Setting the Record Straight
This is a flyer that was sent out by the St. Lawrence campaign. What is true in the copy is that St. Lawrence, Hunter, Friedman, and Yegar are running for office--the rest is false. The copy for the photo on the left is a blatant lie, and the photo on the right is not a photo of the property. And perhaps the biggest problem with this ad is the omission that St. Lawrence, Hunter, and Friedman were asked by hundreds of residents who paid for this open space purchase to formally dedicate it forever as parkland. They refused a month ago, and they still refuse to today. Howard Cohen, a Trustee in the Village of Chestnut Ridge, was offended by the deceptions in this mailing, and he sent the following letter to The Journal News to set the record straight. Here is the full text of that letter: To the Journal News: Every day campaign literature arrives in the mail. One might agree or disagree with the contents on any given day. However, when there is a gross distortion of the facts, I feel obligated to speak out. On October 30th, I received a campaign flyer from Ramapo Town Supervisor St. Lawrence and his Town Council team showing a single family development under construction and a corn field. Under the construction picture is the caption "9 Housing Units ….What could have been in Chestnut Ridge!" Under the picture of the corn field, is the caption "What WE did! Open Space becomes Farmland". This site is on Pinebrook Road . It is zoned R-50 and contains 8 acres. Since Chestnut Ridge does not down zone indiscriminately, the maximum number of single family homes that could be built on this site is six. There is nothing wrong with a small subdivision of this nature. The homes under construction in this picture are shown very close together and not set back from the road sufficiently to be allowed in this zone. In fact, it probably would not even be allowed in our R 25 zone which comprises the majority of the residences in Chestnut Ridge. In addition, the homes appear to all look alike. This too would not be allowed by our Architectural Review Board. Chestnut Ridge does not need the Town of Ramapo to protect our quality of life, nor does the town have authority to do so. I would suggest that the Town Supervisor and his Town Board should concern themselves with protecting the quality of life in Ramapo and leave the protection of Chestnut Ridge’s quality of life to our Mayor Kobre and my fellow Trustees. Over the years, we have demonstrated "Leadership That’s Working". Howard Cohen
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