Letter to the Editor: Business NOT as usual in Ossining

To the Editor:

The Town of Ossining has clearly been positively impacted by many concerned voices from our community over the past few years. I know this first hand since I am one those voices…I am part of the Concerned Citizens Of Ossining (CCofossining.com), a grass roots coalition of residents who came together to question several pending developer projects in our area, especially the High View Farms Cluster Filing.

Business was no longer “usual” as we began to question the filing process and subsequent approvals, from what appeared to be a very “Developer Friendly” panel. Fortunately due to the groundswell of community involvement, people began to look at certain mistakes that were made on several questionable projects, which somehow made it thru our community planning board in the recent past.

One in particular, which really needs to be scrutinized more closely, (since apparently our town planning and legal consultants missed a crucial detail before recommending approval from the planning board)… relates to the extremely costly debacle at Hawkes Crossing in Ossining.

According to a Journal News Article dated February 5th 2015 “These lots were part of the 16-lot Hawkes Crossing subdivision that became snarled in a legal feud between its former developer and investors, which eventually led to the tax foreclosure.” It goes on to say that even though the Town sold it at auction, “… problems arose. The former builder had made a last-minute change to the subdivision, which was approved by the Ossining Planning Board, creating a “reservation strip” of land across the development’s road that required any future owner to negotiate with him for access.” The exorbitant price tag (in the $ millions) for this access has left the project at the mercy of the former builder, leaving our town and its taxpayers in a very precarious situation!

The specifics of certain projects of this nature can be researched and questioned, “post mortem” with obvious questions like “why didn’t our representatives require performance and completion bonds from the applicant to prevent these kinds of problems?” and “how could this kind of mistake happen with the layers of experts and our town officials who are charged with the responsibility to protect the community” no matter what the answers are, the lasting real life impact of this kind of decision making, not only impacts our town financially, but sadly, those residents who live in or near these particular projects. As of now, 3 families are stranded by a completely unfinished neighborhood with a questionable future outlook!

Another board approved development at North State road made it thru the process without even the involvement of our very own Environment Advisory Committee (EAC). This committee was created for the specific purpose of insuring that various environmentally sensitive issues are reviewed and commented on as a part of the application process. As a result, the project was approved without serious consideration for a natural buffer of trees or otherwise to shield the surrounding neighbors from the encroaching townhouses!

My point is that for many years while living in Ossining, I had no idea of how things got done within our beautiful town...at the very first meeting I went to, so I could understand how and who makes decisions, I was appalled by the way the citizens of our town were handled. It was as if they were a nuisance to getting things done. As a result of being handled this way, many projects moved thru the process without much public input!

Two years later, after many discontented citizens like myself got up off their couches and got involved, we have impacted the process in major ways...

· For now on the Planning Board Meetings will be videoed, and made available for public viewing

· The prior Board Chairman who held the position for over 30 years has retired and we now have a newly appointed Chairperson

· The long time Town Planning Consultant has agreed to involve the EAC on future applications

· We have 2 new board members, one of which is a knowledgeable Architect

· Recently the Town Supervisor has submitted a new Comprehensive Plan for our towns future which addresses many of the serious concerns that our residents have brought to light

My dad always said that Daylight is the best Disinfectant…and once I decided to get out of my comfort zone and see what was happening in my community I realized that daylight is also great for my own health!

Howard Jay Fleischer