Briarcliff Manor's People's Caucus Holds Meet The Candidates Night

BRIARCLIFF MANOR, NY — Three Briarcliff Manor officials are the only ones seeking endorsements from the People's Caucus for election this spring to three seats on the village board.

Mayor Steven A. Vescio, Deputy Mayor Peter Chatzky and Trustee Edward Midgley appeared at a People's Caucus Meet the Candidates event Jan. 18.

"Thank you for the confidence you have shown in our board," said Chatzky.

The mayor complimented the entire village team.

At the event, Aaron Spring, executive chairman of the caucus, said the first task will be collecting signatures on the candidates' petitions. The caucus, which runs on donations, will do some fundraising from Feb. 10 to March 1.

In Briarcliff Manor, winning the nod from the Caucus is tantamount to being elected. Midgley said the non-partisan system is a big part of the reason he got involved in local politics.

The three answered questions sent in from the community.

The first was about the massive downtown streetscape project that is expected to start construction in the fall, specially parking.

"Every single consultant we have talked with says that the safest possible configuration for parking is parallel parking," Midgley said. "At this point, and until I can see a plan that shows where we might be able to keep a portion of diagonal parking without interfering with the traffic flow, I have to support parallel parking ... It's probably not the most popular."

Vescio pointed out that it's been 50 years since the last time the village renovated the central business district. He said requested revisions are coming in on crosswalks, cuing lane and loading spaces.

The state has granted the village $3 million to make it safer for pedestrians, and "as we all know a lot of pedestrian strikes, a lot of vehicle accidents in the downtown," Vescio said. However, the process of receiving the grant takes time.

The project will likely start in the fall.

Question two was about the application to turn the Pace University campus into a yeshiva.

Chatzky said that well over a year ago, the town board put in place zoning code changes for special use permits. One of the criteria for special use permits must be that all the zoning code requirements are met. It's a threshold that's higher than typical use. Because the application for the Pace campus didn't meet one of the zoning requirements, the building department rejected it and the applicant is now in front of the ZBA seeking relief from that denial.

Vescio offered details about the village's special use permit process. "We now require a lot of information up front in order for an application to be deemed complete," he said. Impacts on traffic, schools, environment, fiscal impacts. "We don't want to get it piecemeal as the application drags out." Also, when a completed application comes to the board, it is also refer to the planning board for an opinion, so we're getting the planning board's opinion very early in the process, not going to wait till the site plan approval."

Question three concerned consolidating services between the village of Briarcliff Manor and the town of Ossining, or even becoming independent of Ossining and Mount Pleasant, the two towns within which the village is situated.

"There are some services that are already consolidated," Vescio said. "To me the town is an extra layer of government that is costing additional taxpayer money."

As for becoming a co-terminous town/village, "We talk about this at about just about every caucus," he said. "It's a huge lift — the last one was Mount Kisco in 1978."

Midgley focused on the constant negotiations and appeals with different entities that have protested their property taxes. "I'm going to try to put this as nicely as I can," he said. "There have been opportunities availed to the tax assessor's office to minimize the impact on all taxpayers and frankly they have not been taken advantage of. It has hurt the village of Briarcliff and it has hurt the village of Ossining as well as the town."

The average resident has no idea that we are a village and there is a town, Chatzky said. He called for more Briarcliff representation on the town board.

Question four was about the now rezoned, large vacant commercial properties in the village.

"It's a process, and it's going to take time," Vescio said. "These properties did not get built in a year and they will not be re-occupied in a year."

The fifth question concerned trails, green spaces and parks. The three said they were proud of the village's parks and recreation offerings and what's been opened and improved. Areas to consider: the pool, which is more than 50 years old, and the lack of indoor rec space for the winter.

Question six requested an update on Route 9A, one of the mayor's greatest irritants. The DOT is finally undertaking a study, which the candidates said would put the state on notice about the many deficiencies.

Spring added surprise questions at the end, enabling watchers to learn that the mayor's favorite childhood book was "The Giving Tree," that Chatzky has "Running for Office for Dummies" on his coffee table, and that Midgley just re-read Herman Wouk's masterpiece, "Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance."

The election is March 21.