Law Suits Verdicts Against The Town
• Fortress Bible Church discrimination lawsuit where Mr Feiner and his Board (at the time) $6.5 million award, which we are still paying.
• Cotswold Tree Damages. Found that the Town under-insured; Monetary award of millions; the Husband was killed and his wife was permanently disabled.
Pending Law Suits
• S&R Development Estates LLC has filed 7 lawsuits since 2007, against the Town of Greenburgh for illegally blocking the development of a multi-family affordable & low income residential property for $26 million. This all came about due to an error on the Zoning map. The property should have been shown as being in a Residential district. Instead it was mistakenly shown as being in the Central Ave. commercial district where multi- family housing is permitted. When the mistake was discovered, Paul Feiner ordered the map to be corrected without following the legal procedure which required a Public Hearing. S&R purchased the property relying on the fact that it was zoned for multi/ family use.
• Argonaut Insurance Co., Wants to be released from covering the $26 million Dromore Road suit. They claim that they were not the insurance carrier when the basis for the initial suit (2007) took place and should be released from paying any fines since they were only retained in 2015. Actually, Argonaut maintain that Mr Feiner and Mr Sheehan acted intentionally, and as a result Argonaut should be released from coverage because public policy doesn’t allow for insurability of “intentionally caused harm.” In other words, this isn’t an accident like a tree falling on a car: Argonaut is alleging that Messrs Feiner and Sheehan deliberately changed the maps to screw S&R and therefore they violated the insurance policy. This has happened before with the $6.5 million fine in the Fortress Bible Church. Because Mr Feiner was found guilty of lying under oath and destroying evidence in Federal Court, the insurance company only had to pay one million dollars of the entire amount.
• Ferncliff Cemetery is suing Mr Feiner and the Town for $76 million, contending that the twelve acres is actually property for cemetery burials. The Town has claimed that that property was not part of the original Ferncliff purchase and subsequently cannot be used for cemetery burials.
Land Use Decisions
• Shelbourne Assisted Living Facility. Disregarding the Town Zoning Ordinance re: Assisted Living and has a 3000% variance allowed - distance of more than 1 mile to State road instead of 200 ft.
• Deli Delicious Restaurant
Appointed a tenant of the Deli Delicious owner to the Zoning Board of Appeals when the
property owner was seeking variances from that Board.
• Frank’s Nursery. Allowed uncollected taxes for 6 years before Town foreclosed on property. Tried to lease the property to GameOn Sports Complex – Illegal according to State and County law. He attempted to sell property without clear title. Also contracted to sell property to GameOn with a 13 year installment plan, and a way “out” if hazardous materials remediation costs exceeded a certain amount.
• WestHELP – Westchester Community College Property off of Knollwood Road. The Town was receiving $1.2 million per year for housing for homeless women and children.
Mr Feiner arranged a deal with the Valhalla School District to pay them $650,000 a year for school-age children to attend Valhalla schools. State Comptroller found the deal illegal. No children attended the Valhalla schools and a law suit was filed by private citizens to have that money returned to the Town and won. Another deal was made with the Mayfair Knollwood Civic Association to pay them $100,000 for their approval of this arrangement. The deal was found to be illegal.He also allowed the contract to lapse in 2011 causing the Town to lose over $8 million to date and forcing the property to fall into disrepair due to lack of maintenance.
• Tarryhill Housing on Old Tarrytown Road.The Town did not do its due diligence in allowing this affordable housing project to be sold to owners whose objective it is to turn the property into non-affordable housing per Wall Street Journal article.
Land Use Committees
Paul Feiner promoted the idea that land use committees would allow neighborhood residents to have input regarding proposed development in their communities.
We have now been informed by the Commissioner of Community Development & Conservation that the rules have been changed and that land use committees will only be used when a Zoning Change is required for the project.
When a project (i.e. The Jefferson) was proposed in Mr. Feiner's “backyard”, he made sure that an outside independent consulting firm was hired to study all aspects of the proposal.
Without a land use committee, this procedure will not be followed.
There are currently 4 land use applications submitted to the Town that should be allowed to have land use committees formed to have input from the neighborhood residents that will be impacted by these developments. These are:
• ShopRite Super Market - MutliPlex theater/ Master's Shopping Center property on 9A. Mr Feiner favors allowing large tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles to use the adjoining Old Country Road. This project will impact the safety of 215 families in the Westchester Hills Condominiums and some residents of the Beaver Hill area.
• Sam's Club – 9A across from MultiPlex/Master's Shopping Center. They are seeking to install 7 underground gas tanks with 14 gas pumps in a FEMA-designated flood zone near the Saw Mill River. It would would eliminate 100 parking spaces and increase congested traffic flow for the area. This proposal was previously rejected by the Town's Zoning Board of Appeals.
• Metropolis Country Club – Dobbs Ferry Road.They are seeking to change the Zoning Code for an Independent Living/Assisted Living/Memory Care Facility to allow for a 60% increase in density.They also want to introduce “floating zones” which could set a precedent to allow commercial entities in all residential districts.
• Maplewood Swim & Tennis Club – West Hartsdale Ave.They seek to build an Assisted Living/Memory Care Facility.They also wants a variance of 50% for the length of the building from 300 ft. to 450 ft. Neighbors in several neighborhoods nearby have expressed concerns involving increased traffic and safety on already heavily travelled roads.
All of the residents from these areas should be given the same opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns about these forthcoming developments, just like the residents of East Irvington (solar farms), Worthington-Woodlands (Elmwood CC), Hartsdale (4 Corners) and Ardsley (The Jefferson).
Dial Democracy
This was the brain child of Paul Feiner that allowed residents to call in to Town Board meetings during Public Comments and Public Hearings to voice their opinions, concerns and ask questions when they are unable to attend these meetings in person.
For some unknown reason, this important social media tool has been discontinued for the past decade despite the urging by citizens to restore it.
In fact, Dial Democracy should also be allowed during Public Hearings at the Planning Board and Public Hearings involving variances at the Zoning Board of Appeals. It’s what will make for A Better Greenburgh.
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