" sessions that are not open to the public. While the Open Meetings Law does permit executive sessions in limited cases, the law requires that a formal vote first be taken in public stating the reason(s) why the Board is holding an executive session. The Town Board members do not bother with this legality, they merely close the door to the Conference Room.
SPRINGHILL SUITES HOTEL (ROUTE 119)
The public hearing on this application to build a 145-room hotel at the Tarrytown border was continued at the March 22 Town Board meeting held away from Town Hall. Supervisor Feiner insisted on holding the hearing at the Housing Authority because he wanted to give residents from the public housing site directly across the street from the proposed site the opportunity to speak. However, no one from the Route 119 neighborhood spoke during the hearing.
At the hearing, Ella Preiser asked if the Town Board planned to close the hearing, not only on the DEIS, but also on the applications for a special permit and site plan approval. The Board could not respond and the Town Attorney, Susan Mancuso, called for an executive session. Supervisor Feiner ordered that the cameras be turned off. After the executive session, the Board still was unable to respond and Ms. Mancuso said she would look into the matter and get back to Mrs. Preiser with an answer. A few minutes later, the Board proceeded to pass a resolution closing the hearing on the DEIS as well as the applications for a special permit and site plan approval. Later that evening, Francis Sheehan asked the
Board members what they had voted on since they could not answer Mrs. Preiser's question. There was a great deal of paper shuffling and confusion for an extended period. A Board member then noted: "We'll let the record speak for itself." The tentative agenda for tomorrow night's Town Board meeting appears to indicate the Town Board will pass a new resolution to correct the mistake they made and will keep the hearings open on the special permit and site plan applications.
TOWN BOARD FAILS TO ENACT MORATORIUM ON DEVELOPMENT NEW HOMES PROPOSED ON ARDSLEY ROAD - GELSPRAIN
Last September, some homeowners on Ardsley Road attended a Town Board work session and stated that real estate agents were harassing them to sell their homes - a developer wanted access to the Gelsprain Realty property behind their homes. Supervisor Feiner called the real estate office to register a complaint and several Board Members stated that they did not want to see the Gelsprain property developed. The developer turned out to be Toll Brothers, Inc. which has presented a preliminary proposal, asking that the Town Board rezone the 40-acre Gelsprain property to a Planned Unit Development (ROD). The site contains very steep slopes and Con Edison high tension wires. A PUD would permit Toll Brothers to save money by clustering 68 homes on the site. Supervisor Feiner has indicated that he will recuse himself from voting on the application because he lives nearby at Boulder Ridge, but the Town is wasting no time in processing the application- At tomorrow night's Board meeting, the Town Board will refer the application to the Planning Board for review and recommendation.
CGCA members noted that the Gelsprain property is one of the parcels of land being studied in the Comprehensive Plan. Proposals being considered include up-zoning the property from R-20 to R-40 and/or excluding areas of steep slopes when calculating allowable development. Since the Town Board failed to enact a moratorium on development, it appears that the Toll Brothers' application will be allowed to -proceed. Six months ago, Saratoga Associates, the Town's consultant, -indicated- that it was appropriate to enact a moratorium on development of selected sites until a Comprehensive Plan was adopted. On October 13, 1999, the Town Board passed a resolution directing the Town Attorney and Planning Commissioner to draft the wording for a moratorium. Months later there was talk of having Saratoga draft the legislation. To date, no legislation has been proposed. Toll Brothers' contributions to Supervisor Feiner's campaigns were noted.
THE CGCA PRAISES PLANNING BOARD'S EFFORTS
CGCA members applauded the "new" policies the Planning Board has instituted in reviewing applications for development. Instead of immediately scheduling new applications for a public hearing, the Planning Board now first schedules an application for a work session discussion to determine completeness of the application. This was the customary practice in years past, and both the Site Plan and Subdivision regulations encourage these pre-submission conferences. CGCA members believe that providing developers with advance notice about Planning Board members' concerns will actually help speed the approval process. It was also noted that the Planning Board accomplished a great deal of business at its special work session on Wednesday, March 29. The Planning Board did not, however, have sufficient time to discuss "Adult Use" which was the original reason for scheduling the special meeting. The Board's discussion on Adult Use will continue on May 17.
TOWN BOARD FLIP-FLOPS ON PARKING REGULATIONS
Last August, the Town Board enacting legislation prohibiting parking between 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. on certain roads in the vicinity of Ardsley High School. In response to concerns of area residents about students' vehicles clogging the streets, making access for school buses, garbage trucks and emergency vehicles difficult, Police Chief John Kapica studied the problem. Working with area residents, Chief Kapica proposed the "no parking" regulations. The regulations appeared to address the problem.
In February, a resident of Kenneth Road attended a Town Board work session. She asked the Board to lift the "no parking" regulation on her side of the street because she had a handicapped spouse and wanted her home health worker to be able to park in the street in front of her house. She indicated that she had the support of her neighbors on Kenneth Road. Chief Kapica noted that she had at least four parking spaces in her driveway and urged the Board to leave the parking regulations in place for safety reasons. The Town Board members expressed empathy and, rejecting the advice of Chief Kapica, voted to repeal the "no parking" restriction on her side of Kenneth Road at the February 23 Town Board meeting.
In March, residents of Kenneth Road found the street clogged once again with students' vehicles. They complained to the Supervisor. On April 10, even though it was not listed on the agenda, the Town Board opened a special meeting during a work session and voted 4 to 1 to revert back to the original "no parking" restriction on Kenneth Road. Mr. Feiner voted against the resolution, stating that he felt sorry for the woman with the handicapped spouse.
MISCELLANEOUS
Avalon Green II (Mob Hill). The applicant does not wish to adhere to the "Scope" in preparing the DEIS for this proposal to build almost 800 rental units on Taxter Road and is fighting having to complete the required section on alternative means to develop.
Greenburgh Campaign Finance Commission. The Commission is holding its 5`b meeting this evening at Rochambeau School in White Plains. The Commission continues to discuss issues raised by the CGCA regarding the incumbents' control of cable TV public access and the Town's ineffective Ethics Code. A public hearing, originally scheduled for May, most likely will not take place until sometime in June.
Planning Board Bylaws/Rules. The committee working on revising the Planning Board's rules met for a second time last night. CGCA representatives Madelon O' Shea and Ella Preiser noted that additional work is necessary, but no other meeting has been scheduled.
Civic Associations Meet with Supervisor. The Edgemont Community Council and the Old Edgemont Association accepted Supervisor Feiner's requests and invited him to attend their meetings during the past few weeks. The Old Edgemont group is concerned about development and is asking that a "Critical Environmental Area" overlay be placed over the entire Old Edgemont area. A CEP designation would require a more focused study of environmental impacts before a development project could be approved.
Reception for Newcomers. Ella Preiser and Mary Tobias volunteered to welcome new residents of Greenburgh at the reception to be held on April 26 at Anthony F. Veteran Park. The CGCA goal is to encourage new residents to join their local civic group and become active in Town affairs.
Request for a Sign Ordinance. Chairman Danny Gold announced that he had received an April 4 letter from Supervisor Feiner asking that the CGCA distribute and discuss a letter to the editor of The Scarsdale Inquirer from resident Mark Tenzer who wants the Town to pass a sign ordinance. The CGCA will be happy to review and comment on any legislation that the Supervisor may propose.
Nation-wide Search for Planning Commissioner Derailed? The Town Board appears to be considering hiring a consulting firm, rather than an individual, to serve as Planning Commissioner. Just last month Supervisor Feiner announced that the Town Board had hired Saratoga Associates to conduct a nation-wide search for a planner at a cost not to exceed $10,000.