September 13, 2013
~ from the Greeley Sports Boosters

Catch the Greeley Spirit, put on your orange and blue and support Greeley Athletes!  Here’s the schedule of soccer, volleyball and tennis games that start Friday, September 20, at 4:30 p.m.—followed by a bonfire at 7:00 p.m. Friday night.  Then on Saturday, come visit the Sports Boosters in town at Community Day, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.—and head over to Saturday’s soccer, field hockey and football games.  See times below.

Monday, September 16, 2013
by Christine Yeres

At the end of August, Democratic slate media contact Debra Kelman Loew emailed NCNOW to gauge interest in a “Roundtable” forum in which the press would have the opportunity to question candidates for office. This morning, in preparing to publish the platforms for the Democratic and Republican parties, NCNOW asked her where the forum stood.  The forum was off, she emailed back, explaining, “We secured the League to moderate but Rob [Greenstein] would only participate if [the League] invited him, which they were not going to do.”  The forum was to have been this Wednesday, September 18, she revealed.  There were no plans to attempt another.

Monday, September 16, 2013
by Christine Yeres

After stating early this morning that a “Roundtable” forum the Democrats had proposed for all candidates running for office had been tabled because candidate for supervisor Rob Greenstein had declined to participate, this morning around 10:00 a.m. Debra Kelman Loew, Spokesperson for the Democratic slate of candidates, put out word that the Democrats would again extend an invitation to Republican candidates to join them in a forum with members of the press, moderated by the League of Women Voters, to discuss town matters before the November 5 election.  At issue earlier this morning was whether Rob Greenstein had indeed declined to participate.  See “Roundtable” discussion with candidates and press is dropped before it gets started, NCNOW.org, 9/16/13.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Editor’s Note:  The Democratic Party released its platform yesterday, reprinted below in its entirety.  The election for Supervisor and two board member seats is November 5.  Candidates are Penny Paderewski for Supervisor, Michael Wolfensohn and incumbent John Buckley for the board seats.  Republican candidates are Rob Greenstein for Supervisor, Lisa Katz and Adam Brodsky for the board seats.

Supervisor Susan Carpenter and Robin Stout are stepping down.  Jason Chapin and Elise Mottel are two years into their four-year terms.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Editor’s Note:  The Republican Party released its platform yesterday, reprinted below in its entirety.  The election for Supervisor and two board member seats is November 5.  Republican candidates are Rob Greenstein for Supervisor, Lisa Katz and Adam Brodsky for the two board seats.  Democratic candidates are Town Administrator Penny Paderewski for Supervisor, Michael Wolfensohn and incumbent John Buckley for the two board seats.  [Candidates for Town Justice—Stuart A. Miller (R) and Noah Sorkin (D)—will issue statements about themselves at a later date.]

Supervisor Susan Carpenter and Robin Stout are stepping down.  Jason Chapin and Elise Mottel are two years into their four-year terms.

Monday, September 16, 2013

From 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. tonight, Monday, September 16, the League of Women Voters of Westchester and the League of Women Voters of White Plains sponsor a community forum at the White Plains Library, 100 Marine Avenue in White Plains, to discuss the 2009 housing settlement between HUD and the County.  Find out: 

• Where Do Things Stand? 
• What Is and Is Not Required? 
• What are the Obligations and Opportunities?

September 13, 2013
by Christine Yeres

The main event on the Town Board’s agenda last Tuesday was approval of Conifer’s special permit application to construct 28 units of affordable housing at on a cramped lot at Hunts Place.  The public hearings on the project have been closed; however Supervisor Susan Carpenter allowed the public to comment before Board members voted, 3-2, to approve the application.  Jason Chapin and John Buckley voted against it.  Elise Mottel and Robin Stout made lengthy statements justifying their votes.

September 13, 2013

Editor’s Note:  Deputy Supervisor Elise Mottel read the following statement preceding her vote to approve the Conifer special permit application on Tuesday evening.

September 13, 2013

Editor’s Note:  Robin Stout read the following statement preceding her vote to approve the Conifer special permit application on Tuesday evening.

September 13, 2013
by Penny Paderewski

• More in sales taxes than expected
• Outside funding for watershed protection
• Funds to finish our archiving job
• New STAR exemption registration requirements
• Police establish a “Community Resource Unit”

Tuesday, September 10, 2013
by Christine Yeres

With the public hearings on Chappaqua Crossing largely closed as of last Tuesday and the majority of the materials on environmental impacts set out before the Town Board, Town Planner Sabrina Charney, Town Administrator Penny Paderewski and F.P. Clark traffic engineer Michael Galante paid a visit to Board of Education members and administrators to gauge the their interest in making changes to traffic circulation within the Greeley campus that could help to mitigate increases in traffic caused by the proposed development of Chappaqua Crossing—changes the developer might be persuaded to pay for.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013
by Christine Yeres

Last Tuesday, as the Town Board closed public hearings on Chappaqua Crossing leaving open only the hearing on the site plan for the proposed project, Planning Board members were downstairs in Conference Room C discussing an August 8, 2013 letter from one of their members, architect Tom Curley, on the alternative site plan he proposed months ago: a “Town Center” layout of stores on either side of a “main street” as contrasted with an originally proposed “Power Center” with a line of stores facing a parking lot.

With 31 comments since publication
Monday, September 9,2013
by Town Board Member Jason Chapin

The proposal to add retail at Chappaqua Crossing is arguably the most controversial one that New Castle has seen in decades. Like all proposals it deserves a fair and full review. It is my experience that most proposals have some opponents and proponents with most people indifferent or undecided. The Chappaqua Crossing retail proposal is no different.

With 51 comments since publication
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
~ from Chappaqua for Responsible Affordable Housing

Our Town Board is slated to vote on the Special Permit for the Conifer Hunts Lane affordable housing proposal at its meeting at 8:15 p.m. tonight.  Even though this project has been panned by our Planning Board and Architectural Review Board, our Town Board has refused to heed their advice and has been bending over backwards to accommodate this project, including over-riding our zoning code to allow this 4-story monstrosity.  They have also assisted Conifer in keeping pertinent financial and project information from our review, despite the fact that this is a taxpayer-funded project.

Monday, September 9, 2013
by Marian Williams

In the heated discussions about hamlet planning, very little space has been given to the topographical challenges of New Castle.  The town has two steep ridges, bisected by a highway and a railroad.  There are only three east-west ways to get across these: Route 120, Route 133, and the steep and winding Roaring Brook/Readers Digest Road, none of them major highways.  It is not surprising that Chappaqua does not have the extensive commercial district that Mt. Kisco has, with its better access roads and a relatively flat center plain.

Monday, September 9, 2013
by Hailey Puleo and Gary Murphy

Our current Town Administrator, Penny Paderewski, is running for public office – she wants to become our Town Supervisor, and the election will be held this November.  Penny, however, already holds the position of Town Administrator for the Town of New Castle.  For public and private professionals alike, wearing “two hats” often leads to problems, and Ms. Paderewski’s candidacy is no exception.

26 new transactions for the two weeks ending September 13
September 13, 2013

Editor’s Note: Since October, 2007, NewCastleNOW.org has published every week in its real estate section information about houses sold in New Castle as that information has been released by Westchester County.