Update: Just before 8pm, the Yorktown Planning Board approved Faith Bible Church. We'll discuss what that means moving forward, shortly.
Tonight, the Yorktown Planning Board will likely vote to approve Faith Bible Church--in spite of the facts. In spite of the fact that not a single community member objected to enlarging the existing church as recorded in Yorktown Building Department records, only that the project be scaled back so that adequate parking can be provided. In spite of the fact that a 16,571 square foot building is a completely out of place next to a 758 sf single family home. In spite of the fact that in a nearby C-2 Commercial zoning district, one could only develop just over 4,000 square feet on the same size lot (just over an acre). In spite of the fact that the Zoning Board of Appeals is going to suffer an embarrassing loss to a pro se petitioner regarding their cockamamie interpretation that a "house of worship is a residential use," and that will upend their approval. The list goes on.
I encourage you to not go to the hearing tomorrow night, sit on your couch, and tune in to see the planning board hearing's final decision on Faith Bible either via live-stream on your computer, channel 20 for Optimum subscribers, or channel 33 for Fios at 730 tomorrow. It's the last public agenda item so it may not start for some until 8 or so.
I want to draw attention to one particularly egregious comment made by planning board member John Kincart a couple of PB meetings ago (see video). He's a realtor and claims to be "local expert" on Yorktown permitting and planning issues, yet building department records "mean nothing" to him. As a Cooper Union trained architect and building code and zoning consultant for over 12 years, I can unequivocally state that his expertise is very, very local. Normally, municipal planning authorities use their building department records as an historical record to establish the character of a neighborhood. To John Kincart, building department records "mean nothing."
In the accompanying video, Chairman Fon makes an attempt to defend Kincart's crazy talk, speculating he didn't mean that the Lakeland Jewish Center approval (now Faith Bible) meant nothing when he said it "means nothing to me," on March 10th, 2014. The fact of the matter is we can't pretend there was no legal Yorktown approval for land use on the site before the new building was proposed. Real planners have to reference the last historical approval in order to gauge what is currently legal versus what is being proposed; the former establishes the character of the neighborhood as envisioned by the original town planners, the latter must strike a balance between enlarging and protecting the character. Unfortunately during in the Faith Bible application, at every turn, both the town and applicant have done their best to obscure this inconvenient truth.
I want to thank all of my neighbors for the tireless support over the last 4 years. We're now entering the second of 3 periods of this wrestling match. We will have a 30 day public written comment period on the pending DEC application, I'll be sending out directions on where to aim your pens shortly. Plus the inevitable article 78 petition challenging the Planning Board's final determination, assuming they don't make a reasoned and logical decision on the application.
So, in summary, pay attention to what's going on around you in Yorktown. If you don't they'll run roughshod over you and your neighbors.
Tonight, the Yorktown Planning Board will likely vote to approve Faith Bible Church--in spite of the facts. In spite of the fact that not a single community member objected to enlarging the existing church as recorded in Yorktown Building Department records, only that the project be scaled back so that adequate parking can be provided. In spite of the fact that a 16,571 square foot building is a completely out of place next to a 758 sf single family home. In spite of the fact that in a nearby C-2 Commercial zoning district, one could only develop just over 4,000 square feet on the same size lot (just over an acre). In spite of the fact that the Zoning Board of Appeals is going to suffer an embarrassing loss to a pro se petitioner regarding their cockamamie interpretation that a "house of worship is a residential use," and that will upend their approval. The list goes on.
I encourage you to not go to the hearing tomorrow night, sit on your couch, and tune in to see the planning board hearing's final decision on Faith Bible either via live-stream on your computer, channel 20 for Optimum subscribers, or channel 33 for Fios at 730 tomorrow. It's the last public agenda item so it may not start for some until 8 or so.
I want to draw attention to one particularly egregious comment made by planning board member John Kincart a couple of PB meetings ago (see video). He's a realtor and claims to be "local expert" on Yorktown permitting and planning issues, yet building department records "mean nothing" to him. As a Cooper Union trained architect and building code and zoning consultant for over 12 years, I can unequivocally state that his expertise is very, very local. Normally, municipal planning authorities use their building department records as an historical record to establish the character of a neighborhood. To John Kincart, building department records "mean nothing."
In the accompanying video, Chairman Fon makes an attempt to defend Kincart's crazy talk, speculating he didn't mean that the Lakeland Jewish Center approval (now Faith Bible) meant nothing when he said it "means nothing to me," on March 10th, 2014. The fact of the matter is we can't pretend there was no legal Yorktown approval for land use on the site before the new building was proposed. Real planners have to reference the last historical approval in order to gauge what is currently legal versus what is being proposed; the former establishes the character of the neighborhood as envisioned by the original town planners, the latter must strike a balance between enlarging and protecting the character. Unfortunately during in the Faith Bible application, at every turn, both the town and applicant have done their best to obscure this inconvenient truth.
I want to thank all of my neighbors for the tireless support over the last 4 years. We're now entering the second of 3 periods of this wrestling match. We will have a 30 day public written comment period on the pending DEC application, I'll be sending out directions on where to aim your pens shortly. Plus the inevitable article 78 petition challenging the Planning Board's final determination, assuming they don't make a reasoned and logical decision on the application.
So, in summary, pay attention to what's going on around you in Yorktown. If you don't they'll run roughshod over you and your neighbors.
