At the October 7 monthly meeting of the Philipstown Town Board (see related article), the Board members dealt with a request by Schwartzberg Associates for the Board to "defer its review and take no further action at this time on the recently resubmitted application and Draft Environmental Impact Statement."
In a letter to the Town Board dated October 6, Schwartzberg Associates’ lawyer Chip Place acknowledged that the Board’s "serious concerns" regarding the Point Lookout Planned Development District would require a "complete reevaluation" of the plan by Schwartzberg Associates and its design team. The letter states that "[Schwartzberg Associates] indefinitely waives the Town Board’s time to review the current resubmitted draft DEIS." The letter also requests that questions about the need for additional scoping be deferred, pending a possible resubmission of Schwartzberg Associates’ application.
Addressing this request at the meeting, the Town Board’s counsel, Jennifer van Tuyl, offered that there would be "no harm to the Town by refraining from acting," but advised that it would be "precipitous" for the Board to take action on the submitted DEIS at this time. "The Town Board doesn’t lose any options, and is not boxing itself in by reserving the right to act," explained Ms. van Tuyl. She added that Schwartzberg Associates’ request to review its plans was "not unusual in light of the basic concerns of the Town Board." Ms. van Tuyl also read a letter from Blakely Platt, attorneys for the Capuchins, who currently own the proposed Point Lookout site. The letter asks the Town Board to not throw out the Point Lookout application at this point, and requests that Schwartzberg Associates be given the chance to address the Town’s concerns.
Some residents expressed concern that Schwartzberg Associates might resubmit designs several times, tying up the Town’s time and resources, and exhausting the funds for review provided by the $96,000 application fee. Supervisor Mazzuca responded that the Town Board has already "‘spent a lot of time’ on the application," and "needs to see something the Town and area residents can live with." He added that the Town was "not anywhere near" depleting the application fee. At the previous evening’s weekly Town Board meeting, Board members had spoken more forcefully about this issue. When Councilman Engelbride speculated that Schwartzberg Associates might present their plans "two or three more times" to the Board, the Supervisor responded, "[Schwartzberg Associates] might want that, but not the Town Board." Added Councilman Al Hosmer, "I don’t want to listen to it three or four more times - I’m done." Councilman Merante agreed, saying "[Schwartzberg] has got to fish or cut bait." At the October 7 meeting, however, Supervisor Mazzuca did not want to set a limit on the number of times Schwartzberg Associates might be allowed to resubmit its plans. Mr. Mazzuca said he did not feel that the application to date had taken an unreasonable amount of time, noting that the project was only officially submitted to the Town in March of this year.
Ms. van Tuyl advised the Board that setting a time limit for Schwartzberg Associates’ response, as requested by one resident, would give the firm a "claim of right" that it should not have. She also dismissed concerns related to any effect the Town Board’s actions might have on either the sale of the property by the Capuchins to Schwartzberg Associates, or the emergence of a possible alternative buyer for the site. "Contractural property and zoning issues are two separate things," said Ms. van Tuyl. "It is not accurate to say the Town Board’s action would influence the property transaction," she said, adding, "The Board’s main concern is review [of the application]."
Town Planner Tim Miller offered, "It is still possible that this developer will propose an appropriate reuse of a large institutional building." He said that such a use could result in positive tax impact for the Town, and added, "I think [keeping] an open mind on the part of the Town Board is the right thing to do."
One resident asked point blank, "If Schwartzberg Associates has shown no inclination to work with the Town Board, why keep at it?" Supervisor Mazzuca replied, "If Schwartzberg Associates makes a bona fide effort to act on the Town Board’s and residents’ concerns, I’m willing to give them the opportunity." He made it clear, however, that Schwartzberg Associates needs to make a substantial effort at redesign, or the firm may find itself out of luck in Philipstown. "The Board is at a point of either put up or shut up," warned the Supervisor.
Ms. van Tuyl clarified that the Town Board could, at any time during the process, dismiss the PDD application without a public hearing, as provided for in the local law passed by the Town Board in May. Supervisor Mazzuca had stated in a previous meeting that he was not sure whether the Point Lookout PDD application was too far along for this law to apply.
In the end, the Board decided to not take any action on the PDD application or the DEIS at the present time. This decision was opposed by Councilman Engelbride, who said, "I feel that [Schwartzberg Associates’] second submission was not complete, and would reject it, and act to not accept the DEIS."
