Planning Public Hearing: Wed, Oct 8 at 7pm
YOU are needed!
The casino
developers want to fast track the environmental review process. The time problem
is of their own making. They should
have started this five months ago. Instead, they were busy mailing out promotional flyers and having
back room meetings trying to limit public input.
Please show up Wed, Oct 8 at 7pm at Columbia High School.
The tremendous impact that this project
would have on our town is too great to rush the process. Here are just a few concerns:
· Fiscal. The casino developer’s fiscal impact analysis makes conclusions that are vastly inconsistent with the findings of NY State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and several bond rating agencies. We request that the Planning Board as Lead Agency arrange for an independent analysis of the applicant’s study.
·
Social. The developer's applications, both to the Town and to the State, gloss-over the social
impacts and costs of problem
gambling. The Planning Board must require
rigrorous and thorough
descriptions of social
and related economic impacts, and mitigations.
·
Unavoidable Adverse Impacts. The final scope of review should require full disclosure of unavoidable adverse impacts, as documented by impartial sources
NOT connected to the gaming industry. Such impacts should at minimum
include, noise, light trespass, effect on businesses and homes on Route 4 due to road widening, compulsive gamblers who cannot be effectively treated, and closure of existing businesses.
Tell a friend. Call
a neighbor. Our town needs
you to know the facts.
Show up Wed, Oct 8. 7pm. Columbia High School.
www.SaveEastGreenbush.com
It was Langley who said out loud that this process would only take a few months...very telling! Mrs. Matters replied, "I hope it takes more like a year!" He has no regard for the town he's lived in ALL HIS LIFE! He just wants to get his hands on the MONEY! Come on 10/8. Bring family and friends. Raise your voices and raise the roof. Tell the Planning Board the negative impacts the casino will have on our small, family community. Tell them no way! Not here! Not ever!
ReplyDeleteI will be there! This site is so ridiculous. If it gets sited in East Greenbush it was decided before this fight ever began. So Andrewwhat do you have to say about your relationship with Feathers?
ReplyDeleteIt is a real dumb place, isn't it? Some other stuff had to be operating than a clean site selection. And the Town administration rolled over without asking any questions. So much for "brains" in the truck.
DeleteIt's frightening to think about some of the people who are running our town. These are people who don't have even a basic understanding of how a municipality is run, nor do they want to, but they are calling the shots and making decisions that will effect and change the very essence of the town forever. I keep wondering when this casino license nightmare will end. I want to wake up, have a good stretch, and say "aww, it was just a bad dream. We're okay.' But we're not okay are we? There are weeks to go before we find out if we are the chosen ones. In the meantime, Mr. Langley will keep the town in the same holding pattern it's been in since April. No word on the audits, on the finances, on the junk bond status, on the ambulance district, on personal services vis-a-vi our standing with civil service, on the sewer upgrade, etc, etc, etc. Just those silly supervisor's reports that sound like we're living in Pleasantville under Langley's leadership. Not so. Secrecy abounds as Mr. Langley spends his days reading blogs and trying to figure out who's for him and who's against him. His bad ass hombres are keeping their ears to the ground listening for the slightest vibration of trouble. But most disturbing is their commitment to ignoring anything or anyone they don't want to acknowledge as a problem, unless you happen to be Councilperson Matters, then you get your very own utterly disgusting and infantile smear blog that seems to be going strong 24/7. Why? What's the point of it? So much energy put into trashing one of their own instead of trying to fix the problem, which would yield them so much more. You had it, Mr. Langley, a great team, and you squandered it.
ReplyDeleteFACT: OUR TOWN IS IN A LEADERSHIP CRISIS!
We can only hope and pray that we pull through casinogate without being saddled with an embarrassment of a gambling complex that will serve as nothing more than a monument to the worst supervisor/administration in the history of the town.
Very disappointing, Mr. Langley.
I voted for you but I am very disappointed indeed.
Very astute comment, my friend!! I only wish that Langley and DeFruscio could understand what you have written. What could have been a very successful administration has turned into a disaster, with the specter of Feathers calling the shots on public policy in the future. Talk about a "company town." Langley could have had people around him who would have raised questions before he got himself into trouble. But he and DeF wanted a cheering section, not good counsel. Now he can live with it.
DeleteJust wait until "Casinogate" evolves into "Langleygate." Particularly if the NYS Attorney General's Public Integrity Bureau travels to Town Hall.
DeleteThey don't read, Anony......
ReplyDeleteThe scrutiny will soon be on the zoning and planning boards and they will have to answer for their interpretation. The problem is, if they decide this thing to benefit this project, almost in a vacuum, they have to understand the dangerous precedent it sets for zoning throughout the town. If you can rezone or relax the standards in a residential buffer area for a full blown commercial enterprise, arguably bigger than anything that will come after it, what CAN'T be accomplished later on. It's not what we can predict today that is the problem, it's the things we can't fathom happening, like a casino. The zoning and planning laws are there to protect us all. The developers made an error in judgement selecting a site that wasn't properly zoned. Not the residents problem and every zoning board member will be hauled into court to defend their vote and discuss with whom they have discussed this topic. For a couple of bucks a meeting is it really worth that kind of scrutiny?
ReplyDeleteIn the Question and Answer sessions held for the developers, the very issue which is before the Zoning Board of Appeals was addressed. The answer of the Gaming Commission is very clear, and should put to rest the dubious argument which Capital View is trying to make. Capital View is trying to say that because the Request for Applications stated that "amenities" had to accompany the gaming activity, the "amenities" also benefited from the exemption from local zoning law that gaming enjoys. Here's the question asked and the answer provided by the Gaming Commission. The Zoning Board should pay attention to this one:
ReplyDelete"Q.327. Do the preemption provisions of N.Y. Racing Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law Article 13 extend beyond the "gaming floor"? Because the statute requires at least one hotel and other facilities, it is not clear why preemption doesn't extend beyond gaming activities.
A.327. See N.Y. Racing Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law § 1366 and the answer to Question 184.
The preemption of local zoning and land use under N.Y. Racing Pari Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law § 1366 applies only to conduct of gaming as a permitted use or approved activity for the Project Site. N.Y. Racing Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law § 1366 does not preempt local zoning and land use regulation as to non-gaming activities and permitted uses of a proposed Gaming Facility."
The answer that our tow n's ZBA seeks seems pretty well answered in the 11:17 posting. I can not see what they have to interpret.
DeleteIt's clear that the amenities attached to the casino are not covered in the zoning override contained in the Gaming Act but on the casino issue it seems like all the developers have to do is fake an answer and they'll get what they want. Tom West's statement that only approving the gaming floor is absurd because that would mean you'd have a gaming floor without walls and a roof was an insult to our intelligence. There is an obvious difference between integral features of a gaming area and hotels, restaurants, spas, shopping space, etc. As Jeff Meyer pointed out in his letter, the requirement for these amenities is in the Request for Applications (RFA) and whereas the Gaming Act as State law can override local zoning, an RFA has no such statutory power.
ReplyDeleteHaving said this, it seems to me our Zoning and Planning Boards will grant all the necessary approvals for this project. I don't mean this as a criticism but I don't think they'll have the massive collective courage required to buck the money and power interests behind this project. But before everyone jumps on the litigation bandwagon, our best chance is still not being selected as a site for a casino. The zoning and planning boards are adjuncts of the town board and, as such, they've already been compromised. But this community said 'No' to this monstrosity and that's still the best weapon we have.
People are looking at the planning and zoning reviews from a legalistic perspective because there are clear and critical legal issues involved. But people need to attend the planning and zoning board meetings as part of an on-going, sustained commitment to community opposition. So even if the technical nuances aren't clear or don't interest you, please come to the meetings to stand with your neighbors against this thing. We've come this far together and we need to push through to the finish line which, hopefully, will be the day the announcement is made that we're not getting a casino.
It seems contradictory of Supervisor Langley to present a budget with a zero increase (and make no mistake I am in favor of a zero increase) and then support and encourage a casino in EG when one of the conditions of a casino is economic need. Based on Supervisor Keith's own budget, EG can get along, not cut services, with a ZERO tax increase so why the need for a casino?
ReplyDeleteIt seems Supervisor Keith seems to be a closet SEG person because even HE doesn't see EG as in financial need of a casino.
If I am mistaken on my reasoning, someone please explain.
You've overlooked the distinct possibility that Supervisor Langley has absolutely no idea what he's doing.
DeleteFurthermore, he's a walking contradiction.
No casino up there. It's a much better place for low income apartments. Guess what's next
ReplyDeleteGot to really start keeping an eye on the Planning Board.
DeleteWhat about PB member recusals? They can't all be squeaky clean? They almost all have the stink of CASINOGATE on them in one form or another. And what about Phil Danaher? How can he serve as a legislator who voted "aye" in support of a casino siting in Rensselaer County and then also function as the Planning Board Attorney? Doesn't his vote on the Leg make him biased towards the project? Shouldn't he also recuse himself?
DeleteHe's also a man on a mission. Arrogant, stubborn, obnoxious, obstinate, defiant, and just plain mean, he's determined to PROVE he can survive CASINOGATE and get re-elected. But Mr.Because I Said So! is sadly mistaken if he thinks he can survive the hundreds of residents who will go to the polls in droves to vote for anyone else but him. He drove a stake through his own heart when he decided to welcome the casino underworld into EG without asking the taxpayers FIRST, the folks who pay HIS salary! No, he can't survive it. If I were him, I'd avoid the crushing defeat that's coming his way and resign now.
ReplyDeleteI can tell everyone from personal experience and observation that even the concept of placing a casino in an economically disadvatanged place is pure spin. Visit the town of Salamanca, NY. Take a careful look at the casino and the town. Judge for yourself if there has been the slightest positive impact on the town.
ReplyDeleteJeez Louise look at Atlantic City. One short block off the famous boardwalk and the city is as nasty a ghetto and you can imagine.
The casinos are for losers. Period. That includes, of course, their clients and the politicians who support them.
@Anon 2:19, I totally agree. I found the article still interesting because these politicians will say whatever. They were sleezy in getting this legislation passed by trying to prey on economically disadvantaged areas, tried getting their hopes up for unsound economic opportunities, and then once it passed all of that didn't matter. It seems the entire state knows what we all know, it's all rigged and it's a fight between 16 of Cuomo's friends and biggest campaign donors.
ReplyDeleteIs there anyone here that someone can talk to about certain mistakes and problems gov't employees of the town are making or are causing? I have someone that has information and doesn't trust anyone in govt? Perhaps an email address or a phone number of member of Save East Greenbush?
ReplyDeleteOmg! Anon @9:30 SO TRUE and SO SAD that some people see this industry as their economic salvation. It reminds me of The Fall of Man when the serpent (devil) in the garden told EVE just eat of the forbidden fruit and blah, blah, blah. Well we all know how that turned out for the first man and woman. I wonder if that's where the word NAIVE originated from? We must not let Feathers be our serpent in the garden.
ReplyDeleteTo AnonymousOctober 8, 2014 at 12:09 PM---consider contacting the media. Dan Levy or Dan Bazile would be great places to start.
ReplyDeleteTo anon 12:09.....drop a note to Save East Greenbush PO Box 115 E.G.12061. Then the concern can be forwarded to our lawyer, or member that can address the problem. Just a suggestion.
DeleteZoning districts seem to vary from municipality to municipality. where one town might have a mixed use district that would allow a studio apartment over a storefront, that may not exist in another town. It seems the state legislature, and rightly so I might add, left the incorporation of gaming into individual zoning districts up to each municipality to determine the appropriate zone. The intent should have never been to totally ignore existing zoning and place it where it clearly does not belong. it seems that the zoning and planning board need to adhere to the intent of the law and will likely be embroiled in a legal battle defending what will likely be an arbitrary and capricious action. Down the road, when someone wants to do something that is outside of the zoning and gets denied, there will be an argument they can make to say that the town allowed a full blown commercial operation in a residential buffer area. Based on that, you could have a strip joint next to a church, a bar next to an elementary school or almost anything the board wants to do. The zoning laws are there to protect all of us, not to satisfy the whims of the existing board and a developer.
ReplyDeleteRight on target!!. Feathers should have vetted the potential property better. Instead they were holding secret meetings trying to keep the public in the dark as to what was going on. I still think they anticipated the ability to do some kind of a "fix" to avoid the Town's current zoning laws. And you're right, the zoning code is there to protect all of us from arbitrary changes for the "connected."
DeleteGadfly, what they anticipated was a unanimous 5-0 town board throughout the process. So, if EG was awarded the license, all they'd have to do is clear the Planning and Zoning Board hurdles and then sail on through to victory vis-a-vis super-majority support from the town board to rezone the property. But that plan's been foiled. Mangold had to be directed to recuse herself but, to her credit, she did it without a fight and Matters bailed out in July, so, anyway you slice it and dice it, they don't have the super-majority they need to consummate the deal. It's a real conundrum for the bad news bears, Feathers and Langley. Tough luck, boys.
ReplyDeleteSmall point, but one that reiterates my main point at tonight's Planning Board meeting that neither the Clough Harbour Associates PDD application nor the Town Planning Board's consultant, Chazen Engineering (in their Full Environmental Assessment Form) bothered to mention the 11 homes on Thompson Hill that will have a casino in their backyard (don't count the unfinished duplex on the west side of the road, no one lives in it and the project never got Final Plat Approval before being stamped and sent to the County).
ReplyDeleteWe call it a neighborhood, a generational neighborhood where friends and family have raised families for decades. Unbelievably impact on the rocks and trees is evaluated but we, the community, don't even get MENTIONED in either document as being worthy of an impact evaluation!
The capstone to this insanity was the large table model of the site prepared by the developer. It's missing 30% of the homes on the hill. When my wife questioned Saratoga's new design guy, Mr. Davis, he said she was wrong. Numerous witnesses were present. My wife pointed out that her own mother lives across the street, and that her mother's house didn't make it's way onto the model, nor did two others homes! When pressed, Mr. Davis said the map was still wet and that a lot of the model fell off on the way in. Again, my wife pointed out that the driveways embossed or painted onto the surface weren't even there, so no houses could have been there either. Julie Miner, of J. Strategies, was heard whispering to him that houses were in fact missing. Within moments another gentleman was asking us to step away so that the table could be covered.
If the map table was off by 30%, what else hasn't been correctly portrayed? I think lots of things. Rush job on the map table, rush job on the timetables for working the SEQRA process, rush job on telling the Supervisor a casino was coming, rush job on getting school Superintendent Nagle allegedly on board, on and on and on. Again, small point, I'm sure Mr. Davis is a fine engineer, and he probably didn't even make the model himself, but the small points sometimes point to bigger problems. Planning Board: Pay attention.
I don't think it's a "small point" at all. The casino presented to the Planning Board and exhibit which was MATERIALLY FALSE!! Isn't that supposed to be part of the record upon which the decisions will be based? Houses fell off?
DeleteCouncilperson Matters was the only town board member I saw at the public hearing last night. Shouldn't ALL of the town board members and the attorney Phil Danaher mentioned (Mr. Gruenberg) have attended the hearing to hear the public's concerns about this project? It just seems like they don't care because they've already made up their minds and they obviously don't want to hear anything at this point in the process that could change their minds. This is grossly irresponsible behavior from elected officials. Mr. Jenkins raised some compelling issues about the toll this project will take not just on creatures but on humans. He spoke calmly and in a very dignified manner considering the toll this project has had on him. We can only hope and pray that EG will not be awarded a license because we sure can't count on our elected officials to take care of us if we do get the license. The residents will come dead last on their list of priorities. Priority # 1 will be SHOW US THE MONEY! Disgraceful.
ReplyDeleteThe priority isn't even show US the money. Albany has an agreed upon amount of "show me the money". The EG Town Board did not get a written agreement so Albany is guaranteed a million and 25% of the jobs but EG--no guarantees. THAT Is disgraceful.
ReplyDeleteMary Ann Matters did study the information and, upon learning more about the project, withdrew her support due to deceitful business practices. If only the other TB members would give the EG residents the same courtesy that Mary Ann Matters did, we would not be in this mess.
Around ten years ago the town did a survey of residents asking what was important to them. The results were that over 62% of people in this Town said preserving scenic views was very important. another 20 something percent said it was important. Saratoga wants this location because of the views, but they certainly aren't preserving it, they are exploiting it! As a result of that survey, that area was designated as a residential buffer area, which would in fact preserve the views. The commercial exploitation of that ridge, with the lighting, traffic and no doubt noise, will not only destroy the scenic view, but the quality of life there forever.
ReplyDeleteYup. Land use plans are supposed to provide stability for a community and its citizens. We have an administration which doesn't understand that, and they wheeled right in with Feathers and his convoluted "interpretation" of State Law which his lawyer is trying to foist on our community. The ZBA can put a stop to this fiasco by refusing to play along and refuse to say what the law doesn't say.
DeleteIt's time for a new administration where this kind of crap doesn't get foisted on us by mindless ignorant drones. It's got to stop.
Delete