WHAT
Public Hearing on Application for Final Subdivision Approval for 88 lots (two lots are MR-8 for 314 Market Rate Townhouses and 72 Workforce Flats AND Patrick Farm Volunteer Housing – 24)
WHEN
Wednesday January 20, 2013 – 8:00 pm
WHERE
Ramapo Town Hall – 237 Route 59, Suffern NY
We don’t even have a public notice to share as the notices seem to be non-existent!
No this is not a mistake. Yes we know that the Town of Ramapo approved the Final Subdivision Plan on 12/27/2011. (Note: ROSA has not been able to get the updated Final Subdivision Plans but we have been assured that it is substantially the same.)
When ROSA filed an Article 78 against the December 27, 2011 Final Subdivision, Final Site Plan for Condominiums and Final Site Plan for Volunteer Housing, Judge Walsh ruled in our favor with respect to the town not having done an architectural review. After we won this case on 9/11/2012 the applicant tried to sneak in an amendment to the “approved” Final Subdivision Plan to allow for an easement from Route 202 to the single family home section of the subdivision where the driveway to the horse farm currently is located. The neighbors on Prosperity Drive had a reasonable expectation that this driveway would become defunct after the development and this access road was not part of the SEQR study. ROSA filed another small Article 78.
Well it would seem that the developer and the town are finally recognizing that we might prevail in this still open case and in “an abundance of caution” they are refiling their subdivision approval because they just can’t wait to start building.
Of course this meeting comes on the heels of two CDRC meetings (one on March 6th and the other on March 20th) where the town reviewed the barely changed plans in a hurry so that they can claim that all is well and good.
But this is a new application and so we need to restate all the same arguments made in 2011 and then some.
So what does this mean? It means that they are relying on us to not be paying attention and to not prepare for this meeting. Well all the same issues still apply plus there is the new information that we uncovered about the lack of federal review of the DEIS and lack of an ACOE Jurisdictional Determination. So now they are going to stop lying about having a JD and they are going to argue that they don’t need a JD.
Here are just some of the the points still being argued…
Wetlands: They still need to confirm the wetlands on the property. This has become a heated dispute. The original DEIS scoping document and the DEIS itself stated the application needed a jurisdictional determination. They completely misrepresented a legal opinion letter as a JD and the town overrode the county’s GML requirement that they get a JD. Worse than that the Army Corps of Engineers never even saw the DEIS and never commented on it at all. This is fundamental not just because its a procedural failing but because there are unmapped wetlands on the property and this relates to drainage calculation and permit requirements. Their plans will fill in the wetlands around the pond and they are trying to get away with it. This will of course remain a major speaking point.
Water quality concerns: There are still a lack of buffers between stormwater basins and the streams on the property which feed the Ramapo Valley Aquifer. And the subdivision plan still includes the mass clearing of trees and earth moving on top of the mantle over groundwaters that feed our sole source aquifer. This is still an open issue.
Visual impact: The Scenic Road District law states clearly that that they can’t clearcut 20,000 sq. ft of contiguous trees anywhere along Rt 202 and Rt 306 and yet they plan to. This is a concern voiced by every ROSA supporter. Everyone needs to make the point that they travel the boundaries of the Patrick Farm and fully expect to clearly see this development and the extensive tree clearing as well as the multi-family homes. You need to voice your concern to the planning board along with your neighbors including your concern over the expected loss of home value if this occurs as planned.
Driveway Easement from Rt 202 to Patrick Farm: They tried to sneak this in by burying this “minor” amendment to the Final Subdivision Plan on 9.11.2012. Well now they are just throwing it in there with the rest of the changes requested by the drainage agency. It wasn’t part of the DEIS and it is not appropriate as any official car path or walking path as there are no sidewalks along Rt 202. The developer refuses to explain the intended use and it is something that was absolutely not part of the original plan.
Pipeline: Even though this is just the subdivsion the pipeline issue is still applicable. Because of the multi-density nature of the property there will be a lot of earth moving in the vicinity of the pipeline and even the single family homes will include the pipeline easements running through their front yards. This is a still a very valid issue and it wasn’t properly addressed in SEQR.
Architectural Review: The town law allows for architectural review after final subdivision approval but before building permits; this is subject to permission from the planning board. Because of the role that the single family homes play with respect to buffering the community from the multi-family buildings it is a reasonable to ask the planning board to require the ARB before any final approvals and to require the developer to do a visual impact assessment with mock-up to clearly demonstrate what the site looks like now and what it will look like afterward. It is reasonable to tell them that you have no faith in the planning to date or the minimal mockups done in the DEIS.
This is just a quick update. There are more points to cover.
Please come and join us at the Town of Ramapo town hall at 8:00.