Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
The Town's Largess Is Costing All of Us
There are several bulk mailing rates that the Town uses for
their snail-mail mailings. One piece of mail in a business envelope goes for $.23;
another goes for $.46.5. This costs all tax payers a lot of money during the
course of a year each time a mailing is done. Why are these mailings done and
why so often you may ask? Simply, it’s politics. It’s a cost free way for Mr
Feiner, albeit the Town Board, to campaign without using his/their own money,
campaign funds or donations. As long as it can be done under the pretext of
providing information to the public, there are no campaign finance laws broken
nor are any election bank accounts emptied, drained or depleted.
When there is an issue Mr Feiner wishes to promote, you might
receive almost daily mailings arriving to you at either rate. We witnessed this
numerous times in the past. One recent proposal has been Mr Feiner’s push for
the ill-conceived and zoning deficient assisted living facility by the
Formation Shelbourne organization where the current Sprainbrook Nursery sits.
They are seeking to build a four-story, 94-bed facility on less than four acres
of property and roughly 6,000 feet from a County of State right-of-way roadway
– requirements under the two-year old zoning law recently adopted by Mr Feiner
and his Town Board.
Mr Feiner has taken to endorsing projects that are primarily
commercial by nature, regardless of whether they are built in a commercial or
residentially zoned area. There are several examples that come to mind. The
first was Westhab which he suggested to then County Legislator Lois Bronz be
built on the former Kings Inn Motel site in Fulton Park. That was a transition
parcel of land that was zoned half commercial and half residential. But he didn’t care about zoning. By making
the Town Board the lead agency for the project, they were able to disregard any
and all legal standings previously maintained and allowed building to proceed. Mailings
were done throughout the Town seeking support of this project. People
sympathetic to Mr Feiner in the neighborhood also received these mailings. The
rest did not. However, the multiple mailings cost us a significant chuck of
money. Shouldn’t the Supervisor remain neutral about any projects?
Another project was the GameOn 365 proposal in the former
Frank’s Nursery property on Dobbs Ferry Road. Emails acquired under the Freedom
of Information Law confirmed Mr Feiner promised in private meetings with the GameOn
365 principals that he’d push the project through. When the area neighborhoods
learned of the proposal, they revived their civic association to fight the
8-story sports bubble Mr Feiner felt was okay to build in this residential
neighborhood. You see, the zoning had been allowed for a commercial
establishment years ago. When Frank’s Nursery defaulted on the mortgage, they
went into foreclosure and the Town acquired the property. Instead of selling it
within the first 6-months of acquisition, as required by County and State law, Mr
Feiner decided to hold onto it. Consequently, the zoning for the land reverted
back to residential zoning. Had he not begun playing politics with the property
and simply sold it, it would have been “grandfathered” to remain commercial.
Not only were there multiple mailings supporting this project, he did separate
mailings about holding a referendum, poorly written by his administration, in
hopes of getting a passing vote. It worked but he ultimately lost because all
of the neighborhoods stood united to only have residential housing built there.
There were so many mailings for this project it’s actually hard to tally it all
up.
Next up was the Brightview Assisted Living facility at Rt
119 and Benedict Avenue in the Glenville section of Unincorporated Greenburgh.
This small tight knit neighborhood would soon be overwhelmed with a building
that a) doesn’t fit the neighborhood; b) looms over Rt 119 and the beginning of
Benedict Avenue; c) does not allow the average Greenburgh senior citizen on
Medicare to live there; and d) could wind up following suit as so many other assisted
living facilities and go bankrupt and need to repurpose itself into a
condominium or co-operative apartment. Could this entire assisted living
facility be a pretense to build an assisted living facility where apartment
buildings would not be allowed due to zoning? We don’t know but wonder. There
were numerous mailings from the Supervisor pushing the Brightview project. All
we wonder is at what cost was all of this done and why was the Supervisor so
invested in promoting it?
Beyond the major projects such as mentioned above, and there are more, he goes out of his way to do mailings vis-à-vis advertising for private companies and corporations. The latest recipient of Mr Feiner’s largess is the Hartsdale Kumon Center. While this may be a terrific business doing great work with kids needing additional help with their schoolwork for a fee, it is not the job of the Town to do a mailing or advertising blitz throughout the Town for private, for profit businesses. At $.46 per piece mailed, this is an unnecessary expense for taxpayers to bear and must stop. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.
Beyond the major projects such as mentioned above, and there are more, he goes out of his way to do mailings vis-à-vis advertising for private companies and corporations. The latest recipient of Mr Feiner’s largess is the Hartsdale Kumon Center. While this may be a terrific business doing great work with kids needing additional help with their schoolwork for a fee, it is not the job of the Town to do a mailing or advertising blitz throughout the Town for private, for profit businesses. At $.46 per piece mailed, this is an unnecessary expense for taxpayers to bear and must stop. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
Town of Greenburgh's National Night Out
The Town of Greenburgh Police Department is proud to announce the hosting of this year’s Town Of Greenburgh National Night Out 2016 on Tuesday, August 2nd, starting at 6:00 pm and ending at 9:00 pm. We encourage you to come out to our Greenburgh Town Hall, 177 Hillside Avenue, White Plains, NY and join your neighbors in participating in this community partnership about crime and drug prevention event.
National Night Out involves over 15,325 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases around the world. In all over 37.1 million people are expected to participate in this year’s National Night Out.
National Night Out is designed to:
- Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships;
- Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness;
- Generate support for, and participation in, local anti-crime programs; and
- Send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.
Along with the traditional display of outdoor lights on front porches, cities, towns and neighborhoods 'celebrate' NNO with a variety of events and activities such as: Cookouts - Parades - Youth Programs - Vehicle Larceny Prevention- Burglary Prevention - Fire Prevention. There will be local vendors donating food and activities for children.
During the event, residents in neighborhoods throughout the Town of Greenburgh and across the nation are asked to turn on their porch lights, lock their doors and spend the evening outside with your neighbors, police officers, firefighters and paramedics.
National Night Out is a great crime prevention tool that encourages you and your neighbors to get together. When neighbors know each other and pay attention to their surroundings, they are more likely to recognize and report suspicious people or vehicles to law enforcement. The more you know about your neighborhood, the more you can do to keep it safe.
Thursday, July 21, 2016
David Vs Goliath: A Victory For Open Government
A major ruling on Wednesday
from the Supreme Court of the State of New York found in favor of a challenge
by Ms Dorrine Livson, against the Town. The Town had been ordered by a lower
court to supply Ms Livson with a copy of the now infamous GBList used by Mr
Feiner to only send information he wishes to present to residents. Ms Livson,
President of the Worthington Woodlands Civic Association (herein WWCA), had
submitted a Freedom of Information Law (herein FOIL), request for a copy of
the email list used by Mr Feiner to promote or denigrate proposals, topics of
his choice or projects within the Town he either favors or not. He also used it
for personal attacks, such as those he made against now retired Fairview Fire
Chief Anthony LoGiudice and others.
Here’s a little
history:
WWCA President
Dorrine Livson had requested the email list in 2014 so she could counter some
of the misinformation
being put forth by Mr Feiner regarding the 8-story (83ft) inflatable sports
bubble that private investors, known as GameOn 365, had agreed to build on the former Frank’s Nursery location on
Dobbs Ferry Road during secret
conversations with Mr Feiner. This was the proverbial “back room deal”. Once Ms Livson got
wind of these conversations with Mr Feiner and Mr Hewitt, she FOILed emails
from Mr Feiner and received one email in particular from GameOn 365 owner,
Martin Hewitt. Mr Hewitt asked Mr Feiner to cease all email communications with him and only do telephone calls because phone calls could not be FOILed and emails
could! But the damage was already done. After discontinued use of 6 months,
the property was no longer grandfathered as commercially zoned and reverted back to
residential zoning. Then Mr Feiner promised $5 million
dollars in tax revenue which turned out to be another exaggeration. But since he wanted the
GameOn 365 project to go through no matter what, he pushed to have the project on a referendum
at the upcoming election, asking all residents of Greenburgh to vote on this
one project in this one neighborhood. He sent out numerous emails using this
same email list to promote its passage. This was exactly what Ms Livson was
upset about and why she sought the email list – to counteract these types of
actions by Mr Feiner.
With the elections
underway with the “new” voting machines – seemingly crayons and poster board,
many people were not voting for the referendum as they didn’t know it was on the
back of the voting ballot. He sent out an “emergency”
email using the same email list telling residents to flip over their ballots
and vote for the referendum. He was out of control. But, he garnered 22,000
votes in favor of the bubble.
Back to the present:
The Town denied the request on the basis that the
Webmaster stated that there was neither a print or extract function with
the software that can reasonably create a list of email addresses. Undaunted,
Ms Livson contacted Cit-e-Net on or about March 11, 2014, and was informed that
Cit-e-Net could provide the Town with a digital copy of the gblist, upon request
by the Town! Ms
Livson subsequently appealed the denial which ironically gets reviewed by,
ahem, the Town Board – the same people already denying her request. Regardless
of how absurd this might be, they denied her appeal. Undeterred, Ms Livson
filed what’s called an Article 78 proceeding against the Town, the Town Clerk
and the Town Board with the assistance of Edgemont Resident and Attorney Robert
Bernstein.
The Supreme Court
reviewed the Article 78 filing and found in favor of Ms Livson. The Town
refused to turn over the email list even after ordered to do so by the Court and appealed. Yet,
although the court found in favor of Ms Livson, the Town stated afterwards they
were now concerned with the confidentiality of the people on the list. Our
understanding is that this argument was not made during the Town’s original
court presentations and was without merit as an argument now!
Mr Feiner’s abuse of
the GBList is well known by those who follow Mr Feiner’s shenanigans and not what he writes in his press releases. All of this could have been avoided had Mr
Feiner and the Town Board complied with the original FOIL request by Ms Livson.
Once again, the court has found in favor for Ms Livson and has ordered the
Town to produce the email list to her – again. They have also been ordered to pay court
costs as well. Congratulations to Ms Livson and Mr Bernstein on a job well done!
While ABG is certain other civic organizations will be filing for copies of
this, it remains to be seen how the Town finally responds. It’s another dark
day in Greenburgh that did not have to come to pass had the Town done the right
thing. Only then will we get A Better
Greenburgh.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Crane Collapse Confirms Two Injured
Like a scene out of a New York City construction mishap, a crane collapsed while driving pilings for the new section of the bridge being built along side of the current Tappan Zee Bridge. While the likelihood of greater injury existed, only two (an unconfirmed third is possible) people are known to be injured. This was remarkably lucky given the amount of workers and traffic that are regularly on the two bridges. The crane, working from the newly built section, fell across the span between the new and the old bridges and across both the north and south bound lanes of the old bridge.
OSHA inspectors are being dispatched to the scene to initiate an investigation as to what went wrong. There are two people confirmed injured, one construction worker and one motor vehicle passenger. We are still awaiting confirmation on the third possible victim. The County’s Special Operations’ Technical Rescue Team was dispatched along with the Rockland Technical Rescue Team to the scene along with numerous area fire departments and personnel from both sides of the Hudson.
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Town Board Threatened, Delays "NegDec" Cancellation Vote
Stating that they have followed the process for over a year and a half, the attorney for Foundation Shelbourne spoke at the Town Board Work Session, stating that taking a vote on the already approved NegDec to rescind it was strictly political! He also stated he would not be able to attend the Town Board meeting Tuesday night but the owners might attend and speak. Mr Sciaretta claimed that this was quite a surprise that the Town would vote to rescind a NegDec that was vetted from the traffic and planning departments. He claimed it was illegal, improper and a slap in the face to them. While we are against the Shelbourne project because it does not meet the zoning code recently adopted, we believe he was right!
The Town voted prematurely to approve the NegDec regarding the proposed Formation Shelbourne Assisted Living Housing facility that would replace the existing Sprainbrook Nursery. Opponents had said that approving the NegDec prematurely was not following the process that Mr Feiner and his Board can’t wait to espouse at meetings. More importantly, opponents stated it would have made everything fall into place more easily for the developer, claiming there was no fact-finding done, no reports of conditions had and no studies performed by those normally engaged in such actions. Because Mr Feiner wanted this project to go through, facts, figures and real information didn’t matter! His compliant Town Board voted the NegDec through. Is it any wonder that residents no longer have faith in the process, the zoning codes or the Town administration?
The real problem is that while the attorney for Formation Shelbourne didn’t say it outright, he alluded to the fact that while this had never been done before, it appeared to him to be setting a precedent and his clients might be prepared to sue the Town over this. We all know Mr Feiner has always said, “If you don’t like what I'm doing, sue me.” And many have. But, as we have said before, this is not about Shelbourne per se, or the Krautter Family who owns the property and operates the Sprainbrook Nursery at that location. It’s about publicity for Mr Feiner as well as leveraging Edgemont from incorporating into a Village and having the Town lose their chunk of revenue for the Unincorporated budget!
We’ve written before about how many in Edgemont are disappointed and dismayed with Mr Feiner’s actions and the actions of his Board toward them. So much so, that there have been talks and meetings about Edgemont incorporating to get out from under the Town’s, and more specifically, Mr Feiner’s control. Many communities feel the same way but are without the resources to act upon it. Regardless of whether or not Edgemont moves to incorporate, the Town Board’s disingenuous acts are now coming home to roost. The Town Board should have waited to make a decision after the Zoning Board of Appeals either granted the variances requested by Shelbourne or not. That would have been correctly following the process. The NegDec they approved was a blatant political move by Mr Feiner and his Board. We still believe it was a setup to appease Shelbourne and then to rescind and appear to be appeasing Edgemont. But all of this may have backfired on Mr Feiner.
There are variables in play here that will have long-term ramifications on Unincorporated Greenburgh. In effect, Mr Feiner has blessed the Shelbourne and consequently, all other commercial projects in all residential neighborhoods. He tried to do this with an 8-story inflatable bubble for his friends from GameOn 365 on Dobbs Ferry Road. Once this is allowed to begin, it sets the precedent to allow it in other neighborhoods. Mr Feiner was successful in doing this in the Glenville section with the Brightview Assisted Living facility. Brightview was the author of the Town's Assisted Living Zoning Code that is about two years old. By allowing them to write the code, they accommodated everything they needed. Now, the Town Board and the Legal Department’s laziness has resurfaced and is creating this issue.
Shelbourne is too large a facility for the size of the property and it is not within 200 feet of a state or county right of way. Those two conditions were put in the zoning code by Brightview and agreed to by Mr Feiner and his Board when they approved the Zoning Code change. Had the Town written the law, overseen the writing of the law or at least been involved with its authorship, perhaps this wouldn’t be happening. This is more proof that we need term limits to aid us in stopping laziness and unconditional and unchallenged decisions from Town Hall. It's no wonder Edgemont continues to discuss incorporation. This madness has to change. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.
The Town voted prematurely to approve the NegDec regarding the proposed Formation Shelbourne Assisted Living Housing facility that would replace the existing Sprainbrook Nursery. Opponents had said that approving the NegDec prematurely was not following the process that Mr Feiner and his Board can’t wait to espouse at meetings. More importantly, opponents stated it would have made everything fall into place more easily for the developer, claiming there was no fact-finding done, no reports of conditions had and no studies performed by those normally engaged in such actions. Because Mr Feiner wanted this project to go through, facts, figures and real information didn’t matter! His compliant Town Board voted the NegDec through. Is it any wonder that residents no longer have faith in the process, the zoning codes or the Town administration?
The real problem is that while the attorney for Formation Shelbourne didn’t say it outright, he alluded to the fact that while this had never been done before, it appeared to him to be setting a precedent and his clients might be prepared to sue the Town over this. We all know Mr Feiner has always said, “If you don’t like what I'm doing, sue me.” And many have. But, as we have said before, this is not about Shelbourne per se, or the Krautter Family who owns the property and operates the Sprainbrook Nursery at that location. It’s about publicity for Mr Feiner as well as leveraging Edgemont from incorporating into a Village and having the Town lose their chunk of revenue for the Unincorporated budget!
We’ve written before about how many in Edgemont are disappointed and dismayed with Mr Feiner’s actions and the actions of his Board toward them. So much so, that there have been talks and meetings about Edgemont incorporating to get out from under the Town’s, and more specifically, Mr Feiner’s control. Many communities feel the same way but are without the resources to act upon it. Regardless of whether or not Edgemont moves to incorporate, the Town Board’s disingenuous acts are now coming home to roost. The Town Board should have waited to make a decision after the Zoning Board of Appeals either granted the variances requested by Shelbourne or not. That would have been correctly following the process. The NegDec they approved was a blatant political move by Mr Feiner and his Board. We still believe it was a setup to appease Shelbourne and then to rescind and appear to be appeasing Edgemont. But all of this may have backfired on Mr Feiner.
There are variables in play here that will have long-term ramifications on Unincorporated Greenburgh. In effect, Mr Feiner has blessed the Shelbourne and consequently, all other commercial projects in all residential neighborhoods. He tried to do this with an 8-story inflatable bubble for his friends from GameOn 365 on Dobbs Ferry Road. Once this is allowed to begin, it sets the precedent to allow it in other neighborhoods. Mr Feiner was successful in doing this in the Glenville section with the Brightview Assisted Living facility. Brightview was the author of the Town's Assisted Living Zoning Code that is about two years old. By allowing them to write the code, they accommodated everything they needed. Now, the Town Board and the Legal Department’s laziness has resurfaced and is creating this issue.
Shelbourne is too large a facility for the size of the property and it is not within 200 feet of a state or county right of way. Those two conditions were put in the zoning code by Brightview and agreed to by Mr Feiner and his Board when they approved the Zoning Code change. Had the Town written the law, overseen the writing of the law or at least been involved with its authorship, perhaps this wouldn’t be happening. This is more proof that we need term limits to aid us in stopping laziness and unconditional and unchallenged decisions from Town Hall. It's no wonder Edgemont continues to discuss incorporation. This madness has to change. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Embarrassed Town Leaders To Vote To Undo Scam
A campaign was recently mounted against the latest actions of Mr Feiner and his Town Board. You’ll recall they previously pushed through a Negative Declaration statement regarding the proposed Formation Shelbourne Assisted Living Housing facility that would replace the existing Sprainbrook Nursery. Opponents to this scam said that would have made everything fall into place more easily for the developer, claimed that there was no fact-finding done, no reports of conditions had and no studies done by those normally engaged in such actions. Because Mr Feiner wanted this project to go through, facts, figures and real information didn’t matter, what he wants is all that does! Naturally, his compliant Town Board will vote however he instructs them because they know to stay in the position, they must go along to stay along - or be “Sonya'd”.
Now, finally, after weeks of all of us trumpeting the injustice done, Mr Feiner has acquiesced and decided to undo, at least temporarily, the damage he has inflicted on all those involved. Sneak a peak at the upcoming agenda and you’ll find this:

Opponents of the project cite numerous issues that are no surprise to anyone following this project with the size and scope of this proposal. And, that’s all it would normally be in any other community, a proposal. But in Bizarro-Greenburgh, the Town Board votes themselves in as the Lead Agency, and then either ignores or dismisses any objections to a particular project Mr Feiner favors. But there is another “game” in play here and as such we see Mr Feiner as the Town Chessmaster, who is calculating his closing moves even as he unleashes the start of another publicity sting somewhere else and over something else. By the way, the next step in the process for Shelbourne is a continuation of the Public Hearing before the ZBA on July 21, 2016.
As we’ve mentioned numerous times, Mr Feiner will do whatever the Edgemont Community wants him to do. Edgemont is against this project. Simply, he cannot afford to lose the income accumulated for the Town from the Edgemont section of Greenburgh. If Edgemont were to secede from Greenburgh and incorporate as a Village, Mr Feiner would have no power over them. It’s kind of like when we as a Country went against the British monarchy by declaring independence. The difference is that once Incorporated as a Village, numerous services would need to be established or contracted for. It is unknown what those expenses might be either in total or per household, but the Village of Edgemont would need to accommodate police, sanitation, sewer, water, highway and a Village Clerk’s office, where hopefully the Village Clerk doesn’t speak during meetings unless requested to, to name a few things. Insurmountable? Not at all. But invariably these contracts would be established with the Village of Edgemont’s newly elected Mayor and Village Board, unless they hire a Village Administrator, and Mr Feiner. So they don’t get away “Scott free” with having to deal with him.
Back to Bizarro-Greenburgh. Mr Feiner has been in favor of this project, hands down, all-in! He will now announce at the next Town Board meeting that he has changed his position and is now against the NegDec. Naturally, his Board will be against it as well. He’ll pontificate that he spoke with so-and-so in the whatever office at Town Hall, he got emails from more residents who are slowly convincing him that he was wrong to support this and so on. He may even say we need to follow the process. This was his plan all along. He needed the publicity and what better way to get it than to pit two groups against each other, for and against? One of the Board members, and we’re not sure whose turn it is this time, will comment that he/she too has been getting feedback and realizes now that they were mistaken to move forward with the NegDec, but now we have a chance to undo this mistake, and so on.
In the end, the property’s zoning does not allow an assisted living facility to be built at this location. It is strictly based on the 2-year old zoning law this same Board voted for. To blatantly disregard it and slap the residents in the face with it is wrong. It is also wrong to lead a developer on for his own political gain or publicity. Mr Feiner owes the community, the developer and the Krautters a public apology for stringing them along. Until then we can only strive for A Better Greenburgh.
Now, finally, after weeks of all of us trumpeting the injustice done, Mr Feiner has acquiesced and decided to undo, at least temporarily, the damage he has inflicted on all those involved. Sneak a peak at the upcoming agenda and you’ll find this:

Opponents of the project cite numerous issues that are no surprise to anyone following this project with the size and scope of this proposal. And, that’s all it would normally be in any other community, a proposal. But in Bizarro-Greenburgh, the Town Board votes themselves in as the Lead Agency, and then either ignores or dismisses any objections to a particular project Mr Feiner favors. But there is another “game” in play here and as such we see Mr Feiner as the Town Chessmaster, who is calculating his closing moves even as he unleashes the start of another publicity sting somewhere else and over something else. By the way, the next step in the process for Shelbourne is a continuation of the Public Hearing before the ZBA on July 21, 2016.
As we’ve mentioned numerous times, Mr Feiner will do whatever the Edgemont Community wants him to do. Edgemont is against this project. Simply, he cannot afford to lose the income accumulated for the Town from the Edgemont section of Greenburgh. If Edgemont were to secede from Greenburgh and incorporate as a Village, Mr Feiner would have no power over them. It’s kind of like when we as a Country went against the British monarchy by declaring independence. The difference is that once Incorporated as a Village, numerous services would need to be established or contracted for. It is unknown what those expenses might be either in total or per household, but the Village of Edgemont would need to accommodate police, sanitation, sewer, water, highway and a Village Clerk’s office, where hopefully the Village Clerk doesn’t speak during meetings unless requested to, to name a few things. Insurmountable? Not at all. But invariably these contracts would be established with the Village of Edgemont’s newly elected Mayor and Village Board, unless they hire a Village Administrator, and Mr Feiner. So they don’t get away “Scott free” with having to deal with him.
Back to Bizarro-Greenburgh. Mr Feiner has been in favor of this project, hands down, all-in! He will now announce at the next Town Board meeting that he has changed his position and is now against the NegDec. Naturally, his Board will be against it as well. He’ll pontificate that he spoke with so-and-so in the whatever office at Town Hall, he got emails from more residents who are slowly convincing him that he was wrong to support this and so on. He may even say we need to follow the process. This was his plan all along. He needed the publicity and what better way to get it than to pit two groups against each other, for and against? One of the Board members, and we’re not sure whose turn it is this time, will comment that he/she too has been getting feedback and realizes now that they were mistaken to move forward with the NegDec, but now we have a chance to undo this mistake, and so on.
In the end, the property’s zoning does not allow an assisted living facility to be built at this location. It is strictly based on the 2-year old zoning law this same Board voted for. To blatantly disregard it and slap the residents in the face with it is wrong. It is also wrong to lead a developer on for his own political gain or publicity. Mr Feiner owes the community, the developer and the Krautters a public apology for stringing them along. Until then we can only strive for A Better Greenburgh.
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Shelbourne Decides Not to Sue
Formation
Shelbourne finally made a decision to cease trying to sue individuals that were
against the assisted living facility they have proposed to build at the current
site of the Sprainbrook Nursery location. Mr Feiner claims he intervened and
convinced Shelbourne to withdraw the lawsuit. The
Edgemont Community Council, residents in the Sprain Road & Deer Hill Lane
area as well as the Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations were named in the
lawsuit. We believe the organizations and the individuals should not have been
sued simply because they exercised their right to free speech protestation. Everyone
that was served papers has yet to be notified that the lawsuit has been
withdrawn, only that Shelbourne has agreed to withdraw the suit. ABG has just
learned that Shelbourne says it filed a Notice of Discontinuance today, July 6th.
Mr Feiner favors this development and has gone out of his
way to stack the deck on behalf of Shelbourne. To insure a better outcome for
the developer, Mr Feiner and his Board unnecessarily advanced through a SEQR
study or negative declaration for the proposed parcel. It was his attempt to
influence the other Boards, whom he appoints, to follow his lead and approve
the project. While many people protested the proposal at various Town Board
meetings, there were others who favored it. However, the impression we got was
that those in favor didn’t necessarily favor the proposal as much as they did
the sale, which would benefit the Krautter family.
You’ll recall that Shelbourne has proposed building their assisted
living housing on what will revert back to residentially zoned property once
the Sprainbrook Nursery property is sold. The area is zoned residential, but Mr
Feiner has given the nod to Shelbourne and that has emboldened them to push
forward.
The developer wants to build in a residential zone without
having the 4 acre minimum and not being 200 ft. from a State or County
Right-of- Way. The Shelbourne proposal is 6,000 ft. from a State or County
Right-of-Way (Central Park Avenue). The ZBA would have to grant them a 3,000%
variance. The Assisted Living Facility that is being proposed for Frank's
Nursery property does not need any variances.
What’s also troubling is that after reviewing the Neg-Dec
document, there were numerous errors. Yet Mr Feiner and his Board thought it
perfectly acceptable to approve as though there were no problems. Again, they
will tell the public to have faith in the process, to trust the process, they
are doing their due diligence but then they pull a stunt like this. It’s
difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to have faith in this Board when they
routinely pull these kinds of shenanigans.
James Kane offered an apology on behalf of Shelbourne. He
claims Shelbourne didn’t know it was filing a lawsuit against private citizens
and that they just received bad advice from its legal team. We find that
extremely difficult to believe. He claims Shelbourne has never filed a lawsuit
and was able to make its case successfully in other towns. Court records
show Shelbourne sued the ZBA in Waldwick, New Jersey last year when the ZBA
denied variances to build an assisted living facility. Apparently, we aren’t
the only ones saying, “No” to them. He claims Shelbourne is not a “litigious
corporate bully” but just “a small group that provides senior living services.”
Shelbourne’s website boasts it has been “involved in the development,
operations and ownership of over 180 senior living communities in the United
States and Canada with an aggregate value of over $2.7 billion.” This hardly
seems to be the resources of a small or even medium sized company!
We are convinced that Formation Shelbourne has been working very
closely with the corner office in Town Hall. We’re also convinced the lawsuit
may have been at the suggestion of the same corner office. If Shelbourne was actually
as small as they claim and do not routinely sue, why would they initiate a
lawsuit before “the process” had really begun? There is no developer that Mr
Feiner doesn’t like or want to work with. Subsequently, there are probably none
that his Town Board wouldn’t work with. This kind of behind the scenes activity
is what makes so many people mistrust government. It needs to change. It’s also
a proof of why we need term limits. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Happy Independence Day!
Please remember those who have made sacrifices for us so that we may enjoy our freedoms.
Have a healthy, happy, and safe holiday.
Labels:
4th of July,
healthy,
Independence Day,
safe,
Ultimate Sacrifice
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Like A Good Neighbor, Formation Shelbourne Sues Everyone Hoping To Stop Free Speech, Then Realizes Their Blunder
About two years ago, of course with Mr Feiner and his Board’s assistance, Formation Shelbourne (Shelbourne) proposed an assisted living facility on the piece of property that is currently owned and operating as the Sprainbrook Nursery by the Krautter Family. Assisted Living, also known to include Senior Living, are the latest buzzwords in the housing development debacle running amok throughout Unincorporated Greenburgh. Sadly, instead of letting the process run its course and either grant or deny the project legitimately, Mr Feiner continues to be the shill for Shelbourne.
Even though it was not time in the process for a SEQR study, Mr Feiner pushed his Board to approve the premature SEQR findings. These findings, known as a Negative Declaration or Neg Dec, were adopted by Mr Feiner and his Board without any studies, facts or information being provided. The intent was clearly to sway the Zoning and Planning Boards into approving this project. The Zoning Board previously found that variances were required under Greenburgh’s zoning code. The building inspector’s determination that no variances were required was objectionable to many, including most civic associations. Bob Bernstein, President of the Edgemont Community Council, led the charge and filed an appeal of the decision. He also paid an outlandish fee instituted in Town Hall as a deterrent for future appeals by civic associations and community groups which were never charged previously.
The Shelbourne lawsuit claims that the zoning board’s determination that variances were required under Greenburgh’s zoning code was arbitrary and capricious and should be reversed. The zoning code requires that assisted living facilities be located within 200 feet of a state or county right-of-way, excluding interstate highways and state parkways. This requirement was put into the Town’s two-year old Zoning Code change to accommodate the Brightview Assisted Living facility at Rt 119 and Benedict Avenue. Additionally, that particular provision was to ensure residents would not have emergency vehicles driving through their neighborhoods with lights and sirens.
Approximately two years ago with the aid of Greenburgh officials Shelburne sought to build an 80-unit, 94-bed assisted living facility at the corner of Underhill and Sprain Roads in Edgemont. The zoning variance point of discussion is that the proposed facility is over a mile from the area where such facilities may be located under the Greenburgh’s zoning code. It is somewhat coincidental that Shelbourne proposed this facility about two years ago and the Zoning Code change was enacted about two years ago as well. And, Mr Feiner is fighting to allow Shelbourne to build their inappropriate facility where it doesn’t belong. What’s next? There will probably be a push by Mr Feiner and Shelbourne to “grandfather” the proposal to a point before the zoning code change was adopted.
Formation-Shelbourne Senior Living Services, LLC., filed a suit in Westchester State Supreme Court on June 9, 2016 against the zoning board, the Edgemont Community Council, the Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations, and 19 neighboring residents. They went after everyone involved with the appeal because they were united with the ECC in appealing the Town’s former building inspector's decision last July that the Shelbourne facility did not need any variances. Yet, if they follow the zoning code, they do need variances!
In an email blast from Mr Feiner, utilizing the GBList that he was ordered by court decree to release to the Worthington Woodlands Civic Association but refused, Mr Feiner said, “I just learned about the lawsuit today when I received some e mails [sic] from residents who live near the proposed facility. Am very upset.”
In a new twist to this story, we received a copy of an email to Mr Feiner from Shelbourne announcing they were dropping the lawsuit. Perhaps they realized the futility of suing what might become their future neighbors. Perhaps as they realized that the limited support they had in the area was turning against them as neighbors were being penalized for expressing their opinion - still a legal right even here in Greenburgh - that they should change their tact.
Here’s what it said:
From: Jim Kane
Date: July 1, 2016 at 12:01:50 PM EDT
To: Paul Feiner <pfeiner@greenburghny.com>
Cc: Mark Maberry
Subject: Shelbourne Senior Living
Paull,
Attached you will find the follow up response to our discussion of yesterday. As I mentioned we have decided to withdraw the Article 78 proceeding and focus our attention our current application for variances before the Zoning Board.
Jim
James W. Kane III|Shelbourne Healthcare Development Group LLC
This is a plausible project for someplace else, not Unincorporated Greenburgh! Ironically, several members of the Feiner administration had insisted after the passage of the new Assisted Living facility Zoning Code change that allowed Brightview to be built, that there were no other locations in Unincorporated Greenburgh that would accommodate another Assisted Living facility. Apparently, if this proposal is approved by Mr Feiner and his Board, which they appear to be ready to do, it will again prove they lied to the public for the benefit of a developer. Sadly, this seems to be a hallmark of this administration. It must end. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.
Here’s what it said:
From: Jim Kane
Date: July 1, 2016 at 12:01:50 PM EDT
To: Paul Feiner <pfeiner@greenburghny.com>
Cc: Mark Maberry
Subject: Shelbourne Senior Living
Paull,
Attached you will find the follow up response to our discussion of yesterday. As I mentioned we have decided to withdraw the Article 78 proceeding and focus our attention our current application for variances before the Zoning Board.
Jim
James W. Kane III|Shelbourne Healthcare Development Group LLC
This is a plausible project for someplace else, not Unincorporated Greenburgh! Ironically, several members of the Feiner administration had insisted after the passage of the new Assisted Living facility Zoning Code change that allowed Brightview to be built, that there were no other locations in Unincorporated Greenburgh that would accommodate another Assisted Living facility. Apparently, if this proposal is approved by Mr Feiner and his Board, which they appear to be ready to do, it will again prove they lied to the public for the benefit of a developer. Sadly, this seems to be a hallmark of this administration. It must end. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.
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