I agree with Tina that citizens must pay close attention to their public officials and that robust, public, fact-based discussion generally leads to best outcomes.
Ruth consulted the Corporation Counsel on recusal. She was advised that she need not recuse, but should disclose the relationship between C.H.O.P. and Renaissance, which is informal and does not involve exchange of funds. Jan Peek will not be, and never was considering, sharing the Corporate Drive building with Renaissance. C.H.O.P.’s only relationship with Mr. Miller, the former owner of 3 Corporate Drive, is that he is the owner of the building in which C.H.O.P. rents one floor, at market rates. Appearance is a factor to consider, but as in many legal issues, one must look at the situation from the point of view of a rational and prudent person would do/think. I imagine the corporation counsel looked at all the facts and decided no rational and prudent person would think there was a conflict.
The skateboard park is in a separate industrial park on the other side of Highland Ave, not “right next door.”
What definition there is for ‘professional office” can certainly include medical offices. According to the search engine provided with the code on the city website, the word “medical” appears nowhere in the code. The code draws no line between medical office and clinic. Professional offices are permitted in the C2 and C3 commercial districts as well as the M1, 2, 2A, and 3 industrial districts. Given the lack of clear definitions in the code, one could argue that Hudson River Health Care, and possibly all private medical practices have no more or less right to be located in Peekskill than the methadone clinic. As I understand it, the fundamental disagreement between the corporation counsel and the mayor’s attorney is how to interpret this aspect of the code. That is why I expressed the hope that the mayor will take this issue to court, which is the appropriate place to settle such disagreements.
It’s too bad that disagreements with the EAF were not forwarded to the Planning Commission and the Planning Department during the public comment period, which did not end until 10 Oct. It may still be useful to send any thoughts on this aspect of the application to Mayor Foster and the Common Counsel. I urge Tina to do so.
As I stated, the one thing I think we can all agree on is that the best possible scenario is the clinic staying in their little building on the hospital campus (which, by the way, is in Cortlandt, adjacent to a veterinarian practice and very near a nice residential neighborhood). Unfortunately, that seems not to be an option, as the hospital’s spokesman has made quite clear (“The Journal News,” 24 July, page 7A).
Ruth received legal guidance that commission members can be liable for “punitive damages” if they overturned their original decision in the face of the corporation counsel’s opinion that the clinic was an as of right use. Our city’s insurance does not cover punitive damages against city officers.
My Patch profile has always stated that I sit on Peekskill’s Zoning Board of Appeals. This matter never appeared before the ZBA, and is highly unlikely ever to appear before us, as the ZBA’s jurisdiction is quite narrowly defined (see my August post http://peekskill.patch.com/blog_posts/get-the-facts-before-you-complain for a more detailed discussion of the ZBA’s powers and duties).
I'm thinking that it's time to let the courts look at this and decide which lawyers are correct. I assume, and certainly hope, that the city will soon file an Article 78, which is an inexpensive way to pursue an appeal of the Planning Commission's decision. It seems like the only way to get some clarity on this difficult and controversial issue.
Where was this city three years ago when Tiffany & Co. (TIF) was searching for a new manufacturing home, which would employ 300 professional jewelry makers (average starting salary north of $50K). They picked Louisville, KY, btw. That type of job-creation ''bar'' should be the discussion, in my view, which benefits 1) professional job creation, 2) city hall's income, 3) community as a whole because those same professionals could live and spend their cash here, too. TIF is just one example... there are many more.
Phil Miller plays a mean horn. By the way, which one's pink?
This is a joke. Foster, Klaxton, Rigger and all the council approved this clinic coming to Peekskill. Knight's wife was the director of the homeless shelter (and officer in the dem party as Jim himself was) where the clinic operates now to serve the homeless and the owner of the building is a friend and contributor to the dem campaigns. Now, they got caught and are desperate to make it look like they want to fight it. THE PLANNING BOARD DID THEIR BIDDING TO BEGIN WITH! A sitting mayor and council suing their own Planning Board - this has never happened and is a clear sign they know how bad this is hurting their election next year. They are the laughing stock of not only the county but the entire Hudson Valley! Don't be fooled people.
I was not "let go" ny North County News, I resigned. And no, I was niot asked or compelled to resign. Feel free to ask Bruce Apar, publisher and editor, about it. My sense is that the mayor and council do not support locating the clinic in Peekskill. I'm waiting to see if they spend the time, effiort, and money on a court battle. If they do, they're serious. If they do not go forward with this after hiring their own lawyer to make an argument to the Planning Commission, we will have to assume that the lawyer was mere stagecraft. Jim Knight
If you look at the Renaissance Project's audits and 990s, you'll see that that nearly all of their revenue comes from government grants, Medicaid, & Public Assistance. If you look at their statement of functional expenses, more than three-fourths of the money they spend goes to salaries and benefits. Typical mismanaged not-for-profit. It's managed as poorly as Foster runs the City. Simply put, the methadone clinic is less a project to help addicts change their lives than a way to provide plum jobs to loyal Democrats. And that is why the Common Council will do nothing about it. The methadone clinic is about Dem patronage jobs and votes, and not the recovering addicts who deserve our support. Morey is about to leave town, he doesn't care. He's leaving because he won't put his children through Peekskill schools. It doesn't cost him anything to triangulate the issue by giving lip service to stopping it. That's what he & Foster are doing. Triangulating the issue to save face and wash their hands with the dirty water of partisanship. See http://www.charitiesnys.com/RegistrySearch/show_details.jsp?id={87779074-0C43-4291-971C-218EC2C2C919}
Liz is also correct that one of the differentiating factors this time around is the political contributor that is involved, and I might add, with this administration it's not the first time campaign contributors get rewarded and awarded.