Updated with meeting link and agenda – towards bottom
During the month of May there have been several meetings in the Village of Airmont regarding proposed activity on Hillside Avenue. Under discussion was a proposed school and changes to a parcel of land for a proposed cemetery, not to mention the mikvah.
Where to begin on the issues? The Architectural Review Committee meeting and the Planning Board both had representatives for their projects: lawyers, engineers, interested parties presenting their cases and updating information. A few interested and concerned members of the community and public were in attendance. Of note Upper Saddle River town lawyer Robert Reagan was in attendance in one meeting, but not another, observing and seeking clarification on an issue for the school project. Beyond that it was business as usual. Situations were updated, questions answered and business was slowly moved forward.
However, there were several issues that were concerning in both of the recent meetings. The projects being discussed included the development of a school and cemetery. Most concerning was that in discussing and addressing the issues representatives for the projects used language that was unspecific and vague:
“we are certain there is ” a fire response
‘there will be lights’ but nothing glaring
it will be ‘park like’
there will be a ‘stormwater prevention plan’
‘approximately’
‘anticipated’
‘staggered’
All a bit vague, unclear and – at this point based on the observations of these meetings – apparently accepted by the town. No drilling down on details, clarification demanded. Open to interpretation, change and potential abuse.
Of significant concern
The school Images below of locale and approach but none of the site as proposed school is on a private road.
From the meeting it is unclear where the proposal is on construction, etc. At issue were the numbers of students and transporting them in. Representatives stated they anticipate s a smallish school between 200 – 240 children(!). To avoid traffic issues the buses will arrive and depart staggered.
Reality:
Best case scenario – if only large school buses are used and each bus holds the maximum of 72 children that is about 3 buses arriving at school / leaving after drop off / returning to pick up / depart. However, typical school buses don’t travel full, many have only a few children, and this has the potential to being easily double or more that number of buses. What if they are small school buses? This would result in more buses throughout the day. But there was no information or clarification on this point.
That is at best 12 bus trips per day.
Then there is the vehicle traffic from teachers, administration and other related school staff, also trucks delivering supplies to the school.
On a narrow country lane.
What is the emergency provision if there is an accident, emergency at the school or other issue and the road has buses, traffic for the mikvah and emergency vehicles cannot easily access the street, the school?
Is there a plan for this?
Where does the Rockland county fire commissioner stand regarding this?
And then the water. Where is this coming from? For drinking, hand washing, toilets, fire vehicles. A vague suggestion of ‘tapping into the main’ on East Saddle River Road won’t do it. And much more importantly for residents of Upper Saddle River – where is the sewage going to? Connecting to some existing sewage line in Rockland needs a complete assessment of significant increase in volume. Without major load adjustments the system will not cope. Spillage is a distinct possibility. There is at least one previous significant incident of sewage entering the Saddle River and this needs addressing.
Where does the mayor and council in Upper Saddle River stand on this? Or the Environmental Committee?
The cemetery Images see below
Proposed is a private cemetery that is to be placed on a private parcel of land that is heavily wooded. Old growth, mature trees will need to be clear cut to create the cemetery. Except next door abutting this land is an existing cemetery that is barely occupied. More than 2/3 of it is empty. This was particularly worrying as the vague language that was offered – no source of water will be supplied for rituals or hand washing, there will be only a few lights, the parking will be sufficient(??) – the cemetery is only for burial not services / only 4-5 services a month with approximately 25 mourner / there is/will be a traffic management plan.
This was very head scratching.
Besides the fact there is a cemetery that is largely empty connected to this plot you have to wonder what is going on?
Who can possibly predict how many people will die in a month?
And state with confidence how many mourners they will have?
What if the deceased is an esteemed person, much loved and honored? How do you stop people from coming?
And how will they deal with this while maneuvering with a convoy of school buses carrying children to school? And visitors to the mikvah?
On a narrow country road. That at present has no outlet as the bridge is closed.
The mikvah Images see below
And once again it is water and traffic. Water coming from where? Mains down the street? The aquifer aka your well? And the sewage is going where? The huge volumes of water have to be moved somewhere, but where? Into the river? Into the land? Your land? And the traffic, the lights, hard surfaces, cars and pedestrians, fumes. Not to mention the significantly increased volume of traffic heading to Airmont from other parts of Rockland. On East Saddle River Road, which is a relatively quiet country road that sees regular but not volumes of traffic. This proposed facility will impact this.
And Airmont Village is nodding their heads to the answers and pushing papers and moving forward slowly.
There was mention of a traffic study. Why? It’s a country road. 2 small lanes with stormwater runoffs on either sides. One way in and out. What’s to study? It is strikingly clear that the road won’t cope. The drains won’t cope.
And the removal of trees is an environmental nightmare. Forgetting the loss of the trees and what they provide the stormwater runoff is going to be huge. See the damage caused by Toll Brothers in Upper Saddle River and their removal of hundreds of SMALL trees for their projects. Flooding, wells contaminated. For the uninitiated trees slow rainwater movement and allow absorption of water into the soil, feeding the aquifer. Removal of trees results in water cascading off the land to the lowest point, flooding, removing soil and sediment and choking stormwater drains.
This is an alarming issue for residents in the area of Airmont – particularly Upper Saddle River, Montvale and Mahwah. The unchecked development that the Village of Airmont is apparently allowing is going to alter the rural, country aspect of a community, impact water use enormously, cause stormwater runoff and has the potential for issues that aren’t being considered while they seem to be rubber stamping projects. At this point without doing a FOIA to get minutes and plans (are there any minutes taken – and where are the agendas? additional note: there are agenda’s but you have to hunt. Minutes beyond March aren’t available) it is impossible to know what has been agreed to. Or what will be enforced. To a casual observer it appears Airmont is playing lip service and going through the motions. As the village is notorious for lax code and permit enforcement and with a Justice Department investigation they seem to have all but given up.
And where is Upper Saddle River in this? Of course they are aware, but when is this going to be discussed at the mayor and council meeting? Keeping busy with new playing fields is fine, but a portion of the town is going to be impacted with the potential for the entire town with traffic and water issues – particularly if the bridge on Hillside Ave is reopened. And where are the Environmental Committee? Previous committees fought the sewage issues from Rockland, taking water samples and monitoring issues. But now?
The vague language and promising platitudes in these proposed developments is ripe for issues that aren’t being nailed down and legally bound. Planning is not rocket science – but it is science. And what is going on in Airmont isn’t.
The next meeting is on Thursday May 27, 2021
Meeting Agenda here – cemetery issue is on it
Images – Proposed school
Images – Proposed cemetery
Image – Existing cemetery
Images – Proposed mikvah
