Will St. Lawrence’s $40,000,000 Scam Destroy RamapoHelp Preserve Ramapo Stop It
Now February 1, 2010 Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence has invested about $40 million in land that he claims is for "open space." And it now costs Ramapo’s taxpayers more than $10 million a year, to pay off the bonds that have been issued for these purchases. But what are his real plans for this land? We believe that St. Lawrence will hold on to this land only until his developer friends decide they need it to build more apartment houses. He will then sell it to them for a fraction of what it is actually worth. It is hard to believe, but this scam is legal. St. Lawrence’s modus operandi is obvious to anyone who can take the time to connect the dots. First, take a look at the resolutions the town passed when it authorized the purchase of this land. These resolutions authorize the purchase for "open space and other municipal purposes." It looks to us like the primary "municipal purpose" will be to enrich his close political supporters who are also developers. Exhibit number one is St. Lawrence’s attempt to sell the Tilcon quarry. When St. Lawrence first accepted the Tilcon quarry from its owners he told us it was for open space. Most of it is beautiful forested land. Then he agreed to sell it to influential developers for 4.4 million dollars. The excuse was that the developer would invest about $2 million in flood abatement. But the developer has announced that he hopes to build almost 500 town houses. At $100,000 a unit for land, it looks like this the land is really worth at least $50 million. Preserve Ramapo tried to challenge this purchase in civil court. The court argued that we hadn’t shown the sale was fraudulent. And it was true, there was a public auction announced with a tiny ad in an obscure publication. The court also argued that the sale was not a "waste." And this was also true because this huge giveaway was sweetened by the builder’s commitment to build a 2 million dollar flood abatement system. The fact that St. Lawrence is trying to sell this land for perhaps a tenth of what it is actually worth was not considered relevant by the court! Exhibit number two is Patrick Farm. Much of this 208-acre site is environmentally fragile wetlands. When this land was first purchased, building was limited to one home on each two acres of land. Given environmental restrictions perhaps 40 homes could have been built. Neighbors did not trust St. Lawrence and tried to create a new village incorporating Patrick Farm into the village of Ladentown. After a long legal battle, St. Lawrence defeated them in court. Unfortunately, their fears were well-founded. Today St. Lawrence wants to allow the construction of close to 500 housing units on this magnificent open space. So Ramapo is giving the developer permission to increase the building density on Patrick Farm by more than ten times what it was when it was originally purchased. St. Lawrence has also declared that he would have no objection if a new village were created after construction on top of this critical aquifer has been completed. If this village is created it will control its own zoning and be able to approve even more building. When St. Lawrence was asked why he had opposed the folks who wanted to create the village of Ladentown, he replied that the Ladentown folks hadn’t gone about it the right way! Thanks once again to St. Lawrence’s generosity, the politically powerful developers of this magnificent property can now look forward to a profit of tens of millions of dollars on their initial investment of only $7.5 million. When an open space that is as environmentally sensitive and as important a source of ground water as Patrick Farm is, can be destroyed, it's clear that anything can be built in Ramapo. If this seems like an extreme statement, consider exhibit three, the huge chicken slaughterhouse that St. Lawrence’s allies want to build in New Square. He has already endorsed this environmental disaster as a "state of the art facility" that is a "wonderful economic opportunity" for the residents of New Square. As open space is destroyed, and as homeowners are driven out of Ramapo by the spread of what may well become slum housing, there will come a time when local real estate taxes cannot adequately support community services. At that point, the decline becomes a death spiral. I have been told by local real estate agents that even the value of homes in the Ramapo Central School District have been affected by St. Lawrence’s attack upon responsible land use. This suggests that the destruction of our community is well under way. St. Lawrence must be stopped now. If you want to remain in Ramapo or even if you simply want to protect the value of your home, you must support our lawsuit to save Patrick Farm. Your contribution of at least $100 will help Preserve Ramapo defend our community. While smaller contributions, will, of course, be accepted, don’t fool yourself. Only a serious commitment by thousands of Ramapo homeowners can provide the funds we need. Contributions can be sent via PayPal listed at the top of our home page, or by check to Box 325, Suffern, N.Y. 10901. Robert I. Rhodes, Chairman, Preserve
Ramapo
[If you would like to be put on
our list of those who receive regular news updates, please send your
email address to pr.webmaster@gmail.com]
|