Thursday, December 5, 2013
Moose Hit on The Taconic In Fahnestock
This site has been dormant for a few months. Glad to be back. Expect lots of news on several subjects--very soon. In the meantime, please enjoy this Journal News piece on the dead moose.
Photo courtesy of the NYSDEC:
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Update on the Faith Bible Church Zoning Variance Application
It would be highly peculiar if the Zoning Board doesn't approve all of the requested variances tomorrow night, 10/24/13. I was shocked they didn't last time.
To bring you up to speed on the latest, I present my written comments to the Zoning Board from August. I like to think it had something to do with their thoughtful deliberation of the application and their surprising postponement of their decision.
To bring you up to speed on the latest, I present my written comments to the Zoning Board from August. I like to think it had something to do with their thoughtful deliberation of the application and their surprising postponement of their decision.
Dear Zoning Board Members,
Thank you for your continued diligence reviewing the instant variance applications. I will continue to thoroughly examine, in my professional capacity, the instant application in attempt to vet it for full compliance and conformance with all applicable laws. It is my hope that I can save the applicant, town, and myself additional time that will be required if all the “I”s are not dotted and “T”s crossed. Faith Bible Church (FBC) is on their 4th ZBA application in 3 years; I think all parties agree that we don’t want to be before the board on this matter, ever again.
Tomorrow, 10/24/13 MLID Meeting
A message from the Mohegan Lake Improvement District:
Our monthly meeting for October is this Thursday October 24 at 8:00 P.M. at the Mohegan Colony schoolhouse kitchen at 99 Baron de Hirsch Road in Crompond. Hope you can make it.
We had a great budget meeting last month and have some great works in progress to improve the health of the lake.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Yorktown Candidate Debates: 10/10/13 in Mohegan Lake
Gentle reader,
I'd like to share with you the following email from Yorktown Smart Growth/Green Yorktown. They are sponsoring a Yorktown candidates debate with a focus on local envirionmental issues. I'd recommend attending or, if you can't make it, posing questions in writing to the candidates. Details below:
I'd like to share with you the following email from Yorktown Smart Growth/Green Yorktown. They are sponsoring a Yorktown candidates debate with a focus on local envirionmental issues. I'd recommend attending or, if you can't make it, posing questions in writing to the candidates. Details below:
Hi All
Just a quick reminder and update about the upcoming Candidate's Debate on the Environment and Smarter Development with the Town Council candidates on Thursday night October 10th 7:30 pm at the Unitarian Church on Strawberry Rd, Mohegan Lake, NY.
The candidates have been given a list of topics and some typical questions in the form of a questionnaire, similiar to the one we used in 2011. The purpose of this debate is to give the candidates an opportunity to present an informed position on the issues in our town today and discuss their environmental philosophies in a public and fair manner. To that end, Ann Kutter will be co-moderating with me. I am very glad to have her smart and savvy help on this.
The topics include:Climate Change and Environmental StandardsHabitat, Wetlands, and Open SpaceRole of Government and Smart DevelopmentStormWater, Water , Air PollutionRegional Environmental IssuesCurrent Issues Facing the TownWe have been assembling our questions for the candidates. I had asked for input from both GreenYorktown and YorktownSmartGrowth earlier in the summer for this (thank you to those who contributed) and now is your last chance to throw in another idea. Please use my personal email (peckh...@aol.com) so that others in the a google groups don't have to weed through lots of email clutter. Also, remember that you will get a chance to write your question down anonymously or authored at the debate on an index card and it will be asked during the Q&A. We will NOT take questions from the audience as this could turn into shouting matches or personal attacks and that will not be tolerated. This is a non partisan debate. Please invite your friends and neighbors and hope to see you there!Thank you so much for your participation in these important topics vital to our community.Patty Peckhamco-chair GreenYorktownboard member, YorktownSmartGrowth
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Wowzer: "It's a procedural issue"
I really didn't expect this. I skipped what I thought would be a Zoning Board of Appeals rubber stamp to attend the most important meeting of the year. That didn't happen. Much more analysis of the ZBA hearing to come. You are encouraged to watch the whole thing. The FBC hearing starts at about the 8:40pm mark during the hearing. They deliberate for over an hour. And actually suggest that perhaps the proposal should be scaled back a bit. Surprisingly reasoning has slowly started to emerge. I take back all those mean things I said about the ZBA.
I'm truly at a loss of words. The first minute of the hearing confirmed that I'm not (totally) crazy. Let's go to the video tape:
I'm truly at a loss of words. The first minute of the hearing confirmed that I'm not (totally) crazy. Let's go to the video tape:
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Mohegan Lake Improvement District Meeting 9/26/13 @7:30pm
A message from MLID:
We have an important MLID meeting tomorrow night Thursday 9/26. This is when we decide our next year's activities to address the problems of the lake, and submit our budget proposal to the Town. Everyone's input is welcome. We will be in the Mohegan Colony schoolhouse kitchen at 99 Baron de Hirsch Road in Crompond at 7:30 P.M. Hope to see you there!
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Monday, August 5, 2013
Faith Bible Zoning Board Public Hearing 8/8/13 @ 6:30pm
The meeting will be at town hall. There's a lot of new information. In fact 2 new variances were just discovered today that will require the application to be amended. My goodness, if I were the church, I would sue the crap out of my design team for missing so many obvious variance requirements.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Mohegan Colony Has a Storytelling and Music Festival
Welcome news to me. I'm very excited; sad I missed the last 12 years though:( They have an amazing pavillion. Not to mention two clay tennis courts (have to be a member to use them though).
The 13th ANNUAL MOHEGAN COLONY STORYTELLING & MUSIC FESTIVAL will present an one hour Sneak Peek on FRIDAY, AUGUST 9 at 7:30 pm at EMBARK@EMC located on 925 South St (First Floor) in Peekskill. Reservations recommended: embarkpeekskill@gmail.com - only 75 seats! FREE for Children 12 & under. Suggested Donation per Person: $5.
And the ALL DAY FESTIVAL will take place on SATURDAY, AUGUST 10 from 10 am - 10 pm at Mohegan Colony's Pavillion located at 99 Baron De Hirsch Rd, Crompond, NY (off Lexington Ave). Ticket price including Free Parking: for Adults is $20 for all day and night; children $5; Adults $15 for just day, child $3.00; Adults: $10 for "Twilight Tales/Ghost Stories," Child. $3. Twenty ($20) for morning workshop. Reservations for all segments of the festival are recommended. Family and Home School rates.
For Information, reservations or to volunteer, contact Ellen Monten: 914-528-5830; jmonten@optonline.netor Judith Heineman: 312-925-0439; juhestories@aol.com; Website: www.hvstoryall.org/mohegan
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
The Most Important Mohegan Lake Improvement District Meeting, Ever: 8/1/13
From our fearless MLID leader, Ken Belfer:
The Mohegan Lake Improvement District will be meeting this Thursday night August 1st at 7:30 P.M. in the kitchen of the Mohegan Colony Schoolhouse at 99 Baron de Hirsch Road in Crompond. We will be discussing the state of the lake, and particularly the County and State Health Department's position on what triggers closing of a beach or the lake as a whole to swimming. We will also be reviewing the remaining activities for the year to address water quality, and planning for next year's permit application to apply Alum to the lake. We would like to hear from as many residents and beaches around the lake as possible, to help set our priorities. Hope to see you there!
Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.
If you're not up to speed on Mohegan Lake's residential community's struggle to reign in the massive new development proposed for Faith Bible Church, you can get some background information here.
We're not against the church and don't oppose the use, it's a practical opposition to the site's deficiencies relative to the proposed enlarged occupant load. Specifically that they have already enlarged the church, illegally, and seem to have done so to the limits of the area they can adequately provide legal parking spaces for.
At the last public hearing in May for variances the church is seeking, I correctly noted that the building inspector had unequivocally noted that the two residences they church owns were converted to church use without approval or permit.
After nearly 5 years the Faith Bible application has been before both the planning and zoning boards, the church and their attorney--Al Capellini--have never contested the documents in the planning and zoning files that clearly demonstrate that they have already enlarged the legal occupancy and parking exponentially. The building inspector's memo in both board files correctly notes that the church has already enlarged "without approval or permit," which is a nice way of saying illegally.
But wait! Acting chairman of the zoning board Gregg Bucci (because the actual chairman of the board has to recuse himself because he has a "counsel relationship" with--wait for it...--Al Capellini) has an argument to make for the applicant. Just because there is no "record" of an application, approval or permit for the change to church use and increase the parking load since 2005, when the applicant took title of the premises, that doesn't mean the records weren't lost or stolen or misplaced.
Dear reader, the video below is not theater of the absurd. This is our Zoning Board of Appeals in action. According to Mr. Bucci's reasoning, your neighbor can legitimately--it would seem--claim that they didn't illegal convert or build the structure next to your house. The problem is that the approval and permit was lost, or stolen, or misplaced. The onus of proof of existing occupancy, use and parking conditions is not placed on the applicant; Yorktown places the onus on neighbors of the applicant to prove that Yorktown records are complete? The landowner making application and the planning department, planning and zoning boards can just invent their own narrative--arbitrarily?!
Last note: at the end of the video, please note that I literally LOL at Mr. Bucci's assertion that perhaps they didn't do it illegally. Perhaps I stole the records and perhaps there's no collective memory of any such conversion in the neighborhood and perhaps Yorktown governmental records. Perhaps.
I encourage you to watch the whole hearing (a couple hours) on TV. This link is the schedule and the ZBA hearing will be replayed until 8/8/13
Be afraid.
We're not against the church and don't oppose the use, it's a practical opposition to the site's deficiencies relative to the proposed enlarged occupant load. Specifically that they have already enlarged the church, illegally, and seem to have done so to the limits of the area they can adequately provide legal parking spaces for.
At the last public hearing in May for variances the church is seeking, I correctly noted that the building inspector had unequivocally noted that the two residences they church owns were converted to church use without approval or permit.
After nearly 5 years the Faith Bible application has been before both the planning and zoning boards, the church and their attorney--Al Capellini--have never contested the documents in the planning and zoning files that clearly demonstrate that they have already enlarged the legal occupancy and parking exponentially. The building inspector's memo in both board files correctly notes that the church has already enlarged "without approval or permit," which is a nice way of saying illegally.
But wait! Acting chairman of the zoning board Gregg Bucci (because the actual chairman of the board has to recuse himself because he has a "counsel relationship" with--wait for it...--Al Capellini) has an argument to make for the applicant. Just because there is no "record" of an application, approval or permit for the change to church use and increase the parking load since 2005, when the applicant took title of the premises, that doesn't mean the records weren't lost or stolen or misplaced.
Dear reader, the video below is not theater of the absurd. This is our Zoning Board of Appeals in action. According to Mr. Bucci's reasoning, your neighbor can legitimately--it would seem--claim that they didn't illegal convert or build the structure next to your house. The problem is that the approval and permit was lost, or stolen, or misplaced. The onus of proof of existing occupancy, use and parking conditions is not placed on the applicant; Yorktown places the onus on neighbors of the applicant to prove that Yorktown records are complete? The landowner making application and the planning department, planning and zoning boards can just invent their own narrative--arbitrarily?!
Last note: at the end of the video, please note that I literally LOL at Mr. Bucci's assertion that perhaps they didn't do it illegally. Perhaps I stole the records and perhaps there's no collective memory of any such conversion in the neighborhood and perhaps Yorktown governmental records. Perhaps.
I encourage you to watch the whole hearing (a couple hours) on TV. This link is the schedule and the ZBA hearing will be replayed until 8/8/13
Be afraid.
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