Benedict Road - Marion Avenue

Foodtown backstabbing

Years ago the owner of the Foodtown shopping plaza promised to give away the Post Office lease to Foodtown on August 1st, 2011. He didn't consult with the mayor of Cold Spring or any village board when he made that decision. In 2009 he presented plans to expand Foodtown plaza by 3000 square feet and then simply didn't cooperate with the Planning Board or Zoning Board until he'd run out the clock and the lease for the Post Office was handed over to Foodtown. He's known that he could force the village boards to accept his plans for expansion out of fear of losing the Post Office and it's working. 

Last Tuesday the officers of The Benedict Road and Marion Avenue Neighborhood Association presented a workable solution to the Planning Board. It's attached. The board members quickly dismissed our ideas and claimed that our citations of Village Code and The Comprehensive Plan just don't matter in this situation. The chairman of the Planning Board, Joe Barbaro, thinks that the residents of Marion Avenue and Benedict Road should just accept that the Post office has to go in our neighborhood. He acknowledged disliking the plans presented for Foodtown more and more each time he looks at it. He also acknowledged that there is no way to know if the Post Office will remain in Cold Spring in the coming years. Yet, he has decided to recommend that the Village Board reconsider the zoning of the empty lot located at the corner of Marion and Benedict and change it to commercial zoning by decree. He has decided that the residential lot is a best location for the Post Office. He says that Butterfield is no longer a viable alternative for the Post Office because it will take too long for the project to go forward. Joe Barbaro and the other Planning Board members plan to have the Planning Board declared the Lead Agency for shepharding the Foodtown Plan through village government. After attending meetings on proposed Foodtown expansion for 3 years I can tell you the the Planning Board has always followed and never lead.

It's sickening. We've been down this road before. We know how to fight back.

• •I've written a letter-to-the-editor of the PCN&R and Philipstown.info to make our points public. 

• • Tom Campanile wrote a detailed letter to the Village Board. He and I will work together on comments to the Zoning Board of Appeals.

• •Toni Sweet has had a talk with Vinny Tamagna. He believes that Butterfield is the only logical place for the Post Office and that will be the location because negotiations are alive and well. 
• • Kevin Gaugler (he replaced Peter Henderson who is now on the school board) has lined up a meeting with Seth Gallagher to see where he stands.