Formation Shelborne Should Go

We’ve previously written about the Formation Shelbourne scam that Mr Feiner and his Town Board have thrust and continued to perpetuate upon the residents of Edgemont and the Town. Prior to his leaving the Town as our Planning Commissioner to pave over greener pastures in Stamford, CT., Thomas Madden assured the management team from Formation Shelbourne that their assisted living project would sail through the process, guaranteeing the proverbial “done deal”. Mr Feiner was also a willing participant and he too assured project approvals and a resistant-free project from the Town.

Others have also reported this egregious violation of public trust and spoken about it at Town Board meetings. The fallacy of doing this is the wanton lack of attention paid by the Board members as they have appeared to have been instructed by Mr Feiner to ignore the concerns of the residents. In fact, if it weren’t for Town Attorney Tim Lewis’ berating of residents who go past the emperor's allotted three-minute public speaking constraint, there might not be any Board involvement with the public. Complaining, questioning and offering suggestions as often as is done by residents results in the Town Board only feigning deafness.To help get these issues out in the forefront, another frustrated resident, Edgemont resident Jeff Sherwin, has created a new website to address some of these illegalities.See it by clicking on this link:
https://www.greenburgh-zoning.org/#greenburgh-is-spot-zoning

The silence from Town Hall about doing the right thing with this project has almost been deafening. It is blatantly obvious that Mr Feiner and his instructed Board will not alter their support of a project laden with many needed zoning variations, questionable neighborhood concerns and safety issues. The property in question, owned by the Al Krautter family, currently houses the Sprainbrook Nursery. They are continuing to operate the nursery while the conditioned sale stagnates during the Town’s mishandling of this oversized proposal. Should they cease the nursery's operation, the current zoning that allows the business to operate under a "grandfathered" zoning clause, would revert back to residential, ending the Formation Shelbourne’s ability to utilize the property for their proposed assisted living facility. And, quite probably, wind up terminating the sale of the property.

Many examples of concern have been given as to why the proposal should not be approved and continued. But closed-door promises were made - as has been done for the last 24 years - and must be honored at all cost, no matter how ethically or legally improper those promises might be! You’ll recall the Town Board beaming and postulating as they passed the Brightview Assisted Living Center-written bill specifying assisted living proposal conditions for future projects. The trouble with it was it was written to Brightview’s specifications for their project! Obviously flawed, adopting it is just another misstep made by this administration.

Trying to circumvent the new zoning regulations for their own profit, Formation Shelbourne is seeking variances to the requirements of being within 200 feet of a state right of way and being built on a minimum of 4 acres. There are other conditions to be met, but these are the two most glaring that should easily negate this proposal. The property is less than the newly adopted zoning law's required 4 acres and is more than 6,000 feet from the nearest state right-of-way. Mr Sherwin’s website video drive proves the distance is miles away, not feet. Mr Feiner has again violated the the trust of the taxpayers and residents. He should immediately resign if he wishes to show any kind of good faith toward the residents and prove he is not in the pocket of these and other developers. But rather than step down, we're sure he will "step it up" and do several more Town financed mailings and email blasts lauding this project. 

Regardless of what he does, there promises to be another lawsuit on the Town's horizon over this project. There are many projects in the Town that may have merit. There will be more in our future that will also be good. But illegal promises made by Mr Feiner behind closed doors and condoned by his Board should put an immediate end to this project. We hope that some day, this Board will find a moral compass and try to do the right thing. Until then, we keep seeking A Better Greenburgh.