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Municipalities should not get sued all that often. But Greenburgh does, and frequently by parties who desire the same outcomes as the Town. The Town has utilized this seemingly collusive strategy at least four times over the past few years in connection with the incorporation petition and other disputes. Just last month, the Supervisor set up yet another lawsuit with the Shelbourne developer.
As followers of the Shelbourne matter well know, the Town has laws that would prevent Shelbourne from being built at the developer’s desired Sprain Brook Nursery location within a residential area. Town Code section 285-10 (A)(4)(f) requires that assisted living projects: “…must be within 200 feet of, and have access to, a state or county right-of-way, other than parkways and interstate highways. Such access must be direct or via a side street and shall not be accessed by a circuitous route.”
Anyone who has passed by the Sprain Brook Nursery, or even looked at a map, knows that the site does not meet the 200-foot requirement. Nonetheless, the Town Zoning Board voted 4-3 to grant an unprecedented 3000% variance, effectively re-legislating the law.
At the same time, Shelbourne altogether ignored one aspect of the Town code by neither requesting nor receiving a variance for the requirement that the route be direct and non-circuitous.
Unfortunately, by then, the Town had already painted itself into a corner—as it too often does—by overpromising. Prior to permit approval, the Town had:
- counted the building fee revenue in budget projections;
- publicly promised to support the development; and
- assured the owners of the nursery that the best use of the land was as an assisted living facility.
This became problematic not only because of that pesky Town zoning law, but also because of the concerns raised by the Greenville Fire District and Edgemont residents about noise, public safety, and potential service costs.
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