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Town Board is Vigilant and Responsible
To the Editor:
After watching the October 5 Town Board meeting on the public access channel, I have to give credit where it is due: our Town Board deserves our support and praise for the way they handled themselves during that meeting.
I live near the development on Foundry Pond Road and often drive by it to check on its progress. My friends and neighbors who are threatened there are extremely concerned, so I was curious to see how the October 5 meeting would proceed.
What I saw on TV was our Board members listening to folks in the community talk about their concerns. It was very clear to me that no one: community members or the Town Board, is happy about the possibility of four houses being crammed on to a site that can only accommodate three.
Ninety minutes of dialogue ranged from well thought out questions to politically motivated histrionics, which only drove the important work at hand off track. Even with the distractions, it's very clear that Supervisor Mazzuca and the Board Members understood the Foundry Pond issue, and were determined to do the right thing. The Board responded thoughtfully to the questions, and then presented a carefully considered plan of action.
As I understood it, the plan involves denying the fourth lot based on sound advice from the Putnam County Director of Real Property Services in tandem with the enforcement of our local zoning regulations.
Isn't that how local government is supposed to work?
An unscrupulous, and overreaching developer tries to compromise a sensitive area, but the surrounding neighbors are vigilant, and take their case to the Town Board. The Town Board responds to their constituents, and uses the tools available to them to prohibit the developer from proceeding.
The Foundry Pond issue is probably far from over, and in my opinion it never should have gotten this far, but it is a good model to watch because it is the kind of development nobody who lives and votes in Philipstown wants to see. Please offer all the support you can to the folks on Foundry Pond Road because their fight is your fight too… and be glad that Supervisor Mazzuca and the Town Board have got our backs.
Jim Lovell Cold Spring
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