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Sad Comment on Government |
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YOU HAVE TO READ THIS
RiverheadLocal’s Denise Civiletti, posted an extremely insightful piece about open government: (http://riverheadlocal.com/civiletti/5357-is-open-government-worth-fighting-for). In it she says:
“It increasingly seems to be the expectation of people in government that the people they govern should just butt out and leave things to the powers that be. And when members of the public, ordinary citizens whose interest in what's going on in town hall is derived from wanting to know what's going on in their community and how the face of their community is going to be changed by decisions made in town hall... well, how dare they. Just who do they think they are?
These people, these community activists, should mind their own business and leave the running of this town...this county...this state...this nation... to the pros: the big boys on the playground.
And if they insist on being in the mix, they become the enemy.”
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Lesko's actions tell residents & the Town Board MajorityGo to hell..I'll do what I wantWithout the consent of fellow board members or even any notice to the other members of the Town Board, Supervisor Mark Lesko pushed forward a resolution at the Long Island Central Pine Barrens Commission on Wednesday to advance his clearly rejected Carmans River plan to expand the Core of the LI Pine Barrens. Lesko acted fully apart from and despite the lack of majority or board support for his plan. Additionally, Supervisor Lesko now also appears to have acted contrary to his own vote on April 24th in favor of advancing Resolution 380. Reso 380 provides for a completely new roadmap and process by which the town would act to preserve and protect the Carmans River Watershed without linking those efforts to expansion of the Pine Barrens or TDR's for MF housing. Both residents and Board members also objected strongly to handing over zoning within the Town to Albany. ABCO has learned that all the members of the Pine Barrens Commission unanimously voted to move forward a 'metes and bounds survey' to detail with specificity which lands would be placed into an expanded Core. The cost of such a survey or the source of funding was not discussed by Lesko or the Commission members. All this despite the fact that the State enabling legislation passed last June required Town Board approval of the plan within six months of its enactment; and signature by the Governor last September 23rd. In fact, the Legislation provided that absent such approval by the Town Board the Legislation would expire or sunset six months later or on March 23rd, 2012. Furthermore, sources in the State Senate indicate the support necessary to extend or consider a new bill is not present. Lesko's action seeks to 'pre-empts' local zoning control so NYS can intervene and compel passage of his controversial plan. Thus, allowing NYS to interfere with the basic right of Brookhaven's citizens and duly elected officials to reject the plan designed by special interests assembled by Supervisor Lesko in the fall of 2010. ABCO has also learned that yesterday Study Group Chairmam, Dr. Lee Koppelman, (who actually works for the town board), has now scheduled another closed door meeting of the Supervisor's elitist study group for next Thursday. We respectfully ask that the Town Board act to put an end to the Supervisors shenaigans. We ask that they take affirmative action to restrict the Supervisor from advancing his plan, and regain democractic control over this process. Once again, we ask that the take steps to formally disband the Supervisor's study group and expediously enact ABCO's detailed plan to create a Steering Committee Study Group, staffed by community members, so finally this process can move forward in a democratic, tranparent, above board and legal manner. Lesko moves to 'protect Carmans watershed' Leaving the town board out of the process, Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko has asked the state to extend the Pine Barrens Core to protect the Carmans River watershed. The state Pine Barrens Commission unanimously passed his motion Wednesday, sending the proposal to the State Legislature for consideration. The proposal would extend the mapped boundaries of the Pine Barrens Core to include 3,500 acres in the watershed. If approved, development would be prohibited on those acres and stricter state water quality standards applied to the river. "The Carmans River is a precious state and federal resource and the standards that apply to the Pine Barrens should apply to the expanded core around the Carmans River," Lesko said in a statement. He said later that town board politics and the delay in crafting a new plan compelled him to seek state help. "This is a classic case where we need state pre-emption," Lesko said. "A third of the river flows through a federal preserve. I'm asking the state to pre-empt the local level to protect the river." Plans to protect the ecologically delicate Carmans River, stretching from Middle Island to Bellport, have been the subject of contention among Brookhaven officials. Last month, Lesko withdrew his plan to allow developers to build higher-density housing away from the river in exchange for property in the watershed. Opponents, including board members, feared Lesko's plan would lead to overdevelopment and proposed a new $30 million plan to fund preserving "critical watershed properties" and other waterways in Brookhaven, based on input from town meetings to be held in the next few weeks. Pine Barrens Society executive director Richard Amper, who supported Lesko's plan for the Carmans River, said this move may influence town board members to act faster. "The town board majority has made no showing in the past 18 months that they are moving ahead with a mechanism to protect the Carmans River," Amper said. Councilwoman Connie Kepert blasted Lesko's move, which she said was not communicated to the board and negates the point of the upcoming community meetings. "Apparently, the supervisor is going forward without input from the community," she said. "The big problem for the folks I represent is that this plan takes away their property rights" Kepert said, comparing Lesko's move to "using a hammer where a scalpel will be the appropriate tool."
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Carmans River Input Meetings |
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The following are dates for official Carmans River input and other likely meetings for public input as officials or staff may be present. If we don't help plan it someone else will! Tues. May 15th 7 PM Comsewogue HS at 565 Bicycle Path, Port-Jeff Sta. Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld Wed. May 16th 7 PM Ward Mellville HS at 380 Old Town Rd., East Setauket S. Fiore-Rosenfeld Thurs. May 17th 7 PM Middle Is. Civic Assoc., guest speaker MaryAnn Johnston, Longwood Library Wed. May 23rd 7:30 PM, Main Medford Firehouse, Oregon Ave., just east of Rt. 112 Wed. May 23rd 7: PM B'haven Town Hall, Work session room Yaphank Lakes(Invasives Group) Wed. May 30th 6 PM 1st official Carmans public outreach B'haven Town Hall Sat. June 2nd 1 PM 2nd official Carmans public outreach at B'haven Town Hall |
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Roadmap Carmans River Plan RESOLUTION NUMBER 380 |
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Below is the April 24th Resolution #380: Carmans River Roadmap for the process by which Town will develop a process for gaining SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC INPUT FROM OUR COMMUNITIES ABCO has some significant suggestions that we believe will make the process outlined below work better and result in a dynamic and true community based plan. We will be sharing details with all in the very near future. Just for starters, we beleive a brand new Community Based Steering Committee needs to be established, and procedures must be available to that Committee to provide trustworthy professional assistance beyond the significant expertise already available and demonstrated by each of our communities over the past several months The Steering Committee must have access to all data developed by the original CRWMPP's Technical Advisory Group. The Committee would work cooperatively with town government in order to separately develop and address the elements necessary to preserve the Carmans River Watershed; to separately assess the needs and community impacts of next generation housing, to determine what if any changes to the present Multi-Family Code are warranted , and to then develop appropriate modifications to the current MF Code, and finally to separately determine what steps are necessary, practicable and can be implemented locally to deal with the balance of Pine Barrens Credits remaining unsold and which are applicable to Brookhaven Town. The concept we propose is not a new concept; the same process was implemented quite successfully in Brookhaven before. The Town worked with communities to determine needs, and address planning objectives and concens in devloping the 1996 Master Plan. More than 28 civic groups worked together to achieve the final plan. This is where community based planning once was and we simply must get back to basics in Brookhaven...no more top-down planning for and by special interest groups, but bottom-up solutions developed and crafted by and for our residents. More details for your consideration will be provided shortly... April 24, 2012 RESOLUTION NO. 2012-380 MOVED BY: STEVEN FIORE-ROSENFELD, CONSTANCE KEPERT and DANIEL PANICO DEPARTMENT: Town Council REASON: To provide significant public input to create new Town code amendments that will protect the Carmans River, provide next generation housing, and preserve the integrity of the original State Pine Barrens Protection Act, while insuring private property owner’s rights are upheld. PUBLIC HEARING REQUIRED: NO, but two town-wide public participation meetings with Town Board members shall be held on Wednesday, May 30th starting a 6 pm and Saturday, June, 2nd starting at 1pm at the Town Hall Auditorium. (Which shall be video taped) DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE APPROVAL: YES NODOLLARS INVOLVED:SEQRA REQUIRED: NODETERMINATION MADE: POSITIVE NEGATIVEFEIS/FINDINGS FILED:EXECUTION OF DOCUMENT REQUIRED: RESOLUTION No. 2012-380MEETING OF: April 24, 2012Establishing a road map for significant public input into the creation of a extensively revised Carmans River protection plan, a separate plan concerning a new zoning category to assist our township with creating responsibly located and reasonably priced next generation housing and a separate plan to preserve the integrity of the NYS long island pine barrens protection act of 1993. WHEREAS, the Town Board wishes to commend the Carmans River Study Group and their intensive work on the draft final recommendations and draft plan which they produced, without their volunteer labor over the course of multiple years our township and its Town Board would not be able to take the following bold steps: First, further preserve and protect the Carmans River. Secondly, responsibly create and locate reasonably priced next generation housing; and finally, preserve the integrity of the NYS Long Island Pine Barrens Protection Act of 1993; and WHEREAS, that it has become clear through public comment, discussion and review that the Draft Carmans River Watershed Protection and Management Plan and the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS) as they existed on March 29, 2012, were withdrawn from consideration at the Town Board meeting of March 29, 2012; and WHEREAS, the technical and scientific data contained in the Draft Carmans River Watershed Protection and Management Plan will be examined and utilized to the extent practicable in formulating a new Carmans River Protection Plan; and WHEREAS, the Town Board of the Town of Brookhaven is committed to the goals of preservation set forth in those draft documents but in listening carefully to the public input so far the Town Board believes it is necessary to decouple the issues of protecting the future of the Carmans River from State Pine Barrens core expansion and its required designation of redemption sites for specifically multi-family housing. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Town Board of the Town of Brookhaven that the Town Board will set up a public process for significant citizen input which will include a public participation session for resident’s ideas, concerns and the distribution of information similar to the scoping process of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). The public participation process (similar to a scoping) will occur over the next few months but that two town-wide public participation meetings with Town Board members shall be held on Wednesday, May 30th starting a 6 pm and Saturday, June 2nd starting at 1pm (which shall be v ideo taped) at the Town Hall Auditorium located on the Second Floor, One Independence Hill, Farmingville, N.Y. public notice of which will be published by the Town Clerk at least ten (10) days prior thereto in an official newspaper of the Town designated for such notices. We expect that individual council members may potentially hold their own locally accessible public participation process session(s) (similar to a scoping) within their own council districts prior to the town-wide public participation meetings and add what council members have received or heard from any local public input so far; and it is further RESOLVED that the public participation session will request input on a new Open Space Bond focused on the Carmans River Watershed of an additional amount of between Thirty ($30) and Forty ($40) million dollars of new direct funding by our Town's capital budget. All efforts will be made to ensure this Open Space Bond will not result in a tax increase when compared to the town tax bill of 2011. $30 million of these new Open Space funds will go toward preserving critical watershed properties in the Carmans River Watershed area (within Council District 4) and the remainder to be spread evenly among the remaining five (5) council districts for open space acquisitions to buy additional critical watershed properties primarily focused on preserving clean drinking water and p rotecting important rivers, streams, bays, creeks, salt marshes and other sensitive ecosystems and the properties connected thereto, throughout the town from future pollution or degradation, and be it further RESOLVED that the Town will consider and create a plan that uses up-zoning of property within the Carmans River watershed area (targeting the critical 5 year watershed area) as a means of insuring the water quality goal for the Carmans River of non-degradation, as well as, the protection and preservation of significant habitats within the Carmans River Watershed. This up-zoning will exclude existing working farmland as well as current homes within that critical watershed area, and be it further RESOLVED that the town will work to restore degraded habitats, mitigate storm water runoff, and reduce or eliminate invasive species within the Carmans River watershed, and be it further RESOLVED that the town will take advantage of improved technologies that will significantly reduce the effluent nitrogen concentration produced compared to conventional sanitary systems, and be it further RESOLVED that the Town will consider a new Mixed Use code which encourages development and redevelopment of fully integrated mixed-use sites, to provide for appropriately located next generation housing stock that would be attractive and reasonably priced for young people, and seniors on a fixed income. Such application would provide all the normal change of zone public input processes that exist in our town code, such as proper public notice and a public hearing before the duly elected Town Board consistent with present change of zone procedures, which keeps such decisions before the Town Board and provides for public input, as well as incorporating traditional community based planning with significant public input in determining the appropriate location of such housing. The Town Board will expect and elicit at a minimum input from local Civic Associations, School Districts, and Fire District representatives and other appropriate community organizations. The Town will ensure its compatibility with our previous land use public participation studies such as our comprehensive zoning map/Master Plan, our hamlet studies, corridor studies, Transit Oriented Development studies and would seek to establish real planning criteria such as at or near existing downtown areas, where basic services are readily available such as supermarkets, banking, retail, post offices, and so forth following all best practices in smart growth type pedestrian oriented development. Such new zoning codes would incorporate the best concepts found in both our current J6 Mixed Use commercial/residential Downtown Ma in Street zoning and our MF Multi-family zoning designations. It would also seek to limit the number of bedrooms (including extraneous easy to convert to bedroom spaces) in any residential apartment or condo to no more than two (2) and a maximum story height of three (3) stories, and be it further RESOLVED that in attempting to preserve the integrity of the original Pine Barrens Act of 1993 we would create separate code amendments that would require a minimum amount of redemption of Pine Barrens credits for any down-zoning in our township whether that down-zoning be residential, commercial or industrial. We would require applicants looking for such a down-zoning by the Town Board to purchase with a formula-driven amount of Pine Barren credits, such credits to be derived from properties located within the Town of Brookhaven; to provide a specific amount of local community benefits/enhancements to the locality/council district which would be most impacted by said down-zoning of a property; to require a similar financial contribution into our Town wide Open Space Fund which would result in a replenishing fund for open space acquisitions in our township the burden of which would not be borne by our taxpayers.LEGAL NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to Section 64 of Town Law, a public meeting will be held by the Town Board of the Town of Brookhaven at Brookhaven Town Hall, One Independence Hill, Farmingville, New York, on Wednesday, May 30th starting a 6 pm and Saturday, June 2nd starting at 1pm to discuss the road map to provide significant public input into the creation of an extensively revised Carmans River Protection Plan, a separate plan concerning a new zoning category to assist our Township with creating responsibly located and reasonably priced next generation housing and a separate Plan to Preserve the Integrity of the NYS Long Island Pine Barrens Protection Act of 1993. At said public meeting any persons interested shall be given the opportunity to be heard. Dated: April 24, 2012 Farmingville, New York |
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