Elephant In The Room: The Holland Sporting Club

Arguably the most important issue facing the future of Mohegan Lake?  The Holland Sporting Club.  The fate of this beautiful acreage, which is supposed to end up as passive recreation for the surrounding residential community (and all of Yorktown residents), is still up in the air.

Unsure where the Holland Sporting Club is?  Below is a map with a pin showing you the entrance.  It's basically the peninsula structure jutting out into Mohegan Lake.


View Larger Map
 Yorktown recently demolished about 11 buildings which comprised the original Holland Sporting.  There was some controversy, as there always is with anything in this town. 

If anyone thinks this issue is settled is mistaken. It's quite possible, especially under the current administration, we may see a "private-public partnership" that sees us giving it all, or a portion, away to a private developer.

Nothing is certain.  This is an issue that every Mohegan Laker ought to concern themselves with.  No definitively plans have been put forth, and it's all napkin sketches at this point.  Keep your eye on the ball.

Don't Forget To Vote

I'm not sure who is running for Commissioner of the Mohegan Lake Fire District (5 year term) but you can view the legal notice at the Yorktown website here.   I assume it's probably an uncontested position since I haven't heard of any news of a contest, but could be wrong cause I have no clue.  Feel free to fill in the numerous blanks in the comment section, if you're in the know.  Regardless, get out and vote, cause it's the democratic thing to do.

The vote will take place at the Jefferson Valley Fire Station at 500 Lee Boulevard in Jefferson Valley.

Happy Sunday

Hi there Mohegan Laker,

It was great to see so many of you turn out for the hurricane relief fundraising party for the Keppler's friends from Breezy Point, Queens. It was heartwarming to see what a great and generous--not to mention good looking--community we have. One thing that I kept getting asked last night was how you can follow us on facebook. I was remiss not being explicit in previous posts. All you have to do is click on this link to the facebook page and hit the "like" button. And then you'll have a whole lot of Mohegan Lake up in your facebook news feed.

For the record, we still need to figure out who lost their boat last month.  Spread the word.

Houston, We Have a Blockage

One of the major factors contributing to the health of the lake is how long a drop of water sits in the lake retention time.  Basically how long it takes to flush a drop of water out of the lake.  One of the problems we've had are at the Mohegan Avenue culvert (pics below).  The town highway super, Eric DiBartolo has been very helpful directing his crew to clear out in front of the concrete culvert with their equipment.  It has helped, but is a small waterfall inside the culvert.  We need to figure out how these obstructions can be pushed or pulled out for a complete fix of that structures flow capacity.

The town also helped with two other structures that were damaged or sealed with concrete[!] by the State when they were doing some work.  These structures are located by The Winery at St. George as the outflow continues under Route 6; there is another structure as the it continues towards Peekskill.  It is my understanding that those are now completely fixed. 

For your orientation, the Mohegan Ave culvert is in line with the tip of this canoe.  Beyond the trees to the upper left is CVS.

Beaver dam or not, there are a ton of branches and muck inside that concrete structure.  If you get close, you can hear the waterfall inside the culvert.  How can we clear it?  Might be easiest to just rip the top off and clean it out with a backhoe and pour a new roof for it and re pave it. 

View Larger Map

Beavers and The Mohegan Lake Outflow

So last weekend I claimed to have photos of a beaver-felled tree.  I went back this morning and retook the photos I lost.  Looking at them again, I think I was wrong.  It almost looks like someone axed it down? Feel free to comment below and share your opinion on what cause it.  One thing is sure is that it was recent.  I think beavers may work more circularly and symmetrically around the tree.  And as Wayne pointed out, that tree is a bit big for a beaver.  Anyhoo...the town has hired a wildlife trapper and has rounded up 4 to be relocated--last I heard.

Detail of felled tree. 

For reference, you can see the corner of Faith Bible at the top right (white corner) of this photo taken from the lake .

View Larger Map

Getting Up To Speed On The Issues

I highly recommend you get on the official Mohegan Lake Improvement District (MLID) listserv.  You can stay up to date on current issues and meeting dates/times.  Get in touch with MLID president Ken Belfer, or send me an email at YorktownCode@gmail.com, if you're interested in joining.

Quick summary of the most pressing issues:

1)  The blue-green algae problem.  We have a plan to apply for a New York State Department of Environmental Protection to apply alum (aluminum sulfate) to the lake.  The idea is that the alum would bind the phosphorous which is what the algae thrives on--or at least that's my layman's understanding of the issue.

2)  The MLID weed harvester (big boat that harvests the invasive weeds that live under water) is on it's last legs.  It will likely not function for another season.  It is a big ticket item; the current weed harvester was purchased in the mid-80's.  It now spends more time on shore, getting repaired, than it does in the lake.

3)  The  budget.  For the first time last year (2012), the town adjusted our budget--without our knowledge--from the normal 5% admin fee the MLID fund pays to the town by $2,000.  That raised our admin fees to 7.4%.  There's a budget hearing tomorrow, 12/5/12.  We are hoping that they cap the admin fee for all districts at 6%.

4)  The budget, part 2: The MLID general fund has been depleted to the point where we may not be able to afford the alum treatment or a new weed harvester. Alum is a short term solution, but if we don't go forward, you can expect that the NYS Department of Health will likely shut down the lake to all swimming in mid-July again because of the blue-green aglae (ours is more green--neon green algae).  About three years ago our fund was over $300,000 because we had budgeted dredging.  Because of previous applications of copper sulfate (copper is heavy metal, in a bad way), the dredged material would have to be treated as hazardous waste and cost prohibitive to dispose of.  Now we may not have the funds to treat the lake to reduce--if not eliminate--the algae blooms.

So, in summary, we need you to get involved.

Leave It To Beaver

I lost some good photos I took this weekend of a 12-18" tree in the wetland at the top of the lake that had been felled by a beaver.  Unmistakeably a beaver's handiwork; word on the street is the town is hiring trappers.  MLID and the Yorktown official have confirmed it's a problem that contributes the problem of the lake overtaking the road (see image below--yes, I stopped the car to take the pic).

The town highway department has been incredibly helpful and gone above and beyond their duties to clear out the concrete culvert that runs under Mohegan Ave as you come down from Rte. 6.  They have pulled all the muck out in front of the concrete tube, but there's muck inside the culvert.  The town did additional improvements to the outflow infrastructure that passes right by The Winery and out towards Oregon Road (Mohegan Lake water ends up in Peekskill).

Figuring out how we can clean out inside the culvert--without spending boat loads of money--is one of the problems that MLID is tasked with.  If we have a steady outflow, it will contribute to a healthier lake. Any ideas?  Can it be done in-house?

Who lost their boat just before Thanksgiving?

About a week or two ago, from my house on the north side of the lake, I saw a ghost boat float past (image above).  A good Samaritan from the condos on the east side towed it to SOLE beach; it is still there.   It looks to be a 10-12 foot John boat (?).  It has a red stripe.  I can't make out the brand but it's something "craft." I thought I saw a paddle float by an hour or so later, but never found it. 

Exciting News

The public hearing for the FBC application should be opened for comment in the beginning of the new year.  The town traffic consultant has been formally retained for the traffic study. This is the last step before a public hearing.  Interested parties will be receiving their certified mail notices shortly.

On another topic, I was at the Mohegan Lake Improvement District (MLID) meeting tonight.  There are a lot of interesting issues that we should all concern ourselves with such as the budget (it's bigger than you might think--about 100K), lake health (blue-green algae sucks--but we can suppress it with an alum treatment), a permit from the DEC to get an permit to treat the lake with alum (very difficult, but possible), Canada goose egg addling (ooooh, sign me up), beavers, the blocked up Culvert under Mohegan Avenue that the beavers are stuffing with felled trees and branches, etc...

We have a beautiful lake but you and I maintain this lake; it's maintained solely by volunteers.  If you live within the MLID special tax District (about 1,500 of us), then you pay taxes to MLID and can't change that; if you care about Mohegan Lake, may as well get involved, right?

We are rolling out a few social media platforms that will allow us to maximize community participation.  You can actually already start following this facebook page that will feature all things MLID.  A formal website for the MLID will be live by the new year as well.

In summary, Mohegan Lake needs you, so please get involved with the MLID.  There are monthly meetings and a few, extremely dedicated people that do it all.  I don't claim to be one of them, but I have been attending a few meetings and have helped out with Lake Day activities and try to pitch in whenever I can.  They need your help.

Hope to see you soon.

-Evan

I'm Outta Here

Below is the content of a Yorktown Patch post that was published this morning.  Thought I should  share:


I moved to Yorktown on July 1st, 2010.  I came with my pregnant wife and two daughters; now we have 3 and are pregnant again.
I have a bachelor of architecture degree from The Cooper Union.  The last 11 years, I have worked in Manhattan as a building code and zoning consultant.  It pays the bills and has allowed us to buy our first home for our growing family.

Shortly after arriving to town, we received a piece of certified mail telling us our neighbor wanted to "legalize" some "existing structures" with an application that was before the Zoning Board of Appeals.  Being the zoning nerd I am, I attended, not thinking much of it.  Legalizing existing structures isn't a big deal--or so I thought.

Turns out the "existing strucutures," two single family homes and a house of worship allowing up to 100 people, 3 days a year, for 3 hours a day--at least according to the Yorktown Building Department and the Tax Assessor--were all to be demolished.  It was explained they had plans to build a church for 344 people on the 2nd floor with 6 classrooms convertible into another auditorium capable of holding another 300+ people.  [note: after they approved the variances, I pointed out that the application was not worded correctly.  The ZBA then revoked their approval and made them use the correct words, "new building," on a second application]




 They currently park up to 92 cars, according to their engineer, Site Design Consultants.  This supports an illegal occupant load of up to 242 people, according to the same engineer.  They are proposing 86 parking spaces to serve the new church capable of having two assembly spaces over 300 people.  Even their attorney, Al Capellini, agreed with me on record that the applicant needed to get a "special use permit" from the town before converting the homes in this R1-10 zoning district. That's when the alarm bells went off; it's rare that the opposition's attorney agrees with you.
 
Long story short, I sued the town pro se.  I spoke to lots of attorney friends, at length, and prepared my best professional case against the zoning variances.  Ultimately, the court did not read my petition or render a decision based on the merits of my agument. All because I didn't serve my neighbor, they said it was a fatal flaw.  What hurt so much was that I wasn't challenging a decision my neighbor made, it was the determiations (not even all of them), that the ZBA made.  
The law is clear that the action I was taking was to "challenge the final determination of governmental agency of body."  Not being an attorney, I wasn't aware of some obscure case law and lost on a technicality.
 
So instead of enforcing existing laws and kindly pointing out it's not legal to convert single family homes without Yorktown approval or permit, the town rewarded the developer who acted illegally by granting inappropriate zoning variances that will ultimately depress home values in the area.
Then there is the "Costco" issue.  I've written several posts for the Patch on the subject outlining my objections to the proposal as an individual.  I argue that it's not about Costco, but rather conformance with the Comprehensive Plan.  

The Yorktown Building, Engineering, Envirionmental and Planning departments sent a memo to the planning board stating:
 
The public policy sections outline the recommendations from the Yorktown Comprehensive Plan, the Sustainable Development Study, and Westchester County’s Patterns. Many of these recommendations are contrary to the objectives of the Costco project, yet there is little discussion in the potential impacts section on how the project does comply with goals from these reports or how the project will enhance the Bear Mountain Triangle/Crompond Hamlet Center area despite these differences. The Comprehensive Plan describes the C-3 zone as a small scale roadside commercial hamlet center...

and the Comprehensive Plan goes further and states:
 
This stretch of Route 202 should be a green corridor, with preservation of open space on the north side, and heavily landscaped buffers on both sides that hide the building and parking lots to the rear.
 
I don't think the "open space" the town envisioned when it adopted the Plan into law in 2010 was a parking lot.  Furthermore, the applicant seeks a zoning variance to have approximately 25' high light poles throughout the site whereas zoning only allows for 16'; granting an increase over 55% of what's allowed in height to those lights surely won't help hide anything behind the nominal buffer proposed.
It's hard to see how this proposal got off the ground in the first place.  According to the developer, he apparently had lots of other offers.  I think he should have chosen one that conforms to the Comprehensive Plan.
 
These aren't sour grapes, it's just a reality it's taken me a few years to accept.  The future of Yorktown is not a 34 year old with a growing family.  The future is Al Capellini and Costco.  The future is rezoning 100 acres from large parcel single family homes to C-3 so State Land Corp. can maximize their ROI (return on investment). It's about letting development progress unfettered while preserving and maximizing developers' ROIs.  Apparently that's what's meant by the Yorktown motto: Progress with Preservation.
 
The building department and tax assessor records, to this day, still show that I live next to 2 houses, homes occupied as such from 1929 to 2006, and a very small house of worship with a maximum legal capacity of 100 people on 3 days a year where they exceed the normal 35 people.  The 23 parking spaces permitted is now used by 92.  The reality is that the homes were illegally converted and now it's nearly 200 people a week with 90+ cars at least 52 days a year.
 
The Comprehensive Plan was adopted as law and is still on the books. Regardless of what the 
Comprehensive Plan says, it would appear that the development team will get Costco built in Yorktown with the full-throated support of the Town Board and Chamber of Commerce.
My advice to young families considering Yorktown--or any other municipality--would be don't rely on town records and valid laws to determine a town's character.  Dig deeper.  Just because that house next to your house is legally a house--per town records--and looks like a house, the town may turn a blind eye--perhaps even encourage--it's illegal occupancy and use, even after dozens of correspondence bringing it to their attention that it's in violation of existing, valid law.
 
There were red flags I could have picked up before I bought with a little googling.  The "Trump" development for the elderly, for example. Yorktown helpfully (to the developer) rezoned it from an office park to an assisted-living facility with an age restriction of 62. "Within 30 days of receiving the approval, Cappelli went back to the town asking to drop the 'assisted living' designation.Once that was achieved, in 2005, the developers sought and received permission to drop the age to 55 and above. In 2010, they approached the town asking to lift the restriction entirely. The town balked because the developers by then were on the hook for $700,000 in overdue taxes."   Talk to neighors in the area you are considering.  Use google to research the town.  Don't rely on town officials and their records.
 
Thankfully there are many towns and villages adjacent to Yorktown in Westchester that appear to have their town planning ducks in a row.  Because of the odd school district lines, we can even move to another town and stay in the same elementary school.
 
I was happy to meet all my neighbors and get elected vice president of my home owners association.  It was fun to get involved at town meetings.  Sadly, it only ended in heartache and pain.  On the upside, I've learned a valuable life lesson.  Everyone knows you can't fight city hall, but you can research a prospective city hall prior to purchasing your home and make sure you share the same values as they do.  A home inspector can't do that for you, but the internet and talking to people sure can.
 
Farewell and good luck, Yorktown. 

A Quick Recap

The public hearing regarding the enormous church that will demolish 2 single family homes, create an occupancy on the 2nd floor of 344 people, 6 school classrooms for 19 kids each, convertable into an auditorium for over 300 people while reducing the number of cars they park their to day is becoming a reality.  If you add the occupancy of both floors, you have almost 700 people as a potential occupancy.  Oh, but don't worry, they "promise" not to occupy--never, ever, ever--over 344 people.  Sure, they currently exceed the legal occupancy by 152 people and park over 70 cars than are allowed (23 max).


Cut to the chase:

Today they are allowed 100 people in the church 3 days a year, 3 hours at a time.  They illegally converted two single family homes that the Yorktown building department and the tax assessor still classify as a single family residences to a church. A church requires a special use permit in this (R1-10) zoning district.  I should note it is the smallest residential zone in the whole town, as far as lot area requirments; that is in keeping with the small, summer cottage nature of the area; that's literally what this specific neighborhood was established as and still has the flavor of--but this will destroy a prominent corner of it.

Now they occupy up to "252" people, against the law.  The town is spineless and refuses to enforce valid laws, even though the building inspector noted it was a violation to convert the homes to church without approval or permits.  Hire a prominent attorney and threaten to sue the town.  That is the takeaway from this story.

But we can and will fight to make this development a more reasonable size and in keeping with the character, while preserving the quality of life of all residents of Yorktown.  The church isn't bad and the congregation is full of beautiful families.  This is a town planning issue though and the proposal is wholly inappropriate.  There's a reason he hired Al Capellini. 

If I haven't been at your door with a good old fashioned paper petition regarding the planning board application for Faith Bible Church, then drop me a line, or email me (YorktownCode@gmail.com).  I have a couple community organizers gathering signatures, but am always looking additional help.

:(

I lost my lawsuit.  Details to come soon.  I'll scan and post the decision.

It reminds me of the first time I lost a wrestling match.  No one to blame but myself.  I got tossed on a technicality.  Lesson learned.

Gotta stay positive.  We have an exciting challenge coming up next month with the planning board.