Letter to the Editor: Little stationhouse owner once asked for our help
July 23, 2010
by June Farnham
At the July 20 meeting when the Millwood Task Force requested from the planning board minimal site improvements and building repairs to the tumbledown little Millwood train station, one planning board member ended the discussion by stating, “Well, you can ask for anything in New York,” in a tone that implied that Millwood Lumber was probably not obligated to comply with such a request.
That phrase, “Well, you can ask …” spurred a familiar memory for me and raises an issue of importance regarding cooperation between the community and a landowner. In 2004, the Rotta family asked the community to intercede on their behalf to prevent the Millwood fire commissioners from taking their lumberyard and train station properties through eminent domain for the purpose of constructing a firehouse. At the time, they expressed the likelihood that severe financial hardship would ensue with such a “public taking.”
Rotta family members were regulars at the Millwood Fire District and Millwood Task Force meetings for years lobbying for the disallowance of eminent domain. In response, residents took the family’s concern to heart and with extraordinary time, effort and cost were able to defeat the proposed “taking.” The proposed new firehouse site is a difficult and expensive one compared to the opportunities to reduce costs that the flat lumberyard and train station sites would have provided.
Here lies the essential disconnect and disappointment for the residents who helped to dissuade authorities from pursuing the use of eminent domain: The community that rallied to help the Rottas save their family’s livelihood needs now to have the landlord respect Millwood’s efforts by showing sensitivity to the upkeep and beautification of our small village. Because Millwood Lumber was allowed to stay in place, it avoided much inconvenience and the cost of relocation.
Mr. Rotta and Millwood Lumber in turn also have some responsibility for improving one of the central locations within the community. There are few signs the Rotta family and Millwood Lumber take pride in their properties, particularly the train stationhouse, and are willing to maintain them to a high standard. This friction continues to generate a slow-burning resentment within Millwood.
“You can ask for anything in New York,” but left unsaid is the ease with which this issue is passed from Planning Board to county to owner without any positive change in all this time, as the stationhouse continues alarmingly to deteriorate. Perhaps the Millwood Task Force or the town of New Castle should consider asking the Rottas to donate the train station site to the town as a park and allow the community to create one, along with a rejuvenated train station.
June Farnham
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Mr. Rotta has been approached many times about fixing up that train station. He will sing a beautiful song about how much he wants to improve it and how he has “big” plans for it. The truth is that he wants it to fall down so he no longer has to deal with it. He was approached several years ago by a businessman who wanted to make it an coffee/muffin/ice cream shop. Mr. Rotta, at the 23rd hour, made the terms so unattractive that the businessman had no choice but to walk away from the deal. If you ever talk to him he will tell you of his vision of Millwood. This includes a Burger King, CVS and several other chain stores. Not exactly what the residents would want to see. Good luck trying to get him to fix it up but I wouldn’t bet on a positive outcome
It is sad comment on the lumber yard and the owners if they are truly as untrustworthy and manipulative as this article implies. me me me me ... win at all costs ...
They could probably enlist the community to have a “clean up project” and get volunteers to paint and weed etc. I guess maintaining it will make it harder to develop at a later date though- I assume that is the owner’s ultimate goal. Sell vs having it taken away.
I think the suggestion for some kind of park is a great idea if Millwood lumber and the owners won’t step up and do the right thing however that shifts the maintenance cost to us.
Excellent points. Thanks for making this public.
Does town government have any tools with which to encourage property owners to not let properties fall into decline and disrepair? Certainly no one has the power to tell a homeowner to paint a house, or to mow a lawn. Is it just out of anyone’s reach to compel a certain degree of maintenance?
Who knows what way the prospective buyer or renter failed to make the grade with the owner? Who can judge? But if the station house is really beyond repair at this point, is it a danger and should it be removed before it collapses?
The majority of our town was sympathetic to Mr. Rotta. We believed in a local businessman’s right to keep his property and business and not have to succumb to eminent domain. It was because of this outpouring of support (thru letters and town meetings) that Mr. Rotta was not displaced. HOW QUICKLY HE HAS FORGOTTEN!!! Given the state of disrepair on his Millwood property, the eyesore it has become, and his unwillingness to do anything about it I am furious that I supported him. We would have been better taking it away. Shame on him!!!!
SHAME ON YOU LEO ROTTA.
SHAME ON NEW CASTLE PLANNING BOARD.
I and many of my neighbors came home from work early to attend those firehouse meetings and ensure you didn’t lose your business. We rallied around you as a member of our community.
We should take the station as a historical site and make it a focal point in our hamlet, instead of the eyesore that you have let it become.
As someone who is constantly on the North County Trailway, I am always amazed at how well maintained it is. As soon as a tree falls across the trail it is swiftly removed. Could they not get involved somehow, since the trail runs right alongside the building? If it is a hazard it should be dealt with. Also, the Rotta family is missing out on a great money making opportunity as a refreshment stand for the multitude of bikers that pass by every day.
I too approached Mr. Rotta looking to buy or rent the property for a commercial (small business, community minded) use. I have no relationship to the previous posters; I guess many of us have passed the sight saying “it’s such a quaint little building, why not open a cafe there”. The terms and conditions that Mr. Rotta insisted on were so very unreasonable that there was no way I could move forward. He is either a guy who is completely unrealistic or, as the article and comments imply, he has another agenda at work.
On a related tangent, I’m glad that the Millwood Fire Department has some solution for their building in sight. They don’t need a palace, but it does not appear that they can continue to operate in the structure they currently have (I think anyone can walk over there when the doors are open and ask to see for yourself). My understanding is that Mr. Rotta truly impeded solutions to the fire house dilemma under the guise of ‘community victim’. I also understand that he is not a resident of our Town and is a profit generating land owner. I think he was disingenuous on these two points when he inserted himself into the fire house debate.
I don’t have a dog in this fight, but it seems to me that if Mr. Rotta doesn’t want someone else improving the train stop site he should take responsibility (as the owner) to do so himself. If he was quick to take an interest in the fire house (on behalf of the community) he should be even quicker to take an interest in his own property (on behalf of the community).
Is it possible to declare the nostalgic and charming Millwood station structure an historic building to enforce rehabilitation and maintenance by the owner?
We do not live in Millwood, but every time we pass it, we think of times gone by and how charming that little building is and what a shame it is not utilized.
Bedford Village maintains their little schoolhouse in original condition and it adds so much to the charm of the community.
Perhaps, our historical society can do something?
It is a shame and a disgrace. We remember the protracted conflict and how sympathetic we all were to the Rottas. We all made a concerted effort to patronize Millwood Lumber in order to support them in every way. We don’t know why they want to do this to the community.
Millwood Lumber was just sold. See the following press release.
New Haven, Connecticut - July 8, 2010 - Woodbridge Group, a middle-market mergers and acquisitions firm, is pleased to announce the sale of its client, Millwood Lumber, to a BlackEagle Partners’ portfolio company, US LBM Holdings.
Since 1932, Millwood Lumber has provided lumber, millwork and hardware to renovation and remodeling contractors, builders and retail customers.
Located in Westchester County, 30 miles north of New York City, the company operates a full-service lumberyard, a door and window showroom and retail store.
US LBM, based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is the country’s 10th largest distributor of lumber and building supplies. The company meets the needs of builders, including custom builders and professional remodelers in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New York.
Founded in 2005, BlackEagle Partners is a private equity firm focused on investing in businesses with unrealized potential that can benefit from its operational expertise and experience in the lower and middle markets. BlackEagle has offices in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and in New York City.
Woodbridge dealmaker, Michael Muzzy, located in the firm’s New York office, managed the Millwood-BlackEagle transaction. “We ran a deep marketing campaign, scouring the country for the right buyer,” said Muzzy. “Our client told us we presented the company well in the marketplace and in this challenging time and that we found a buyer who will continue to help the company grow.”
Woodbridge Group, Inc., an international M&A firm, was founded in 1993 to provide divestiture and acquisition services to middle market companies.
Had it not been for an entire community coming together and working tirelessly for so long to save the Rotta family’s livlihood and property from Eminent Domain, in all probability the community would already have a new less costly firehouse on the Rotta lumberyard property and the community and visitors to our community would be enjoying a lovely park and refurbished train station where the eyesore station now barely stands on unkempt grounds. The Rotta family in good conscience ought to show their appreciation and give back to this community that gave so much of their time and hard work on the Rottas’ behalf. What’s repairing a little train station and creating a park for us versus what you would have lost had it not been for us! We all worked very hard for the Rotta family benefit and are now beginning to regret every minute of it.
Thank you, June Farnham!!! One does not have to be rich to keep one’s property neat and groomed. The Rottas are slacking off on this. Their donation of the stationhouse and surrounding property would offset some of the ill will toward their lack of even basic upkeep of Millwood Lumber.
When the former board of fire commissioners attempted to seize the Rotta property by eminent domain in order to construct a new fire house, the community rallied in support of the Rotta family as well as Mr. & Mrs. Cohen the owners of the Millwood Lumber yard business.
Now we learn that the business has been sold to a lumber distributor from Wisconsin. The new owner has no ties to the local area. Leo Rotta continues to show his appreciation to the community who saved his property by letting the historic train station continue to deteriorate to the point of near collapse.
Make no mistake about it Mr. Rotta was and is concerned only for himself.
Shame on Leo Rotta, but more importantly SHAME ON US for supporting him and his family in their time of need!!!!
I’m quite sure that if a resident’s house fell into such disrepair - the zoning or planning or building dept. would be knocking on their door issuing summonses and demanding action….isn’t Mr Rotta in breach of some Newcastle Town law? I believe the Historical Society has offered to move the house for free from it’s present site and relocate it for renovation. I for one will not be buying anything from his lumber yard - perhaps a protest outside his premises or boycott of his business should be organized.
Leo Rotta is the landlord of the lumber yard, he is not the owner of the business. He owns other rental properties on Shuman Road. The lot on the corner of Shuman Rd. and Millwood Rd. (Rt. 120) that is overgrown with weeds is his also. Mr. Rotta lives in Eastchester, other than lining his pockets with rental income from Millwood he has no ties to our community. One more time, SHAME ON US for supporting him.
All these points are excellent and I also feel that it is important to preserve this lovely landmark & create public space around it…what now? Petition? Town Ordinances? Protests or Boycotts of Millwood Lumber? I’d like to participate in some positive action to preserve the station house.
The Rail Road Station House owned by Mr. Leo Rotta is of no value to him. The current structure is not preserving any development rights of the site, and he should be officially told this by the new Town Planner. The structure also does not provide any retained rights or advantages during a Town review of an application to redevelope this site. The lumberyard has a long term lease on this site, which was at the direction of the Planning Board, oops. The structure should be demolished and removed with lawn, shrubs, and trees being planted, or, it should be relocated to Town owned property. Bring the building up to Gedney Park and place it near the 9/11 memorial. Permitting it to become a food establishment type use is not the solution or proper use of the site. The best use of the site is for it to remain as a parking area for the lumberyard while the property remains under private ownership. If the Town in combination with the Department of Transportation decides to take the property through eminent domain, then the best use would be for additional parking serving the needs of the bicycle path and area merchants, including the already existing food and drink establishments. The new Town Planner should reach out to the DOT for their help and assistance in laying down the reasons and grounds to take ownership of this property. If the Town became the owner, they would be in a position to grant Millwood Lumber a Town License to continue using the property for their own parking requirements as they require in order to remain in Millwood, and all other available parking spaces would be used to boost the vitality of the Millwood Hamlet now and in the future.
