Ramapo
record on 'open space' stirs questions
October 27, 2008 Community View
in The Journal News
Robert I. Rhodes
For years, Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence and
town attorney Michael Klein have assured us that the open
space he has been buying will never be developed. Preserve
Ramapo has suggested that St. Lawrence is not to be trusted
and asked why he has refused to dedicate this property as
parkland, a simple process requiring only a formal
resolution by the Ramapo Town Board.
Recent events have proven that Preserve Ramapo's warning
was not just a cheap political shot. After putting just one
tiny ad in an obscure publication, the town signed a
contract to sell the Tilcon Quarry to a developer for what
seems to be a fraction of its true value. Their excuse: We
only had one bidder, and when we listed this parcel as one
of our open space/parklands it was an innocent mistake. This
innocent mistake was repeated over and over both in
statements by St. Lawrence and in several town publications.
(Documentation can be found at the end of this article.)
The builder wants to build 496 luxury condominiums on
this 65 acre parcel and, according to the contract with the
town, will only end up paying just over $5 million for the
land and flood relief.
The development and construction will cost somewhere in
the neighborhood of $300 million and the cost of the land
will only be about 1.5 percent of that cost. Normally a
builder expects to spend one-fourth to one-third of his
total development cost for land acquisition. That would be
as much as $100 million this case. If Ramapo were to sell
this land for $100 million it could suspend its town tax for
almost two years! What a great deal for the builder.
Preserve Ramapo is now suing the town to stop this
outrageous deal. In response a very embarrassed St. Lawrence
and his rubber-stamp town board have finally dedicated the
second of 23 open space parcels. Attorney Michael Klein,
according to Tuesday's Journal News editorial ("Liberty Rock
solid") tells us: "The board is considering which properties
to dedicate as we speak" and similar actions will be taken,
and soon, on other properties "even though they have been
informally dedicated in the past."
Would you bet your last dollar that the properties that
are not formally dedicated will, like the Tilcon Quarry, be
sold at bargain prices to other favored builders when St.
Lawrence finds it politically convenient.
The writer, a Suffern resident, is chairman of
Preserve Ramapo.
