Sleepy Hollow Board of Trustees Roundup - 6/8/10

Here's a look at what happened at Tuesday's Village Board of Trustees meeting:

Overwhelming Support for Restricting Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers

About 15 residents were at last night's meeting to show support for restricting the use of gas-powered leaf blowers in the village.

The proposal is based on a recommendation by the village's Environmental Advisory Council, who are acting on numerous concerns voiced by citizens. 

"I am glad with the turnout tonight," said David Bedell, the chair of the council. "It is a serious environmental issue, and this will improve the quality of life in the village."

The blowers would be allowed from April 15 - May 15 and October 15 - November 30. Hours of use are proposed to be changed to: Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The board is also considering limiting the number of leaf blowers operating at a time, per address, to one.

But that dsidn't go far enough for some of the members of the audience who wanted to also restrict the use of electric leaf blowers, and cut use of leaf blowers on weekends, or at least Sundays, all together.

"I'm kind of militant on this issue," said David Pysh. "I don't see why we need to beg for these to be restricted... If I had a radio going at the same level (as a leaf blower) any neighbor could immediately come and have that turned off."

While many residents told their personal stories regarding noise nuisances, many were also in favor of restricting the use of leaf blowers for health reasons. 

"Particulates are a threat to the health of all of us," said Manor resident John Maltby. "Chemicals, road dust and filth;  these particulates are stirred up by leaf blowers and persist in the air for up to 30 minutes."

Maltby added that some studies have shown that the use of leaf blowers by day labors has caused increased respiratory and hearing problems.

Only one resident spoke out in favor of leaf blowers, albeit with an inclination to restrict hours, primarily because of their usefulness in maintaining lawns in local neighborhoods. 

"If you want to restrict the hours that is okay," said Jim Nazemetz. "But if landscapers can't clean the property it would look horrible."

Another resident, Patrick Munroe of Webber Park, said that he would challenge any leaf-blower user to a contest to see "who does it quicker and who does it almost without a sound."

"There are ways it can be done so everyone can be happy," he said.

You can read more about the proposal at the Sleepy Hollow Environmental Advisory Council's website: http://sheac.wordpress.com.

The Board closed the hearing for the night, but will continue to hear comments from the public on the issue and will reopen the hearing at a later date.

More Support for Keeping the Architectural Review Board

A proposal to abolish the Architectural Review Board came under heavy scrutiny by three members of the public last night.

Donald Stever, a former chair of the ARB and also a former trustee, voiced strong objections to disbanding the civilian oversight group.

"I can conceive of no rational basis for it," he said, while going on to state that it would make for "poor government policy" and "would set a very bad precedent for the village."

Stever noted that all of the surrounding villages have Architectural Review Boards, except Ossining; he said the lack on an ARB has been a detriment to that community.

In the past, trustees have said they would like to make architectural guidelines that could be enforced by the village's building department, and perhaps make the ARB some kind of appeals board, or else hand over its duties to the Village Planning Board.

Stever said he was concerned that the planning board would not be qualified to judge the merits of architecture and might be overwhelmed by applications. The GM property, and other industrial properties, were cited as developments that might be pushed through the Planning Board in order to bolster the tax rolls without due thought being given to design and long-term impacts.

Those who spoke indicated there could be improvements made to the board, primarily by streamlining the approval process for residential matters, which was a common complaint cited by trustees.

"This problem can easily be fixed by thought-out amendments," Stever said. "The current proposal takes a wrecking ball to the statute."

David Pysh, who was the last chair of the board, examined all of the applicants who have gone through the ARB over the last three years and found that, on average, applications are heard by the ARB 1.28 times, which put a ding in the argument that the ARB was cumbersome for all applicants.

"That tells you a little about how much a burden it might be to be coming and going," he said. "It doesn't give a full picture, we also denied no application where the applicant didn't appear, so we have been acting like an advisory group."

Trustees said last week that they wanted to finish their deliberations on the matter at next Tuesday's trustee work session.

New Treasurer Appointed

Mayor Ken Wray announced the hiring of a new Village Treasurer; Sara DiGiacomo will join the village next month. Trustees approved the matter unanimously. We interviewed DiGiacomo and will post a story about her later this evening.

Property Owner Wants Trustee Involvement in Zoning Debate

Gary Sernia, who owns the property at 222 Beekman Ave. with his mother Emma Serina, said he is tired of going through the village's Zoning Board of Appeals.

Serina's building has been empty since the closure of the Sunflower Cafe last year and he has been searching for a new tenant. However, his search has been hindered because the building is not zoned to include the sale of alcohol.

"I can't get anywhere and it is extremely frustrating," he said.

Serina said he has gone through several potential tenants, the latest, he said, wants to "sue the village" over the zoning issue. Records from the zoning board indicate the latest potential tenant is Robert Ronan, the owner of Striped Bass at the Tarrytown Boat Club.

A brief look back at the zoning board minutes indicates that Serina has brought numerous applications before the board, with different proposals – it is the practice of the zoning board to treat each new application independent of any other previous application. In essence, each new application restarts the process at the zoning board for Mr. Serina.

Mayor Wray said that trustees could not influence the Zoning Board of Appeals and their process.

"The zoning board is a quasi-judicial entity," he said. "We appoint them and after that they are on their own... We're not in a position to step in and make a decision"

Serina said he wanted to open a nice "white table" restaurant.  The restaurant would apparently be called the Moon River Grill because an application for a liquor license came before the board later in the evening for the same 222 Beekman Ave. location. The application had to be denied due to improper zoning.

DeVries Lights Almost Complete

Village Architect Sean McCarthy said that the supports for the poles that will hold new lights at DeVries field are nearing completion. He gave a perspective date of June 22 for the completion of the lights at the field.