Former Frank’s Nursery Finally Sold

It was announced by Mr Feiner, in conjunction with the daily newspaper of record for Westchester County, that Greenburgh town officials finalized the $3.5 million sale of the old Frank's Nursery property. He also touted the future opening for a new assisted living facility at the site. Having lost his battle to develop Dobbs Ferry Road into a sports corridor, his carefully worded explanation avoided all hints of the calamity he created with the property.

The 7-acre property on Dobbs Ferry Road had been vacant since the nursery shut down. In 2011, the town foreclosed on the property and took possession. From that point on, Mr Feiner made the property a political football. The property was required by County and State law to be sold as municipalities cannot be landlords. What Mr Feiner tried to do was “gift” the property to his new friends from GameOn 365. So egregious and offensive was this move, it forced residents to organize and form the Worthington Woodlands Civic Association!

He said, “It’s significant because now, for the first time, it’s not town property and it’s back on the tax rolls. The construction of the assisted living facility will start. They’ll start with the remediation of the contaminants.” The remediation was promised by Town Attorney and pseudo-environmental expert Tim Lewis to cost no more than $100k to remediate. And, while Mr Feiner was trying to illegally lease the property to GameOn 365, he had insisted the Town would pay for remediation. In actuality, the Town will be responsible for $1,899,283 million of the cleanup.

During the entire time of this bad behavior by Mr Feiner, he enraged the group of people he should have been representing! Instead, he created a tug of war with the area civic associations and taxpayers for the sole benefit of an out-of-state for-profit company. During this time, secret emails between Mr Feiner and his friends at GameOn 365 were uncovered. One damning statement from GameOn 365 to Mr Feiner was that they should stop the email communications and only discuss things by phone as emails are subject to F.O.I.L. requests and phone conversations are not. They did just that!

After a proposal for a sports and recreation facility fell through, the town reached a deal in 2015 with Capitol Seniors Housing for an assisted living facility. That deal was finalized Thursday with the closing of the sale. The sports facility proposal didn’t “fall through” as Mr Feiner wants the uninitiated to believe. The proposal was out and out rejected by all the residents in the area! Once Mr Feiner and his Board ignored the property beyond 6-months, during which point he could have legally given it away, it reverted back to residential zoning. Since the adjacent residents have a right of refusal, they did just that. As Mr Feiner scrambled to meet with residents individually and in small groups to persuade them to acquiesce and support the GameOn 365 proposal, they stood united!

Mr Feiner said the new facility is expected to generate $500,000 in property taxes. But he doesn’t say if that is yearly, as a lump sum from the sale or how he’s come up with that figure. He routinely throws out figures without corroboration, validation or proof, hoping for the sensational and unsubstantiated reproduction in print newspapers. He also said, "I think it’s going to be a big asset to the town having an assisted living facility at that location. The neighborhood supported it.”

Actually, the neighborhood did and does support it. All along they insisted that the only proposal that could be acceptable at that site was residential housing. He even tried to propose other commercial activities at that location. The civic associations saw what he was trying do. If they said yes to that proposal he could use that to make the argument that there is no difference from placing one type of business over another at that location. The civic associations remained steadfast and eventually won out! It’s this kind of civic involvement that makes for A Better Greenburgh.

The Real 2015 Year In Review

Each year Mr Feiner  continues campaigning with his one-sided year in review mailing/email blast/press releases. According to this, a lot has been accomplished. ABG would like to offer a counter-balance and tell you what he will not. His comments are in black and ours are in blue - play on words intended.

Have a healthy and happy 2016. And - A BIG THANK YOU for your help in making 2015 a successful year. Here is a review of some of our accomplishments! Please e-mail me your goals for 2016.
• Town budget complies with tax cap --- lowest tax hike in years. NYS is requiring communities to comply with the tax cap if they want residents to receive a bonus check from NYS. We also had to highlight sharing/consolidation efficiencies.
This is simply a false statement for political expediency. NYS state does not require any community to adhere to the tax cap, and is an incentive only if they want to receive these rebate checks. Nor do they mandate the calculation for the actual tax increase to be stated. So while this year’s increase will be 0.73%, it is achieved by drawing down the Town’s Fund Balance, a trick Mr Feiner and his Board have done since slamming the taxpayers with a 23% tax hike in 2008. Robbing Peter to, ahem, pay Paul. 

• Town built or is close to building 1.6 miles of new sidewalks around Greenburgh. New sidewalk in front of Greenburgh Health Center complete in December. Sidewalk built on Benedict Avenue this fall. 
This is another false statement from Mr Feiner. The Town has not built any sidewalks anywhere in the Town in years! Usually when a sidewalk has been built, it was the fulfillment of the contractual mandate from the Town to build a sidewalk in front of a new project. One exception was the brokered “sidewalk to nowhere” in Tarrytown at Benedict Avenue and Rt 119, which was the construction of a limited sidewalk near the then unknown, unbuilt, unfavorable, unpublicized, except to Mr Feiner and his Board, only now constructed Brightview Assisted Living facility. 

• Signed agreement to sell Frank’s Nursery for 3.52 million to Capital Senior Housing (Valterra). 90-100 units of housing on Dobbs Ferry Road. Town responsible for cleanup.
This is true. However, before Mr Feiner acquiesced to the Worthington Woodlands, Secor Homes and Fulton Park Civic Associations as well as the Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations, he was hell-bent to sell the property to GameOn 365 for a commercial enterprise. With the property zoned for residential use, everyone weighed in that this 8-story commercial monstrosity did not belong in this or any other residential neighborhood. With everyone united, an “Abutters Petition” that went beyond the required 20% opposition, never had to be used. This change being trumpeted by Mr Feiner would have then opened any neighborhood up to the same change.

    

Don’t let Mr Feiner simply gloss over the last sentence, “Town responsible for cleanup.” This is important - which is why he is downplaying it. While Mr Feiner was trying to illegally lease and then sell the former Frank’s Nursery property to his friends from GameOn 365, a counter offer from Ardsley’s House of Sports for twice the dollar amount PLUS full remediation costs for the property was turned down by Mr Feiner and his Board! The only caveat House of Sports insisted on was a full study of the property be conducted so they would know what the cleanup would entail. Still, he said, “No!” 

• Greenburgh-School Partnership - a new playground at the Lee Jackson School. Town used non taxpayer dollars to help fund playground (developer escrow funds). Working with the Greenburgh School District.  Initiated a mentoring program for architects/engineers. Working on a technology initiative - training students to learn jobs that will be needed for 21st century careers, especially in high wage, high demand careers including computer coding and programming, applications development, network management and data analysis, robotics. We want our students to learn about cutting edge technologies. 
These are two completely different and separate issues. As for the playground, we think this is a good thing. As for mentoring with any of our schools, ABG believes Mr Feiner should extend to all students in all schools throughout the Town access to these cutting edge technologies, not just one school or neighborhood. Like the fire districts, he has no input or control over the schools or school districts.

• Town maintained, in 2015, our Aaa bond rating from Standard & Poor's and Moody's. Taxpayers to save about $300,000 in borrowing costs because we have the highest bond rating possible (only 1% of communities in the nation have an Aaa rating). 
A good bond rating is a good thing – if we take advantage of it. But, sadly, Mr Feiner and his Board would rather talk about the rating than put it to good use. Our infrastructure is collapsing from at least 24-years of neglect (Mr Feiner's tenure). The Town should look at several capital projects that can be initiated and begun immediately, such as constructing sidewalks throughout the Town. Have you ever noticed that Mr Feiner is the first to say residents should use alternative means to get to and fro but offers no solutions unless someone else will be paying for it? It's political pandering. The Town should undertake building sidewalks and not wait until a developer has plans to overdevelop a speck of land and be required to build them in front of that property. This logic, while effective some thirty-plus years ago, is no longer germane and needs to be revamped. Flood mitigation, sewer and water piping upgrades are also needed.

• Police start using body cameras.
ABG does not know how many complaints have been lodged against any of our police officers, but believe this can be a good thing. 

• Town and civic groups working more closely. We approved legislation endorsed by the Edgemont Community Council to license massage establishments---giving police the tools to shut down illegal massage facilities that had been used for prostitution and other improper activities. We are working closely with three different Edgemont civic associations on a plan to build sidewalks near Edgemont schools (this school district does not have busing).
This is pure pandering. Mr Feiner has gone out of his way to not work with Civic Associations or their members - as witnessed at most Town Board meetings. As for working with Edgemont, what he says is true. However, he is only doing this because Edgemont has repeatedly threatened to secede from the Town, incorporate and become its own Village to get away from Mr Feiner’s bad management. Mr Feiner cannot afford to lose that portion of the tax revenue, which would significantly and negatively affect the Town’s Unincorporated and overall budget revenues.

• The New York State Senate and Assembly approved a law that enables the town and villages within the town to charge guests a 3% hotel tax. The revenues could generate as much as a million dollars a year to the town. The Governor has not yet indicated whether he will sign or veto the legislation. Should know shortly!
ABG believes in this fiscally challenging time for corporations, corporate travel and such, most hotels/motels make the bulk of their income from corporate travelers. As the “bean counters” begin to scrutinize their colleagues travel costs, it will contribute to a lessening of corporate travel to our area. That will impact not only the hotels/motels, but the car rental businesses, food establishments, trade show participation and more. In fact, it’s such a bad idea, as we were writing this, Governor Cuomo just vetoed the bill!

• Worked with the Greenburgh Nature center on our town wide initiative, working with schools and businesses to introduce and develop conservation/sustainable practices, including food waste management. Introduced community to organic recycling at AF Veteran Town Park this summer.
The fact that the Greenburgh Nature Center is a tenant of the Town, and while these ideas are good ones, they do not originate from the Town Hall corner office, get implemented by the Town or financed by the Town.

• Student intern organized a series of self-defense seminars for college students. One in five girls who attend college are victims of sexual assaults.

As always, Mr Feiner neglects to say how many participants took part in this. Frankly, we wonder why interns need to do this when we have very capable police officers, karate schools, defensive arts teachers that Mr Feiner could have arranged to do this. Regardless, kudos to the interns.

• Town Board approves contract to replace town street lights with LED energy efficient lights in 2015.

ABG is all for using LED lights. In fact, we’ve replaced almost all of our florescent bulbs with LEDs as they fail. This is the problem with Mr Feiner’s approach. He is spending half a million dollars changing light bulbs throughout the Town, incurring more of an expense by throwing away good light bulbs the taxpayers have already paid for and still have more usable life. When bulbs fail, or the fixtures need replacing, that is the time to change out the bulbs.

• Town Board approves using non taxpayer dollars (escrow funds) so that DeSanti Park can be turned into a beautiful new Veteran's Memorial Park in 2016.  We created an index of the names of the approximately 150 veterans who had been interviewed as part of the veterans living history initiative.

While we support recognition of our veterans, we wonder what else those funds might be used for? We also wonder why Mr Feiner would not push a public/private initiative to have private funds pay for this?

• Quick replacement for supermarkets going out of business: Best Markets replaced Mrs. Greens; Acme replaced A & P on Knollwood Road. We still need to encourage a new supermarket to replace the Scarsdale & Hastings A & P.

The supermarket debacle was out of Mr Feiner’s control. Although, when he and his Town Board found out about the first A&P, Pathmark and Waldbaums stores that would be closing, it was former Councilwoman Sonya Brown who held community meetings to try to save those stores. Her reward for that was to be ousted by Mr Feiner. Hence, the term we often use when other Town Board members refuse to oppose Mr Feiner: “Sonya’d.”

• Visits by United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and New York State Lt. Governor Kathy Hocul to East Hartsdale Ave.

Really? Every politician will go to any location, meet with any group and press the flesh at any time in hopes they will get a vote.

• Comprehensive Plan Committee presented the Town Board with their draft plan, which will be voted on in 2016 by the Town Board. We currently have no comprehensive plan for the town.

This is not entirely true. There is a Comprehensive Plan for the Town that was adopted in 2003. It just was not a all-encompassing as this latest one.

• Enactment of legislation to reduce Con Ed bills by a few hundred dollars a year. Working with a number of other communities in Westchester on this pilot project that was approved by the NYS Public Service Commission.

Again, this is not entirely true. Yes, there was legislation enacted which forces ConEd to turn your energy information over to an Energy Service Company (ESCO) which will automatically be signing you up to participate in this experiment. 

  

• Town Board formed a Human Rights Advisory Committee in 2015.

ABG believes this was done strictly because it will garner publicity for Mr Feiner. Sadly the federal government, state government and county government Human Rights Commissions weren't enough for Mr Feiner, who continually bemoans government consolidation.

• Nassau County anti-corruption panel cites Greenburgh's strong Ethics laws as a model for the county to enact.

How interesting that they would adopt the Greenburgh law. Strong ethics laws are only of value if they are followed and enforced. Will Nassau officials ignore and trample their law as our Town leaders have?

• The Town Board authorized the Greenburgh Nature Center to build butterfly arbor at the Nature Center - using private dollars.

As the landlord, the Town must review their request to build on Town property. Otherwise, there is nothing from the Town involved in this.

• To slow down traffic and avoid accidents, new stop sign on South and North Roads.

Sadly, ABG admits that while this is good, it’s too bad someone had to die to get these installed. It’s also sad that when neighborhoods ask for solutions to speeding, they are told that stop signs cannot be installed to control traffic. Huh? Isn’t that what this just did?

• Purchase of digital sign board. Police department use the board to inform residents of number of speeding tickets issued on different streets around town. Hopefully, the digital board will motivate people to be more careful motorists. We also purchased rapid flashing high visibility crosswalk light on East Hartsdale Ave. to advise motorists of pedestrians crossing.

Rather than put more police officers and patrol cars on the roads to enforce existing traffic laws or put officers with radar guns in areas where they can effect a slowdown of traffic infractions, Mr Feiner heralds the use of a speeding sign that indicates how many tickets have been written in that particular location. He doesn’t see how it also advertises to speeders that there are no cops here to catch you, just this sign. Once the motorists have figured this out, the sign will prove to be another unnecessary expense.

• We installed a new supplemental boiler at the Greenburgh Library (the library was closed several days over a year ago due to lack of heat).

The Town Board was the lead agency for the library construction project numerous years ago. They had heat pumps that were to be installed on one side of the property, but the Mr Feiner and the Town Board had them installed on the opposite side. They also only went down half the required depth to be effective, so, they don’t work. The boiler they purchased has been plagued with failures, the roof leaked, as did the windows. In the winter they have heating issues, with the sprinkler pipes bursting more than once due to a lack of insulation in the ceiling area. And, in the summer there is not enough air conditioning forcing the use of huge fans to keep people cool. The only good thing was the designer of the building won an award for it! 

   

•  Revitalization of Central Ave. - approving zone change to allow car dealerships on Central Ave. Starbucks to come to Central Ave. - to occupy vacant pea pod across from Hartsdale diner. Best Market replaces Mrs. Greens.
It’s been said that the changes Mr Feiner and his Board made concerning car dealerships borders on anti-trust legislation. And, numerous civic associations and their members suggested Mr Feiner and his Board not do this. While Mr Feiner claims he wants to work more closely with civic associations, this is but one more example where he talks the talk but never walks the walk.

• Comptroller Bart Talamini retires. Town looking for new comptroller.[sic]
Mr Talamini retiring is not an accomplishment of the Town or Mr Feiner. We’re sorry to see Mr Talamini go. Our guess is, he knows where some of the bodies are buried and doesn’t want to be around when they get dug up.

•  Student interns worked with the Greenburgh Nature Center promoting organic recycling this past summer.

 Already mentioned this above. 

• Gigi's Playhouse opens in Ardsley - helping families who have family members with Down Syndrome.

This is a good thing, but did the Town do this? Again, there was no Town involvement.

• Initiating program - barber in training program. Training people who are out of work how to be barbers. Program is now located in Tarrytown.
Interesting that schools teaching hair care must be licensed and meet copious health standards. But those standards are not required in the mystical world of Greenburgh. Mr Feiner must have waved his hands and “poof!” those requirements were gone.

• We continued to proceed with the reassessment of town properties around town. The reassessment process should be completed in 2016 and should stop the bleeding of certiorari actions (tax refunds). Similar properties will be assessed fairly for the first time in 60 years.
Yes, we need to have a revaluation to “stop the bleeding of certiorari actions”. But, don’t be fooled by his statement. Mr Feiner is the one who made the conscious decision during his 24-year tenure to not do a reassessment throughout the Town and not enforce delinquent tax collections (millions of dollars).

• 10 year olds are reporters - new radio station sponsored by Xposure. 10 year old students enrolled in the after school program learn how to become journalists. They interview officials, community members weekly!
We wish them well.

  

•  Using Ridge Hill settlement funds to make safety improvements in downtown Ardsley.
There is a small strip of land being used to “straighten” a short portion of a curve at Jackson Avenue in Yonkers, not in Ardsley. 

• Regeneron purchases land at Eastview. They continue to expand.
This is not entirely true. Regeneron is expanding, just not that much in Greenburgh. The expansion is actually in Mt Pleasant. The piece of property that is in Greenburgh is the parking lot for the actual buildings in Mt Pleasant. Those are different taxation fees. 

• Pet’s Alive shut down their no kill animal shelter. They tried selling the former Elmsford Animal Shelter. Issued an RFP to other animal shelters in the area. No success. They will be turning over the property to the town in 2016 and we will be turning over the property to Paws Crossed, a nonprofit animal rights group that will be operating the shelter as a no kill animal shelter.

The building would probably be cheaper to have torn down and rebuilt based on what the public was told. Mr Feiner had said it needed to be torn down. John Lucido, the Town Building Inspector says it can be made habitable for about $1.2 million dollars – the amount we lose yearly by Mr Feiner deciding not to renew the WestHelp contract with the County. 

• Greenburgh police successful in locating two missing Greenburgh children who ran away from home.

Great job! 

• Appointed new Veterans Advisory Committee to identify resources for military veterans encompassing Veterans benefits, education and networking.
Doesn't the Federal, State and County governments offer this kind of service? Can you say streamlining government? Mr Feiner is the one who wanted to do away with County government because of the redundancy. So, what changed? Of course, publicity and an appearance of doing something.

•  Formed Health Care Advisory Board to provide residents with information about health care services people are entitled to and to help residents with individual problems. They could discuss problems with other neighbors who experienced similar health scares and help people cut through red tape.

See above.

• We expanded the one arm garbage sanitation truck to other sections of the town. A second truck is now serving the community. And, a third truck is on order. Uses one employee instead of three. And, reduces worker’s compensation claims.
This appears to us as a way for Mr Feiner to “get back” at the unions for resisting him in the past. So, for the last year, there have been two garbage collections - the regular/traditional truck and then a second pass by the one-arm bandit trucks later in the day. BTW, how are we going to pick up recyclables with these one arm bandits that can only use the special garbage cans?

• We hired a firm to conduct a management and operations review of the Department of Public Works. Will review recommendations in 2016. Last year we conducted a similar review of the courts and implemented most of their recommendations.

Good. 

The above are just a few of the many exciting new initiatives that have been taken since last Thanksgiving to be thankful for.  Would like to also thank the members of the Town Board – Diana Juettner, Francis Sheehan, Kevin Morgan and Ken Jones, the department heads, town employees, volunteers, civic association leadership and appointees to the Boards and Commissions for your advice and help during the year.  It’s a team effort! 

You’re welcome. While we would all like to feel valued and appreciated, there is a lot of mistrust in our Town brought upon us by our leadership’s actions, some legal, much illegal. We want it to be a team effort, but it’s not. While there is no “I” in Team, there’s also no “We,” “Me” or “Us”. That needs to change. Only then will we have A Better Greenburgh.

House of Sports Sold

In a surprising turn of events, the successful House of Sports facility based in Ardsley, New York, was recently sold to the American Skating Entertainment Centers. American Skating Entertainment Centers claims to be the largest independent owner/operator of ice skating and indoor sports facilities in the United States. They have partnered with the Robert Martin Company and Diamond Properties to acquire the House of Sports.

Constructed in 2012, the House of Sports is a 100,000 square foot, state-of-the-art indoor sports facility offering lacrosse, basketball, soccer, baseball, volleyball, camps, birthday parties, and Athletic Republic performance training. House of Sports opened in 2012, spearheaded by CEO Donald Scherer. Mr Scherer became well-known after he made numerous appearances at Greenburgh Town Board meetings protesting Mr Feiner's illegal lease offer to GameOn 365's owner for the former Frank's Nursery property. You'll recall negotiations for that "deal" took place before the Town even acquired the property through foreclosure.

One of the main factors of the illegal lease deal that Mr Feiner continued to push for with GameOn 365 was their proposed use of an 83-foot tall inflatable bubble on the property to enclose their sports fields - in a residentially zoned neighborhood! Mr Feiner did his usual arm-twisting and sought numerous concessions from the neighbors throughout the Town to accept the deal. Everyone objected.

Subsequent investigations by ABG and others brought to light many safety issues with these bubbles, actually acquiring footage of bubbles collapsing during storms. GameOn 365 insisted they were safe. That is, until their smaller bubble at their facility in New Jersey collapsed. People interviewed by news crews at that time believed they could have been killed. More problems lay underground. After learning that the former Frank's Nursery property had many unidentified contaminants buried in it, the neighborhood civic associations, residents and businesses protested trying to utilize the former Frank's Nursery property for kids' use.


GameOn 365 eased out of the public eye and continued to secretly work behind closed doors with Mr Feiner. Suddenly, GameOn 365 was back before a Town Board Work Session seeking their approval to build a fixed structure with an outdoor field and 80-foot tall lighting. But this latest proposal would be next door to the former Frank's Nursery property on the Visioli Golf Driving Range property! Apparently, they entered into a contractual agreement to have the "right of first offer" to purchase the property. For some unknown reason, GameOn 365 was bent on remaining on Dobbs Ferry Road. Our staffers' best guess is because Mr Feiner promised to push all applications, variances and requests through as his trifecta-Board is unstoppable. Or are they?

The House of Sports sale means little in the fight to keep the Town from changing the current zoning restrictions to allow commercial entities a variance to build in a residential neighborhood. This is the main problem with the GameOn 365 proposal to build where they want, not where it's zoning appropriate. THAT is the objection that everyone has toward this project. The Worthington Woodlands Civic Association has been steadfast in their mandate: build residential in a residentially zoned neighborhood. And, while Mr Feiner has contacted numerous area residents one-on-one to try to convince them to acquiesce for the last several years, he has failed.

We wish the new owners of the House of Sports well. We also thank the former owners for all of their participation thus far and hope they will remain engaged in Town events and issues. They have proven it is possible to accomplish your goals without "special considerations" from Mr Feiner and his Town Board. In the end, the Town's zoning codes must be maintained to keep the beauty of Greenburgh. Mr Feiner has continued to wholesale parts of Greenburgh to developers - except when it's in his or his Board members' backyard, such as the JPI development in Ardsley. The Villages have Mayors and Village Boards that protect the interests of the residents. Unincorporated Greenburgh could use that same protection but do not get it with the elected officials we have. It must change. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Brownfield Application 5 Years Overdue

In the latest daily press release by Mr Feiner, he states that his Town Board has, "authorized the submission of an application to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to clean up contamination found at Frank's Nursery on Dobbs Ferry Road." What does this mean to the overburdened Greenburgh taxpayer, the auctioneer of the property, the Town, and whomever the purchaser winds up being? Quite a bit actually.

Mr Feiner also claims, "We are also  making good progress regarding our efforts to sell Frank's nursery to an assisted living facility (the property is currently zoned for that purpose) but all the details have not been finalized as of yet." That's because NO details have been finalized. As Mr Feiner continually used the former Frank's Nursery property as a political football and media bonanza, it appears that he never had any intention of selling the property to anyone. By not selling the property, it allowed him unfettered access to the media for self-bloviation as well as self-publicity. The irony is that he needs to do neither, what with his own website, the Town website, the Town's energy website and the Daily Voice's website. Ever the political huckster, he remains fervent in his self-promotion without actually accomplishing anything (other than said self-promotion).

The gist of the Brownfield Application is italicized below:

Brownfield Cleanup Program Public Notice

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has received a Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) application from the Town of Greenburgh for a site known as Frank’s Nursery, site ID #C360151. This site is located in the Town of Greenburgh, within the County of Westchester, and is located at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road.

Comments regarding this application must be submitted no later than September 25, 2015. The application can be reviewed at: Greenburgh Public Library, 300 Tarrytown Road, Elmsford, NY 10523; 914-721-8200.

Information regarding the site, the application, and how to submit comments can be found at http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/60058.html or send comments to the Project Manager, James Candiloro, NYSDEC, Division of Environmental Remediation–Bureau C, 625 Broadway-11th Floor, Albany, NY 12233-7014; james.candiloro@dec.ny.gov; or call 518-402-9662.

The difficulty with this application is that it is just that, an application only. It does not ensure the Town will receive any monies to apply toward remediation of the former Frank's Nursery site. Nor does it mean there might even be some relief for the beleaguered Greenburgh taxpayer. If any money is acquired, and is applied toward remediation of the site, only that amount will benefit the taxpayer. All other costs will be assumed by the Unincorporated taxpayers!

What Mr Feiner has not said, which typifies his email publicity campaigns, is that he and the Town should have applied for the Brownfield grants when they originally acquired the property through foreclosure in February 2011. At that time, there were many more residents and more importantly, Town employees who knew about the arrangement with the D'Agostino property being used as an urban renewal demolition dump by the City of White Plains! What he didn't say, is that the Town could be approaching the City of White Plains for aid with the property's cleanup. What he didn't say was what will happen if the application is denied.

At one point several years ago, Mr Feiner attempted to initiate an illegal lease with GameOn 365 for the property for 15 years. You'll recall that GameOn 365 are the friends of Mr Feiner that he bent over backwards trying to gift the property to at an undervalued price. Fortunately, many in the Town objected and the deal was killed only after Mr Feiner was threatened with legal action. Municipalities cannot be landlords nor can they lease property acquired through foreclosure. They are required by New York State and Westchester County law to sell any and all such property. You all know that Mr Feiner routinely ignores any law he doesn't like, knowing that no one will go after him.

In the end, ABG hopes the Town gets the long overdue Brownfield funding. Even the Town's auctioneer informed the Town that no one would bid on the property because of its contamination and the costs associated with cleanup. Sadly, Mr Feiner thumbed his nose at a $3.5 million dollar cash and all remediation/cleanup expenses offer because it would have taken the property from his friends at GameOn 365. We continue to wonder why he would do this? It was also about the same time he and his Town Board began parroting the phrase "doing their due diligence". Later, it was "faith in the process" and then they included "fiduciary responsibility" among others. And whenever possible, they utilized the expressions as conjunctives, trying to get more bang for their buck. What they really wound up exposing according to many is their lack of transparency and collusion with a would-be developer.

It's time for this administration to do the right thing - sort of a foreign concept in this Town. We have a lot of great employees in the Town of Greenburgh. Yet, it seems not from the elective process. Knowing how to scam the voters this well has taken over 22-years worth of effort. Alas, it has paid off, making Mr Feiner a millionaire and then some, through his salary alone. It's time for the electorate to pay attention and stop these shenanigans. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Opposition to Zoning Change Increases

On Wednesday, June 17, 2015, Hartsdale Park Association (hartsdalepark@yahoo.com) sent a letter to its membership regarding the important zoning change the Town Board is considering to benefit GameOn 365, a for-profit commercial entity. It details many of the aspects this decision will have as it will negatively impact the entire Town, not just the Dobbs Ferry corridor.

Dear Hartsdale Park Residents:
Much of the discussion in the case of Game-On's request for special rezoning seems to be focused on the Game-On use of the Vizioli property, the former golf driving range. That is only part of the proposal before the Town Board. Their proposal is to insert a commercial use ( indoor/outdoor recreation center) into a residentially zoned area by special permit. Its impact goes far beyond the Vizioli property.

The amendment to the Zoning Ordinance proposed by David Steinmetz, attorney for Game-On, requires the Town Board to grant a special permit if the applicant meets certain conditions. There is no discretion involved. If the applicant meets all of the conditions spelled out in the code, the permit becomes a right.

The problem is once you allow any commercial entity in a residential zone, there is nothingto stop that use from being expanded OR for it to happen anywhere else in Greenburgh! This is a VERY dangerous precedent to set.

Suppose Game-On receives approval and builds a 107,000 sq.ft. building, then is sold or goes out of business. The community would have a huge empty building with 300 parking spaces and other infrastructure (roads, water, sewer, etc.) in place. Any number of fairly low-traffic-impact businesses might want to locate there, and depending on the financial standing of the Town, such commercial use might be encouraged. Also, there is nothing to stop other commercial uses from seeking entry into OTHER residential districts. If the Town does it once, other commercial uses will seek approval.

Paul Feiner argues that Dobbs Ferry Road is already a recreational and/or commercial corridor - Frank's, East Rumbrook Park, Carlson's Nursery, Elmwood Country Club, Elmwood Day Camp, Fairview Fire House. All of the uses cited (other than Frank's Nursery) -- parks, farms, membership clubs, camps, firehouses -- are allowed in one-family residence districts as permitted uses or by special permit. They are listed as the residential and related uses Zoning Ordinance. Fully enclosed commercial recreational facilities are differentiated and listed as "commercial.”

The focus of our opposition must be on not introducing any kind of commercial use into residentially zoned districts. Once they get a toe in the door, there is no going back!
Some may argue that we already have done this when assisted living facilities were introduced into residential zones. However, "health care facilities” have been Special Permit uses for more than two decades and these are residential uses. The principal change in recent years was to allow them on lots of four acres instead of requiring ten acres.

Creating a new zone is a discretionary act by the Town Board. If the Board chooses not to entertain a requested rezone, there is nothing an applicant can do. In other words, the Town cannot be sued in court.
The proposed change is not only about the Vizioli property. It affects all properties zoned R-30 that are greater than 20 acres on a state road. Thus, the Elmwood Country Club Property across from the Vizioli properly on Dobbs Ferry Road and the Knollwood Country Club property on Knollwood Road would also be able to request special permits if the code amendment is approved. Furthermore, if this code amendment is approved by the Town Board properties that are not 20 acres or are not located on a state road could seek variances from those provisions. Sunningdale Country Club on Underhill Road is a good example, though it is more than 20 acres in size. As an example, Mr. Steinmetz was successful in getting a code change to permit assisted living facilities (Brightview) on properties of four acres or more located within 200 feet of a state road.

I attended and spoke at the April 8, 2015 Town Council meeting. I was present for the entire meeting, which lasted for over 3 hours. During the public comment portion the ONLY people to speak IN FAVOR of Game-On were soccer coaches from Tarrytown!

As President of your Hartsdale Park Civic Association I am urging you to contact Supervisor Feiner and the Town Council Members immediately if you object to Game-On’s request for this “special consideration.”

Game-On is welcome to come to Greenburgh, BUT NOT on Dobbs Ferry Road. There are many other sites, including several in Tarrytown, already zoned for commercial use where this type of facility is more appropriate. We say, “Game-On please GO THERE!”

Here are the Town Officials’ email addresses for your convenience:
Supervisor Paul Feiner - pfeiner@greenburghny.com
Town Council Members: 
Kevin Morgan - kmorgan@greenburghny.com, 
Ken Jones - kjones@greenburghny.com, 
Francis Sheehan - fsheehan@greenburghny.com, 
Diana Juettner - djuettner@greenburghny.com

This is an extremely important matter to all of us. Your support is needed and much appreciated.

Yours sincerely,
Celia P. Novo, President
Hartsdale Park Civic Association

A Letter To The Planning Board

Former Justice and Attorney Herb Rosenberg recently sent a letter to the Planning Board and its members discussing why the Zoning Change proposal, veiled as the "GameOn 365 proposal" on the Visioli's Golf Driving Range property, is wrong for the Town, our residents, unfairly represented, and in our view, seemingly a done-deal. ABG believes it is a done-deal for several reasons. A) Mr Feiner has continually stumped for GameOn 365 amidst a 5-year public outcry against the proposal. B) Mr Feiner has attempted to violate the law to help these outsiders and ignore and disrespect the residents throughout the Town. C) Mr Feiner has adopted and used often his newest catch phrase, which is that people should have, "confidence in the process" (they don't); and finally, we believe Mr Feiner instructed Messrs. Morgan and Jones to tow his line or be "Sonya'd". Councilpersons Juettner and Sheehan are against the proposal for numerous reasons which we'll get into in another article. 

Here is Justice Rosenberg's unedited letter:

6/4/2015 12:14:15 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Game On/Planning Board

To the Planning Board

My name is Herbert Rosenberg. I am retired lawyer and a former judge. I am a stranger to you all except to Fran McLaughlin, who I have met before and we have had some limited contact. You may recall an Op-Ed article that I wrote that was published in the Scarsdale Inquirer on April 17, with the title A GameOn 365's plans set a dangerous precedent in town of Greenburgh, (the title was written by the editor, not by me, though I agree with it).

I attended last evening's Planning Board meeting because I am interested in the Game On matter. Please don't take this personally, but I was quite astonished and disappointed at what I saw. This long letter will explain why.

Let me put aside the question of whether there should or should not have been a pre-submission conference on the Game On application. What I am saying is that what took place was the wrong discussion. The application is for a zoning change to Code section 285-11 that cuts across all of unincorporated Greenburgh, yet the proposed zoning change was not discussed at all. What is not before you is the approval of the Game On project (which would be a site plan approval) and such an approval can be considered only if and after a zoning change is adopted, yet the Game On project was the only thing that was discussed.
 
This is what happened.

1. Mr. Steinmetz and his colleagues presented an extensive and detailed description of the proposed Game On business. It took more than one hour. As one would have expected, he painted a glowing picture, with much overstatement of what will actually happen there, some attractive photos of the site and films of traffic movements that were quite unreal, and with no mention of the weaknesses and problems that will occur at the site and affect the neighboring communities. He even made an incorrect statement on an important point. One Planning Board member asked whether Game On had considered another location, and Mr. Steinmetz answered that there is no other available site in Greenburgh. That is not true. Landmark at Eastview has made it plain that they would like to have a recreational facility such as a sports facility at its site, and Landmark is in Greenburgh. Mr. Steinmetz spent about fifteen seconds on the subject of the zoning change, making the short statement that if the zoning application is adopted, it will also include the Elmwood Country Club and the Knollwood Country Club.
 
2. Several members of the Planning Board asked some questions about the project, how could it be made better for local kids and seniors, whether another site had been considered, etc. Not a single question was asked about the zoning change and its consequences and effect upon the rest of unincorporated Greenburgh.
 
3. At the end one community resident was given a very short time to speak -- not at all sufficient to discuss the issues involved.

But there is an overriding question, and that has to be addressed and answered before the Game On project can be considered. That overriding question is whether there should be a zoning change that would permit commercial uses on all R-30 residential districts that fit the specifications -- not less than 20 acres, with 400 feet frontage, on a state road. It is the overriding question because the proposed zoning change is not limited to the Dobbs Ferry Road site, but applies to many other areas of unincorporated Greenburgh. And it is the overriding question because the Planning Board has to first conclude that such an unincorporated area-wide zoning change is desirable for the Town before it can consider whether the Game On project is a good one. Indeed, even if the Game On proposed project were not controversial, the question of whether to change a zoning change that applies to all R-30 zones in unincorporated Greenburgh would have to be considered.
 
What surprised me last evening was that no member of the Planning Board asked any question about this zoning change. All the questions were about the Game On project. I commend Mr. Steinmetz for his skill in focusing complete attention on the project to the exclusion of the zoning change issue. His presentation was so well done that to the listeners in the audience it seemed that the Planning Board was unaware of the fact that this hearing involved an unincorporated area-wide zoning change rather than a site plan review of the Game On project. Had Mr. Steinmetz and his colleagues not taken up almost all the available time, and had some members of the group opposing the zoning change been permitted to speak, the zoning change would have been introduced and discussed, to the benefit of the Planning Board.

Mr. Steinmetz asked you for an indication of how the Planning Board was leaning. He said, or indicated, that if the Planning Board is negative, then he and his client would not waste the large sum of money incurred in doing all the environmental and related work. (Similarly, the Town would be spared the significant expenses that are involved in continuing the exploration of this zoning change.) I think that it is fair to say that the comments of the Planning Board members strongly communicated to the listeners that with few tweaks the Game On project will be approved, almost as though there was no zoning issue at all. By the Planning Board not even discussing the proposed zoning change Mr. Steinmetz is entitled to presume that zoning will not be an issue or a deterrent, and so both Mr. Steinmetz and his client will incur heavy costs proceeding with the effort, and so will the Town.

Is that really the message that the Planning Board wants to convey? Have you already concluded that the zoning change will not be an issue and does not need to be discussed? Have you concluded that other R-30 zones will not be subject to the possibility, perhaps likelihood, of commercial uses? That other R-30 districts, and R-40 districts, will not be added to the list of eligible sites for commercial use by variances regarding size and other business uses? Mr. Steinmetz mentioned the Elmwood and Knollwood Country Clubs, but he gave more away -- in a letter to the Town Board dated May 21, 2015, relating to abutter petitions, he raised the possibility that Ato the extent that parcels can be assembled in the R-30 District that satisfy the locational criteria of the draft Zoning Text..."a such assembled parcels would be free to introduce commercial uses under the zoning change." Mr. Steinmetz knows, but he is not telling you, that the possibility of commercial uses being introduced to R-30 one-family districts goes far beyond Elmwood and Knollwood Country Clubs. Real estate developers are not shy or timid.

If you have already concluded that the zoning change will not be an issue that has to be addressed and considered then what you did last evening was alright. I don't think that you have reached that conclusion, but in all fairness you have given that impression. If Game On believes that you have reached that conclusion, as they have good reason to assume, then you have to correct that assumption. You need to do it so that Game On, and also the Town, do not incur the large expenses that are inherent in the application.
 
I suggest that the way to do it is to notify Game On that at the next meeting of the Planning Board you would like them to attend and discuss the zoning issue, and that you permit some comments by persons who are knowledgeable and who oppose the zoning change. I believe that this is the only way now to be fair to all the parties who have an interest, and also to the Town of Greenburgh.
 
I should add that the change of zoning, unlike the Game On project, involves policy and not facts. Hence, if you decide not to change the zoning, you can make that decision without hearings, studies, etc. It is what courts call a question of law, not a question of facts, and thus needs no hearings. It enables you to conclude, if you wish, the matter without having to consider the Game On project -- unless, of course, Game On decides to build its project elsewhere in Greenburgh, as it can if it chooses to do so.

Sincerely,
Herbert Rosenberg

Game On 365’s Plans Set a Dangerous Precedent in Town of Greenburgh

On April 8 the Greenburgh Town Board held a meeting to hear the views of residents (and nonresidents, as it happened) about the proposal by Game On 365 to build and operate a large sporting facility on Dobbs Ferry Road, on the golf-driving range property that, Game On has an option to buy.

The proposal is to build a large building (for indoor sports), which was described by Councilman Francis Sheehan as being the size of the Sam’s Club structure in Elmsford, but more than 60 percent higher. In addition Game On will build an outdoor field and operate other facilities, including physical therapy rooms, a party room, a cafe and a retail store. Readers will remember that Game On had previously tried to build an 80-plus-foot high sports bubble on the Frank’s Nursery site, with Paul Feiner’s strong support, but that proposal failed for a number of reasons, primarily because the town did not legally own the site and the grounds were chemically polluted.

The meeting was emotional and contentious. Residents of the area were angered at the thought of such a commercial behemoth being foisted on them, in the middle of a neighborhood that consists of single-family homes of rather high quality. The golf driving range property is situated on land that is zoned residential single-family housing and operates as a legal nonconforming use because it predated the applicable zoning law.

Game On has requested that the residential zoning be changed to permit a commercial use in order to accommodate the sports facility that it wishes to build. As was to be expected, the neighborhood erupted in opposition. Such a facility - open during the day and into the late evening - with its noise, its late-night lights, its traffic, its appearance, its physical impact on the nearby homes, etc. - would destroy this quiet residential neighborhood and decimate the value of the homes there.

The meeting consisted of arguments pro and con the Game On facility. Those in favor, primarily soccer moms and dads and coaches, cited the benefits of it year-round sports facility. Those opposed cited the very real destructive consequences to the community,

But these were the wrong arguments.

The question of whether this large facility should or should not be in the Dobbs Ferry Road location is the second question to be considered. The first question is whether a 32-acre site in the middle of an area zoned residential should have its zoning changed to permit commercial use. That is a question of great consequence, with enormous implications. And that is a question that needs to be addressed before one considers the impact of a sports facility in that neighborhood. A zoning change is permanent. Game On’s proposed facility is temporary.

Suppose, as one example, that the proposed Game On sports facility is not successful, and has to close. And at some point it will close. Greenburgh, and the neighborhood, are then left with a huge building that allows a number of commercial uses in the middle of a residential neighborhood. The possibility - no, the inevitability - of this building and associated parking being used for other commercial purposes is self-evident.

Or consider another example. If the 32-acre site is zoned to permit cornmercial uses, its value multiplies by several orders of magnitude. The land Game On has an option to buy will immediately greatly increase in Value. Suppose that the Game On owners decide (or have already decided) that instead of risking the investment in a business, they can sell all or part of the property and make a huge windfall profit. They have the power, and perhaps the incentive, to do so.

In either of these eventualities the town will be essentially helpless. It is not difficult to stop a commercial development in a residentially zoned area. But it is difficult to stop a legitimate commercial development on a property already zoned to permit commercial uses. There is no hindsight available. To refuse a commercial developer in an area already zoned to permit commercial uses invites litigation that will be extremely expensive and probably unsuccessful for the town. And it is worth noting that the town board cannot prohibit an applicant from seeking variances horn the Zoning Board of Appeals to expand the permitted commercial uses.

And so I repeat. The question for the town board at this time is not whether the Game On proposal is good or bad. The question is what are the consequence of a change of zoning permitting commercial uses in a residential area, and should the town risk them?

It may help the town board to realize that a change from residential to commercial use is virtually unprecedented. If my memory is correct, it has happened only once in the past 50 or more years. That was when the old Union Carbide property (now Landmark at Eastview) was rezoned from commercial to residential in the 1980s. The property was never developed. At the April 8 meeting the town board held a public hearing on rezoning the property again to commercial.

It was obvious that the residential zoning was inappropriate since the entire area is commercial and therefore the zoning should correspond. But that is the opposite of the Game On situation - there the area is primarily residential except for some old legal nonconforming uses (and as to those. When they discontinue operations only residential development will be permitted) I urge the town board to consider what I call the first question - namely, what are the consequences of a rezoning and can the town risk those consequences? As an afterthought, there are other places in Greenburgh where Game On can build its facility. Landmark at Eastwood representatives have requested, and the town board is prepared to adopt, a zoning change that Would permit indoor/outdoor recreational facilities on the Landmark site, and Game On can easily build their sports facility there, only a short distance away from the Dobbs Ferry Road site. The only reason that Game On persists on the Dobbs Ferry Road site is because Paul Feiner is their advocate. It is past time to do right by the neighborhood of the proposed site, and most of all, do right by the town.

– Herb Rosenberg, Judge, Retired.

This article originally ran in the Scarsdale Inquirer and was submitted by the author.