Withers bending record in Airmont

(Letter appeared  August 17, 2007)

As chairman of the Airmont Planning Board, I take exception to the recent political mailings of District 12 county Legislator Patrick Withers.

Withers, who is running as the incumbent although he only recently was appointed, states that the majority of projects before the Airmont Planning Board are approved. That leads you to conclude that this is evidence that the village has "handed over the keys" to developers and special interests. However, this is far from the truth.

The reason most applications are approved is that the majority of applicants have gone though a long and thorough process, which causes them to adjust and revise their projects to conform to Airmont's strict village zoning codes and to the recommendations of the Planning Board. If an applicant does not, or cannot, comply with these requirements, he or she usually just abandons the project. If an applicant feels that his requests are not going to be approved, he usually only requests a formal vote if he intends to take the matter to court, which has happened on several occasions.

In fact, I am a bit surprised at Mr. Withers' sudden interest in development in Airmont and, in particular, his interest in cell towers. To my knowledge, Mr. Withers has never attended an Airmont Planning Board meeting, including the meetings in 2007, where cell towers were on the agenda.

If Mr. Withers is concerned about overdevelopment, he should focus his attention on the high-density developments that have been built, and are being proposed, in Ramapo.