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March 18, 2008 During the Courtesy of the Floor portion of the meeting, a Mohegan Lake resident expressed concern about a proposed new group home at 3793 Marcy Street and wanted to know what the town knew about the proposal as the neighbors had only just heard about the possible sale of the house to the Opengate agency. They were concerned that the project might be “rammed through.” Although board members do not usually respond to questions raised during Courtesy of the Floor, at the end of the COF segment, they did address the issue, explaining that they had first heard about it the day before and that Supervisor Peters was already looking into the issue. Councilmen Bianco and Martorano explained that there's usually a 45 day process during which a committee investigates the site and there are meetings with neighboring homeowners. Bianco said that in the past Opengate had worked with the town on the citing of other group homes. Both councilmen expressed concern that the northern part of town not be saturated with too many such homes. The board will get back to the homeowners once they learn more about the situation. April 1, 2008 Although not on the Final Agenda, the meeting began with comments from Mr. Peters regarding two planned group homes in Yorktown: 3793 Marcy St in Mohegan lake and 2799 Evergreen St in Yorktown Heights. Both homes are to be operated by the Somers-based non profit agency Opengate. The discussion that followed included comments by board members as well as several residents of both streets during the Courtesy of the Floor portion of the agenda. Many of the comments were in response to a meeting that had taken place the previous day during which residents apparently voiced their concern about the homes and asked what the town would be doing to try to stop them from opening at the planned locations. Background. The town received notification from Opengate about the Marcy St home on November 27, 2007. By state law, the town had 40 days to comment on the plan but no action was taken. The members of the town board did not know about the plan until two weeks ago – after the 40 day comment period has elapsed and Opengate had purchased the home. At least one resident and Councilman Bianco called for an investigation to learn why the November 27th letter had apparently been ignored. The town received notice in late February regarding the proposed Evergreen St group home. Nothing was done in response to the letter (the board did not know about the letter) but four more days remain in the 40-day comment period. Mr. Peters said that the town was sympathetic to the need for group homes but after listening to the residents of Marcy and Evergreen Streets he was concerned that the homes would change the nature and character of their neighborhood. He said the town would pursue all administrative and legal remedies to try to stop the homes from opening. Councilman Martorano said that while the town had nothing against the less fortunate people who live in group homes and in general should welcome group homes, there was an issue of fairness to be considered and whether Yorktown had more than its share of group homes compared with other municipalities. The board unanimously approved a resolution to hire attorney Michael Grace to pursue all legal strategies. The resolution did not include a figure detailing Mr. Grace's fee. Mr. Grace explained that if the town did not prevail after exhausting all administrative remedies, which included a meeting with state officials, its only recourse was to file an Article 78 proceeding. He said that the state law gave the town few remedies. He welcomed input from the homeowners as he prepared his legal case. April 15, 2008 Supervisor Peters announced that representatives of the town, icluding one homeowner from Evergreen Street, would attend a closed meeting on May 7th with the commissioner of the Office Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD). Although they cannot attend the meeting, residents can submit written comments to the commissioner. Mr. Peters said that the town would “fight to the end” to block the proposed group homes, using both legal and political strategies. May 6, 2008 Robert (Bob) Marino of Grace & Grace, the law firm hired by the town to challenge the two proposed group homes, gave an update. Evergreen Street He will be presenting a package of information at a hearing with the state Office Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD) on May 7th. Town attorney John Buckley assisted him in pulling together the information. Marcy Street He announced that he was successful in obtaining a temporary restraining order from Supreme Court Judge Rory Bellantoni and now has until May 14th to file papers for the lawsuit. In the meantime, settlement talks are taking place with Open Gate but there needs to be more negotiations. If the talks are not successful, the lawsuit will continue. He explained that the state law does not consider the arguments of lost taxes and the disproportionate number of group homes in Yorktown as winning legal arguments he can use in a lawsuit. Instead they are political issues that Supervisor Peters and the rest of the board are pursuing through other channels. During the Courtesy of the Floor portion of the agenda, Jay Teitlebaum, an attorney for Marcy Street resident Kathleen Rogers, stated that his client would be against any settlement with Open Gate that did not restart the 40 day clock. He disagreed with Mr. Marino's assessment that there were not sufficient legal arguments such as the appropriateness of the site and the ability to proposed alternate sites. He also said he did not want to see the Evergreen and Marcy St homes played off one against the other. Marcy St resident Kathleen Rogers also addressed the board and reminded them that just because the Marcy Street residents weren't constantly calling or emailing the board they hadn't forgotten about the issue. She said that her neighbors were watching and listening and would resume contacting the board if and when necessary. July 8, 2008 work session The subject was discussed at a closed session. No additional information is available. July 15, 2008 During Courtesy of the Floor, two residents asked to town to continue its efforts to block a group home from opening on Evergreen Street. Commenting on the recent OMMRDD letter rejecting the town's opposition to the home, one resident asked the town to hire a different outside counsel to handle the Article 78 proceeding that the town plans to file. In response to the comments, Supervisor Peters said that the full town board was behind the Article 78. He said he thought the town had a good case in challenging the home and that the town hasn't “given up.” Calling the Evergreen house an “outrage” Councilman Nick Bianco said that the case didn't look good but he advised the homeowners to contact their state legislators as the issue was controlled by state law. August 5, 2008 During Courtesy of the Floor two residents of Evergreen Street thanked the board for its continued support of their opposition to the group home on Evergreen St. They urged residents to sign their online petition, available at www.gopetition.com and also to visit the web site, yorktownunited.org for more information on the group home situation. Councilman Bianco complimented the homeowners for their tenacity, advised them that the town had filed an Article 78 challenging OMRDD's decision upholding the right of Opengate to open the Evergreen St home and reminded them that ultimately what has to happen is that the state law be changed.
In a separate action, the town amended the April 1, 2008 resolution retaining the law firm of Grace & Grace to challenge the Evergreen Street group home by adding the Marcy Street group home to the issues that he will be litigating. All three firms will be paid at the rate of $240/hour. January 20, 2009 Marcy Street Attorney Michael Grace, of Grace and Grace, the outside legal counsel handling the town's lawsuit regarding the proposed group home on Marcy Street, reported the “good news” that the Supreme Court has upheld the town's position that the November 2008 notice to the town from Opengate addressed to Supervisor Don Peters was defective. The issue will now move to OMMRD which will hold a hearing on the “saturation” issue. The town will return to court on April 13th. Grace called the litigation appropriate and said that the town's position had been vindicated. He added that earlier Opengate had been asked to renotice the town which would have restarted the 40 day clock but that Opengate had refused. In the meantime, Grace advised the board to convene the neighborhood committee that will look into possible alternate sites for the group home, adding that the committee might suggest another location in Yorktown. He said that during hearing relating to the proposed Evergreen Street group home, OMMRD appeared to be impressed with the town's past efforts dealing with group homes. January 27, 2009, Town Board work session Marcy Street Dan Luckett, chairman of the town's existing Group Home Committee reported on potential new members for the committee as well as his contacts with previously appointed members still available to serve. He suggested that the committee get started as soon as possible reviewing possible alternative sites and not wait for any official renotice of intent from Opengate. He said that based on his past experience on the committee, most homeowners were concerned about a group home in their neighborhood because of fears based on ignorance. Town Clerk Alice Roker explained that before the committee meets, the town board has to hold a meeting to hear what the community has to say about the current site. Then the committee can convene. Jay Teitelbaum, the attorney representing Marcy St resident Kathleen Rogers, advised the board that the next time it has to argue the saturation issue before OMRDD, it hire an expert and not simply rely on a list of existing homes as was previously submitted in the Evergreen hearing. On the issue of saturation, Councilman Campisi noted that the argument that Yorktown had 19 homes compared to 2 in Somers apparently made no impact on OMRDD. Mr. Teitelbaum also suggested that Michael Grace, who has been representing the town on the issuie, act only as an advisor to the committee instead of being an actual member. The board agreed. Both he and Ms. Rogers also rejected Mr. Luckett's earlier suggestion that a member of the clergy be on the committee, pointing out that people would be on their best behavior in front of a member of the clergy. The board agreed that all members of the committee should be Yorktown taxpayers. Mr. Luckett will subject his list of members to the town board for approval and appointment. It was unclear at the end of the discussion, if the town would discuss future litigation issues regarding group homes with Mr. Grace in closed session. February 3, 2009 Appointments to Group Home Committee The board appointed the following new members to the Group Home Committee: Cynthia Greco, Michael Goldstein, Kay Fazio, Geri Schwalb and Jenny Menton. Michael Grace, who has been representing the town in the legal challenges to both the Marcy and Evergreen Street group homes, will act “of counsel” to the committee March 17, 2009 Although not on the agenda, attorney Michael Grace gave the board an update on the search for an alternate location to the Marcy Street group home. He advised the board that he had just learned that 3006 Crompond Rd (adjacent to the chiropractor's office) was available and that it met all the Opengate specs regarding size, number of bedrooms, etc. He called the property “a home run” that he felt was better suited than the Marcy St location and which he felt was a defensible alternate site with OMRDD. Jay Teitelbaum, attorney for Marcy Street resident Kathleen Rodgers, also presented the board with a list of ten alternate locations in Yorktown and two in Somers, “just to make a point.” Supervisor Peters will give the Group Home Committee the information about both the Grace and Teitelbaum listings and have them review them. He will also notify the chiropractor who Mr. Grace identified as the only “neighbor” for the Crompond location. The board will then decide at the March 24th work session what property/s to submit to Opengate as alternate sites. The town has until March 27th to notify Opengate that it has identified one or more alternate locations. March 24, 2009, work session Five members of the Group Home Committee met with the board to discuss the proposed alternate site for the home. Several committee members expressed their disappointment at not being notified about the Crompond Road location that Mr. Grace had talked about at last week's board meeting. They said that they had learned about the location from the newspaper and that they had not been informed about this evening's meeting. Calling the committee non functional, they questioned what their role was supposed to be. Geri Schwalb, speaking on behalf of the committee, said that some members of the group had visited the Crompond site and had no problem with recommending it as an alternative. In response to the board's questions as to how to proceed, Mr. Grace advised the board that it would strengthen the town's position if it only presented a single alternate location to Opengate. The board then voted to support the Crompond Road location. Mr. Grace will draw up an appropriate resolution that will state the reasons why the site is a better location than the Marcy Street home. At the request of the committee, the resolultion will omit the fact that there are no neighbors, a comment that several committee members found objectionable and not relevant to picking an appropriate site. Mr. Grace explained that if Opengate says “no” to the alternate location, it does not have to provide the town with reasons. However, if the town pursues the issue with OMRDD, at that point Opengate will have to explain its reasons for turning down the Crompond Road site. Town Clerk Alice Roker told the committee that she would put together a packet of information that would help the committee better understand its role in the future. April 21, 2009 Attorney Michael Grace informed the board that on April 13th, Opengate rejected the Route 202 property citing the fact that the house is on a busy road, is in a flood plain and there are stairs leading to the kitchen. The town has 15 days (until April 28th) to submit a second alternate location or ask OMRDD for a hearing. Geri Schwalb, a member of the Group Home Committee, told the board that she and another member of the committee has visited a possible alternate site on Hickory St at the corner of Granite Springs Rd. She said the location “seemed ideal” and that it addressed all the negatives that Opengate raised with the Route 202 site. The owners of the only neighboring house, about 200 feet away, will be contacted to see if they have any concerns. (In the board's pre-session meeting, the opinion was expressed that this home was not suitable for a group home.) While the board voted to authorize Mr. Grace to submit this second property to Opengate, Mr. Grace advised the board to begin considering its next options as he felt it was likely that Opengate will reject this second site. The town's options are to accept Opengate's decision to use the Marcy St home, or ask for a hearing at OMRDD showing why the town thinks either the Route 202 or Hickory St houses are suitable alternatives. He said it made no sense to keep submitting alternate locations which would only drag the process on longer. Dan Luckett, chairman of the Group Home Committee, said that in the past six years that he's been on the committee, he's never seen the town go this far and bend over backwards to stop a group home. The reason the town is doing this now, he said, was because the proper process wasn't followed in the beginning and that homeowners feel that they were denied due process. In the past, he said, the town had been able to work informally and cordially with the operators of group homes. He said that the committee has not said that the Marcy St. house is not good choice. June 16, 2009 In response to a question from Susan Siegel, the person writing his summary, Supervisor Peters announced that OMRDD had held a hearing on the second alternate site suggested by the town in lieu of the Marcy St. location. The town was represented by the firm of Grace & Grace. He did not know when a decision would be rendered. August 4, 2009 In response to a question from Susan Siegel, the person writing this summary, on the status of the Marcy Street group home hearing, Supervisor Don Peters said that the OMRDD hearing officer had asked Open Gate to provide more information why the agency objected to the alternative locations. He added that the Article 78 law suit involving the Evergreen home was still pending.
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