 Patrick Farm Sold Out by Supervisor and BoardJanuary 26, 2010 Many who attended the meeting carried printed signs that read Save Patrick Farm. But others had written their own messages comparing the board and supervisor to Tammany Hall, and one warned about the consequences to the local water supply. One sign even offered some free legal advice to the supervisor—it read: "Hush, hush sweet Baile—If you talk CSL Will Go To Jail." But the signs, the shouts, the emails, the personal meetings and messages delivered during the week all seemed to forget one basic truth about this board—they don't represent Ramapo residents. They are the supervisor's board, and last night, everyone in the audience was treated to another sad performance. They stared into space as Attorney Klein rattled on incoherently about the legal issues (he had either turned off his mike or had directed his voice away from it so you couldn't hear what he was saying). Then, when he was done, they all nodded. A unanimous 4-0 vote in favor of the project. A super majority vote was required because the Rockland County Planning Board had rejected the project. Density
The Lebovits/St. Lawrence partnership has recently backed away from the Adult Student Housing designation—perhaps smelling some of the political consequences or legal difficulties defending it (witness the empty ASH project on Grandview Avenue). So now there is a different zone change, a modified Master Plan, a fatally flawed Final Environmental Impact Study—all of which will grant the pol/developer partnership the right to place 500 homes on the property. But that might not be all. According to the supervisor, the builders could apply for village status after all the building is done, and he (St. Lawrence) would certainly not stand in their way (so he explained on his weekly radio show). If that happens, stand back and get ready for Ramapo's version of LeFrac City, without the diversity. Environmental Impact In May 2004, one of the first things the Lebovitses did was to install illegal drainage systems, and they also tampered with the dam on the property. The Army Corps of Engineers cited them for violating Federal waterways and wetlands laws, and the agency issued a cease and desist order. In their defense, the Brooklyn developer explained, We didn't know we needed permits. These are the individuals who will be entrusted to safeguard this critical source of drinking water. United Water has behaved no better in this matter. The company claims they will have no trouble providing additional water for the 2,000 to 5,000 additional residents on the site. Yet this same company, at the same time, has complained to the State that they cannot provide enough water to the people of Rockland County and now must begin processing polluted water from the Hudson River and should be granted permission to build a desalination plant. As to whether the company is concerned about the security of their wells or the flows into the Mahwah—they don't seem bothered at all. None of these issues seemed to matter to St. Lawrence, his board, or the developers. Shouts from the audience of "Listen to Us," fell on deaf ears. Tomorrow we will look at some of the legal issues that will now become part of the story as this approved application moves on to the planning board. Additional images of last night's meeting are available on George Potanovic's website http://www.potanovic.com/100125-PatrickFarmVote , and Geoff Welch has posted, on Picasa, photos of the waterways on the Patrick Farm property at http://picasaweb.google.com/geoffwelch/PartickFarmRain?authkey=Gv1sRgCN_S-7fF_dPjNw&feat=email%23#. Michael Castelluccio
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