Brightview Requests Zoning Change For Entire Town

So many issues in the Town of Greenburgh under The Paul’s tenure go without inspection, but the tide may be changing as his actions continue to routinely be proven illegal, immoral or lacking any business acumen that will benefit the Town. Examples you ask? The largest one would be the recent Appellate Court decision upholding the guilty verdict of The Paul and the Town for discrimination, destruction of evidence and lying under oath/perjury – to mention several. We’ve maintained that The Paul and his Stepford Board collectively and independently lie to us all the time.  This Appellate Court decision vindicates ABG and others.

You want more? There’s a $4 million deficit for the Town’s Water Department that remained after two successive water rate increases by The Paul and his Stepford’s to the tune of 102%. Still more? There’s the WestHelp abandoned lease debacle that is costing Greenburgh $1.2 million per year. August was the one-year anniversary of The Paul’s flawed and expensive decision refusing to renew the WestHelp lease which would guaranteed the Town $1.2 million per year for ten years!

Another project which has slowly been gaining traction in the west end of Greenburgh is the Brightview Assisted Living proposal. Residents of the Glenville Unincorporated section of Greenburgh, in the area of Benedict Avenue near Rt 119 were provided a meeting with the developers of the proposed Brightview Assisted Living Corporation to review plans for the sight and get feedback from the neighborhood. Not many others were aware of this meeting. Subsequently, Glenville residents were offered a walk-through of the property to see what the layout of the property was like. After discussing many of the proposed ideas for the main building and listening to some of the concerns of the residents, the developers went back to the original drawings to “massage” what they had proposed and try to accommodate the residents’ input. The result was a changed footprint and an additional floor from three to four stories.

On October 18 they scheduled a meeting at the Tarrytown Marriott in one of the small conference rooms on the second floor, ostensibly “hidden” from all but the “driven” residents seeking to attend. When we arrived, we were pleasantly greeted by Marriott staff whom also had to look on their televised display to find the event location and help us navigate to it. So it wasn’t really hidden, but it was a challenge to find. Arriving at 6:30PM, we found the meeting had started at 5PM, not 6PM as we had been told. We noticed Town Council members Diana Juettner and Ken Jones were in attendance. There were about twenty or so residents in attendance, including Jon Flores, the Glenville Civic Center President.

There was the successfully proven and ever-present obligatory soft pastel artist’s rendition of the three-story, 90 room residence standing on an easel at the front of the room. Next to it was the architect’s drawing showing an aerial view of the footprint of the buildings, parking areas, grassy areas and just the smallest bits of area properties. With the ever-so-soft-spoken presenters, at times almost in a whisper, they made their case, using lush and friendly words, entertaining the residents at the meeting’s benign, almost useless questions, as the developers spoon-fed their pablum to the unsuspecting few, gently dabbing the edge of the mouths with expensive linen napkins after each hand-off. One gentleman queried about residents storing their vehicles on site and was told that most of their residents are about 85 years old and no longer own a vehicle. Then the same man asked if the facility would drive them wherever they wanted to go? Of course the company van would be happy to take them out periodically. Hmm. Does that mean they can get a ride to Detmers or Pete’s  for a drink or dinner or will they have to walk if it’s not on Brightview’s schedule? And what about visits from their kids (in their 60’s) and grandkids (in their 50’s) who show up for a birthday or anniversary party? Will there be enough parking for them?

One woman questioned what the developers were going to do for the surrounding residents if the blasting and other other construction activities cause damage to their homes? They were assured that they will be taking before and after pictures of every room in every house in the immediate area. But they didn’t say what would constitute the immediate area or what happens to the resident that is away when their photographer is contracted to take pictures? Then one gentlemen commented that construction in his neighborhood, blocks away from the blasting, caused cracks, popped nails and shifting in their homes, also causing pipe damage underground and in their homes. The developers again stated they would address it. ABG’s suggestion is that each resident take their own pictures before any construction, have them notarized and store them in a safe place. These other residents with the cracks, popped nails and pipe damage were all refused their insurance claims and told by the developer that there was no way to prove it was natural settling causing the damage or if their work did. It’s sounds like you’ll be on your own.

 Another gentleman asked if they would be working around the clock or 8AM to 4PM on Monday through Friday? The Brightview developer responded that Greenburgh has the most stringent zoning and building code laws around and that he has worked in the Town for most of his career and can assure everyone they will follow the laws. This statement tells us that he either knows how to get around some of the laws or simply ignores the ones no one really monitors. Everyone knows it’s cheaper to pay a fine than stop a multi-million dollar project because time is money. He mentioned the noise regulations, the need to provide a staging area, hours they can work and so on and they would follow the Town’s stringent codes and laws.

In Fulton Park, where The Paul and his Stepford Board “green-lighted” the oversized Westhab project, the workers routinely work from about 7AM until 8 or 9PM seven days a week. Trucks line the single lane roads (staged?), idling their diesel engines sometimes for hours even with the three minute idle law restricting vehicle idling. Stop and Shop had the same conditions. When residents call the police department for relief, they are told there is nothing the police department can do. While a staging area is required, it has not been enforced. Noise violations are also difficult enforce. Idling? It’s easily ignored as well. “Caveat Emptor”, Glenville.

Brightview finally dropped their bombshell during this meeting. They are requesting a zoning change from the Town for their property’s project to allow their building to increase to four stories instead of being limited to three. This change will affect the entire Town as an Assisted Living classification. One gentleman asked what will happen to their project if the zoning change is not passed? There was a pregnant silence until he piped in again and asked would they leave or revert back to their original design? Their response was they might abandon the project or they might revert. ABG sincerely doubts that and believes, as do others, that The Paul has probably winked toward their project saying not to worry. The Town Board will become the lead agency and before you can say collusion, seniors will be moving in.

Another point was brought up about LEED certification and if the buildings in this project would conform to LEED standards? The dance really began with the develop how they are very concerned about the environment, one even said he himself was LEED certified and they are all very much about the environment. The gentleman asking the question said that was nice but it didn't answer his question. “Is this building a LEED certified building?” “No,” was the whispered response. Then he challenged Councilwoman Juettner to find out exactly when the law was enacted. It was either in 2009 or 2010 he told her. She said she would have to look into it. Then Ken Jones offered his input on the subject and she said that wasn’t what was being asked and in a blink they both left the meeting. ABG isn’t holding our breath for an answer.

There are other issues that need to be addressed by the Town, the developer, and others. One such issue needing to be addressed is the emergency services departments with access and egress. There is currently only one way in or out of the facility. Why? Because they are trying to build as many units as inhumanly possible to maximize their profits. This facility will be covered by the Town of Greenburgh Police Department and the Tarrytown Fire Department. The PD should have little difficulty responding to any call requiring their intervention. The fire department is another story.

During this same meeting the size of several of the fire departments’ apparatus will not have any, let alone enough, room to turn around anywhere on the property. What are they supposed to do, back all the way out? The developer’s response was that they would be arranging a meeting with the fire personnel sometime soon to work on those logistics. That is a staggering omission for a design that is being pitched to the surrounding area. ABG sees this as a slap in the Fire Department’s face and a true failure of planning by the developer. Before you design anything, one of the first things that should be accommodated is emergency response and access, especially given the relative ages of the senior residents retired at this location. Since this isn’t the Fairview Fire Department, The Paul couldn’t get the developer to agree to “donating” another new rescue truck or fire engine for unimpeded approvals during the construction phases. Consequently, no one was thinking emergency anything. Ironically, the Tarrytown FD built their new firehouse farther down on Rt 119 in anticipation of all the future development of Rt 119.

This project is loaded with negative ramifications. The flooding/water flow designs supposedly meet the 50-Year Storm regulations. That’s nice. Tell that to the Fulton Park or Babbitt Court neighborhoods each time it rains and they flood. This project will negatively affect this community’s well-being and the quality of life for everyone in the area. 

This project also promises to affect the entire Town if their zoning change request goes forward, basically allowing oversized buildings to be built where they wouldn’t normally be allowed. Limited access and egress allowing a larger footprint will not and cannot be undone once the structure has been erected. There is a reason they want a four-story, 90 unit facility. So, we ask a simple question we didn’t hear at this meeting. What is the real, lowest number of units that can be built? Just because they want a bigger profit doesn’t mean the Town is required to provide it. This entire project needs to be tabled so the Comprehensive Committee can effectively study this topic of Assisted Living developments, make an informed decision and recommendation to the Town and help everyone in the Town, not just another one of The Paul’s developer friends. We can only hope.