CarmelResident.org Message Board - Welcome to the Carmel Twilight Zone

Jerry_Ravnitzky

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Welcome to the Carmel Twilight Zone
07/29/10 at 20:01:23

I attended part of the Planning Board meeting last night to witness the public hearing on the MBS Holdings proposal for a commercial building on Route 6 in Mahopac. This was of interest to me because I had heard that considerable blasting, involving explosives, would be needed to accomplish this project.

When comments from the public were allowed, I asked if the applicant had received a blasting permit as required under provisions of the Town Code (Chapter 95-30). I noted that the Chief Fire Inspector is required to be involved in this process but the Town of Carmel has not had a Chief Fire Inspector for many years. In addition, there had been no blasting permits issued for at least 20 years, according to information I received from the Building Department, but blasting has been allowed by the Town of Carmel for a number of projects.

I concluded my comments to the Planning Board by asking if that board would abide by the law this time since they allowed illegal blasting in the past. I was shocked by the response of Harold Gary, long-time chairman of the Planning Board, who said it was not the job of the Planning Board to enforce that provision, and that it was up to the Zoning Board of Appeals to issue a variance. To me, that amounts to complicit and tacit endorsement on the part of the Planning Board.

At the end of the hearing, I was even more shocked by Mr. Gary’s comments. He referred to comments by a woman who is a neighbor of the MBS project. She said she was concerned about possible damage to her property from blasting at that site. Mr. Gary had the temerity to claim that the Planning Board would certainly not approve a project that could result in damage to anyone’s property. Has he forgotten the three years of horrific blasting next to Lori Kemp’s home? That project had been approved by the Planning Board and the Town Council. Ms. Kemp has suffered greatly yet has not even received an apology from the town.

I wonder if approval for The Retreat development, the one that resulted in severe damage to Lori Kemp’s home and subsequent harassment of her personally, was due to the applicant being Paul Camarda, famed as being able to convince Town of Carmel officials to approve all his projects. I agree with the viewpoint of another speaker at the hearing that The Retreat is a blight upon the community.

Some time ago, after more than 300 blasts at the Retreat property without a permit, I asked Town Supervisor Ken Schmitt to order that all blasting be halted and that violations be issued for any illegal blasting. He turned a deaf ear to this request. Instead, he said that the builder, Pulte Homes, had informed him that blasting was completed. Almost immediately after that, there was another blast. I realize that approval for this project preceded Mr. Schmitt taking office and he had not participated in the “illegal meeting” that occurred when the four then council members and some County officials met with Mr. Camarda and the proposed builder of a hotel. The Town supervisor may again publicly chastise me for asking pertinent questions and for speaking the truth but, as he said recently, “I stand by my comments”.

I care about this town and I’d like to see its laws applied equally rather than favoring well heeled out-of-state developers. To borrow an idea from George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”, “All people are equal, but some people are more equal than others.” I believe that some politicians are honest but I’d like to know that all elected officials are truly concerned about the interests of the residents. I expect to continue to speak out.

Jerry Ravnitzky

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« Last Edit: 07/30/10 at 22:00:26 by Jerry_Ravnitzky »

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Stan Babiarz CRMB Full Member Offline Posts: 195 Mahopac Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Carmel Twilight Zone Reply #1 - 07/29/10 at 20:40:40 Thank you Jerry.
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Ann_Fanizzi

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Re: Welcome to the Carmel Twilight Zone
Reply #2 - 07/30/10 at 04:54:34

Wednesday night's meeting at the Planning Board again raised the specter of a town bereft of the most elementary protections: steep slopes, vistas, tree preservation and residents' health, quality of life and property. (Tune in on Channel 95)

A proposed 17,000 sq. ft., two-story retail/office project under the title of MBS Holdings, situated off Rte 6, on sheer rock faced, forested slopes - 70% of whom are over 15% grade - bears all the hallmarks of a development that begs for stringent ordinances, strictly applied. The challenging terrain will have to be blasted and deforested of its 244 hardwood trees, subjecting the residents living on Ellen, Mary and Buckshollow Rd to daily noise, dirt and airborne particulate matter and denying them buffer of trees from the traffic of Rte 6 and truck traffic to haul 29,000 cubic yards of dirt. On Tuesday, I wrote a letter on behalf of the Coalition apprising them of the meeting and urging their attendance on Wednesday.

Since the ZBA denied the applicant's request to reduce the parking spaces for the project from 100 to 85, they conceived of the creative solution to locate some of the parking area on the roof. Yes, I wrote, roof. If that weren't enough, for the project to be approved, they must hook up to an out of district water and sewer line. You guessed it more capacity for Sewer District 2. It doesn't end there. DOT will have to approve their traffic configuration from Rte 6 into the development. Try making a left at your peril.

And this is not the only project in a mile-stretch of Rte 6. There is the Alcatraz rock pile, a blight on Rte 6, that for two years neither blasting nor pneumatic drills have made a dent, even though the Chairman of the Planning Board in February of this year, as a condition of their re-approval, warned that they had to complete their work by June. Of what year, Mr. Gary?

And let me not go into the proposed hotel project connected to Villa Barone, which has been held over by the ZBA with so many requested variances, that you might as well shred the code book.

So while the Town Board officials and Supervisor Schmitt are immersed in barking dogs and garbage contractors, the Town of Carmel is literally being blasted to smitherins. By the way, when I pointed to the wreckage of Camarda's senior project to Burt Houseworth, IDA Chair and Camarda cheerleader, his off-hand remark was "Well nobody likes that." And nobody is taking responsibility. Nobody is being held accountable. Shrugs all around.

What a blast living in Carmel!!! Grin

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Stan Babiarz CRMB Full Member Offline Posts: 195 Mahopac Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Carmel Twilight Zone Reply #3 - 08/04/10 at 14:10:21 Ann, This is not Alcatraz. This is the Quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel... for sale
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Ann_Fanizzi

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Re: Welcome to the Carmel Twilight Zone
Reply #4 - 08/05/10 at 06:10:48

Stan is referring to Hilltop Properties on Rte 6 in the vicinity of Villa Barone. Together with another resident, I sued the Planning Board over this development. And why? The Planning Board Chairman summarily rescinded the need for a Public Hearing, stating that nothing new had been added. Wrong. I had submitted a letter together with 22 pages of the Greenburgh Blasting Code and was preparing another letter outlining the possibility that the applicant was conducting a mining operation and that the PB should take appropriate action i. e. get in touch with the DEC who has oversight over "mining operations."

Reports from residents and personal observation had convinced me that perhaps I was correct. But the Chair foreclosed any further discussion and the court did not agree that a public hearing was necessary. So there you have it. Is this matter under the purview of the Building inspector? Who is responsible for the eyesore and the continuing quarrying? Roll Eyes

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Stan Babiarz CRMB Full Member Offline Posts: 195 Mahopac Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Carmel Twilight Zone Reply #5 - 08/12/10 at 08:21:33 Councilman Anthony, thanks for discussion regarding amending the Town of Carmel Blasting Ordinance and consider amending Chapter 95 of the Town Code (re. garbage)
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Ann_Fanizzi CRMB Almighty Contributor Offline Posts: 595	Re: Welcome to the Carmel Twilight Zone Reply #6 - 08/12/10 at 08:35:49 hi Stan - Catholics beleve in death bed conversions. I guess we saw one take place last night.
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Stan Babiarz CRMB Full Member Offline Posts: 195 Mahopac Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Carmel Twilight Zone Reply #7 - 08/12/10 at 10:11:18 Just one more question: why the town and planning boards are schedule simultaneously?
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Jerry_Ravnitzky

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Re: Welcome to the Carmel Twilight Zone
Reply #8 - 08/12/10 at 13:00:09

The town board and planning board have been meeting at the same time for many years. I have been complaining about that for years and the town board had always ignored my complaints. Finally, I was told by Suzi McDonough that, starting next year, they will not meet at the same time. Apparently, there are enough TB members who will vote for that.

The proposal to finally establish a blasting ordinance arose out of the Zoning Compliance Committee, chaired by Anthony DiCarlo, and of which I am a member. I raised that topic at a committee meeting, stating that a committee concerned with zoning compliance should be discussing the illegal blasting that had gone on for years in the town, with the town board, the planning board, and the zoning compliance officer aiding and abetting the illegal activity. DiCarlo agreed to put the topic on the TB work session agenda and indicated that he would support it. It is my impression that the current town board members now recognize that the previous TB made a strategic error (as well as a political error) when they succumbed to the pressure from Paul Camarda to reject a blasting ordinance that would protect the public. Their silly excuses when refusing to pass such an ordinance might have been amusing if it had not had such a horrific impact on the home and health of Lori Kemp. They were willing to sacrifice a town resident to satisfy the greed of an out-of-state developer.

I believe that the slow but positive progress now being made in Carmel supports the idea that we the people have the power to right the wrongs of our political system, if only we choose to use that power.

It has taken years to get some action on the establishment of a blasting ordinance, and I hope the process moves forward quickly.

As for the proposal to get lower rates for garbage collection in the town, that recommendation also came out of the same committee. Mike Barile, another member of that committee, argued for town-wide garbage collection to be put on the agenda, and DiCarlo and the committee agreed. At last night's town board work session, I said that the new garbage proposal overcomes every objection raised by the three dissenting TB members a couple of weeks ago. I asked why the town board would want our residents to pay 50% more for garbage collection than the residents of Southeast who also get bulk pick-ups twice a year. That new garbage proposal is supported by a very large percentage of town residents. I was not alone in stating that the TB should be looking out for the interests of the residents rather than the interests of the carters.

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Ann_Fanizzi

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Re: Welcome to the Carmel Twilight Zone
Reply #9 - 08/13/10 at 05:36:30

"Positive progress" says Jerry re: blasting code enactment. Well, I am not so generous. I know what it took to arrive at this juncture and certainly Lori Kemp knows. And I am somewhat skeptical as to how long this "progress" will last beyond the election cycle.

The present Board is now attempting to undo the decade-long evasion of responsibility and accountability. What this Board must undo is the special interest culture that has permeated the political climate of Carmel to the detriment of its citizens and has made a desert of its landscape.

On a daily basis, looking up at the wreckage on the slopes of Carmel, I am reminded that the elected representatives of the people, responsible to them and their appointees, the Planning Board, succumbed to the rule of the powerful rather than the rule of the individual; that they subjected an individual, a long-time resident of the town and her property to bombardment and personal embarrassment.

Ignoring litigation, videos, letters to the editor and appearances before these Boards, they nevertheless went forward with zoning code changes, literally paving the way so that an out of county developer, could make his fortune. Betrayal on a grand scale for $30 million.

Nor were the courts any more obliging. Arguing that the intensity and density of residential development (321 units) presented different dynamics than commercial, Coalition and CWCWC attorney Jim Bacon sought a re-examination of the entire Carmel Senior Center (aka The Retreat). What if, we had prevailed?

Absent favorable court decisions, we embarked on a strategy of mitigation - vigorously advocating for a blasting code and greater scrutiny by regulatory agencies, principally DEP and town building department. One-hundred fifty (150), inspections later by the DEP confirmed our initial assesment that soil instability would undermine foundations and lead to erosion.

We now are confronted with several projects - Hilltop Properties (litigated), MBS Development and the Villa Barone Hotel on Rte 6 that will challenge this Board and it is this Board that will be held responsible and accountable for the consequences of their decisions.

As I stated in my letter yesterday to Supervisor Schmitt, the enactment of a blasting code is but a first step. A blasting code simply concedes that the slopes of Carmel are ripe for predatory developers. So I included a steep slope protection code from Ossning, one of many enacted by towns that prize their vistas and understand that the aesthetics of a town plays a major role in making the town attractive to its residents and to businesses that might locate there.

Time will tell whether indeed we will see "progress," real progress and not just veneer.

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