Water
George Potanovic, Jr., is the President of SPACE (Stony Point Action Committee for the Environment) and a key member of the Rockland Coalition for Sustainable water. On Friday Jan. 22, he submitted written comments to the town board concerning the Patrick Farm zone change.

SPACE expressed its opposition to the proposed zone change based on a number of county and regional environmental economic impacts.

Legal Objections from Susan H. Shapiro, Attorney
There are 10 categories of complaint submitted in Ms. Shapiro’s comments. The summaries here can be examined in more detail in the full text of the comments submitted here.

ISSUE OF PROCESS: The Final Environmental Impact Study is about 300 pages with some relatively complicated issues. The Town Board took only six working days to evaluate it. "In that short time it is doubtful that neither the Town Board nor its consultants had time to carefully examine the applicant’s responses and review and evaluate the accuracy, veracity and evasiveness of the responses."

DIVERSE MULTIFAMILY HOUSING EXISTS IN THE TOWN OF RAMAPO: "The applicant’s justification for the need for this zone change is misleading at the best, disingenuous at worst. . .There is already housing diversity in the Town of Ramapo, and the Town does not require diversity on every parcel of land." As to need, "The current housing stock in the Town of Ramapo is 729 single family homes, 783 multifamily homes, 198 condos, and 95 rentals. Additionally there are other approved multifamily projects, including multifamily projects such as 160 units in Blueberry Hills, Monsey, with 2-4 bedrooms. . . Table 1 on Page 1-7 of the DEIS shows that there is no need for this proposed zone change. It shows that the number of households has increased by 115 over 7 years while the number of housing units has increased by 1,000."

BLATANT DISREGARD OF THE MASTER PLAN: "The Master Plan identifies existing core centers from which density will be reduced in proportion to the distance from the core center. . .The Comprehensive Plan identified four areas where multifamily housing was "particularly suitable". Patrick Farm is not one of the them because it is located on top of a major drinking water aquifer that supplies approximately 50% of Rockland County’s water."

INACCURATE POPULATION ESTIMATES: "Applicant’s response regarding population on the proposed development is understated. Applicant’s response says only 1923 people will occupy the development." Shapiro uses assumptions based on occupancy in multifamily housing in Monsey and concludes the totals will range from a minimum of 2,146 to 3,012. "Since the proposed occupancy used was incorrect," she then concludes, "there is a difference of an average of 37% in water usage and therefore the commitment letters from United Water are not meaningful."

WATER AND SEWER ISSUES: "On its SEQR Full Environmental Assessment Form, the applicant confirmed that the project is over a primary principle or sole source aquifer, yet the FEIS is again misleading; applicant does not address this issue."

"The two primary sand and gravel wells are located adjacent to the north/west side of the property are not mentioned in the FEIS. Sand and gravel wells are the type most vulnerable to pollution and runoff. The proposed application’s excessive clear cutting will produce sedimentation run off into the water supply and will change the way water infiltrates the aquifer."

EXTENSIVE GRADING/CLEARCUTTING/DESTRUCTION OF AQUIFER: "The appplicant’s claim that the ‘site layout and grading have been designed to "follow the contours" is grossly incorrect and contradicted by the proposed grading of 113.7 acres or 55.3% of the site."

"Applicant does not deny that they are proposing to clear cut 60 acres of trees, on land that is above a sensitive and important aquifer. Extensive clear cutting will have an adverse impact on the aquifer by increasing sedimentation."

NOT A CLUSTERING PLAN: "The applicant’s response to the clustering comments re nonresponsive, misleading or dishonest. A true clustering plan leaves areas of open space in addition to steep slopes, wetlands or utility easements. The applicant’s proposal increases density by including multifamily housing and also uses the rest of the site for single family houses. This is not clustering, just over building. A clustered development would result in far less site disturbance. This proposal is best described as a raping of one of the most beautiful sites in Rockland County."

PROPOSED AFFORDABLE HOUSING MAY NOT BE AFFORDABLE: "The applicant’s statement that they will include affordable housing that don’t meet the affordability guidelines clearly indicates that the proposed affordable housing is not affordable housing as the Town describes it elsewhere."

NO RESTRICTIONS FROM FORMING NEW VILLAGE AND REZONING THE PROPOSED BUFFER OF 40,000 SF LOTS: "Without a restrictive covenant the promised 40,000 sf lots will quickly disappear and be turned into more multifamily housing, creating a small city on the environmentally sensitive Patrick Farm and Mahwah/Ramapo aquifer. When an application to down zone is being considered, the Town of Ramapo has the right, if not the obligation, to suggest that an applicant provide a covenant that runs with the land to prevent further down zoning." [Editor’s note: St. Lawrence has publicly stated that he will not stand in the way of this developer later applying for separate village status.]

USE OF LAND IS RESTRICTED TO PUBLIC RECREATIONAL PURPOSES: When the Town of Clarkstown originally purchased the property, the purchase agreement was contingent on acceptable plans for a Town golf course. Shapiro concludes, "The applicant is incorrect in stating that the land must be dedicated, but was not so dedicated for park purposes. As the Supervisor and the Board of the Town of Ramapo have made clear for many years, they do not have to dedicate lands which were purchased with municipal funds as open space/park land, because if that were the Town’s intention such lands automatically become public recreational lands that cannot be used for any other purpose without express approval of the New York State Legislature."

"Finally, there is no statute of limitations on park land alienation rights requirements—notwithstanding what the applicant claims."

It looks as though this application is soon going to begin a long tenure in court. It’s now time for the neighbors to step up and support the legal challenges that will be made—all the neighbors, throughout Ramapo.