Guest Opinion: Tell Rye City Council: Don’t Ruin Another Neighborhood!
(PHOTO: The former Avon property, now controlled by a LLC under the commercial real estate firm George Comfort & Sons.)
In a guest opinion piece, Pamela Haas, a resident at Rye Colony Cooperative Apartments on Peck Avenue, urges Rye citizens to speak at the City Council meeting this Wednesday, December 2nd in regards to Midland-Rye LLC’s proposed revision to the zoning at the former Avon property.
“I’m a resident at Rye Colony Cooperative Apartments, working with Kendric Taylor, our board president, to try to delay a decision,” Haas told MyRye.com. “There are all sorts of issues involved, including lack of governmental transparency, developer – a Rye resident – turning a blind eye to his neighbors, environmental and safety/quality of life concerns, even a hint of social/environmental justice, given the relative lack of resources among our residents compared to other homeowners in Rye. We need an updated comprehensive plan, and these piecemeal zoning revisions are starting to add up to a real problem.”
By Pamela Haas
Public Hearing: Rye City Council Meeting
Wednesday, December 2
6:30 pm
This may be your only chance to challenge the zoning revision at the Avon property on Peck and Midland Avenues!
Do you see a pattern here? As at Osborn, Nursery Fields, and now Wainwright, a proposed re-zoning stands to despoil yet another Rye neighborhood and drive property values down, one location at a time. The current plan includes:
- Chemical storage, including a reportables loophole
- Self-storage units
- Product finishing/assembly/testing
- Medical offices
- Daycare center
Citizens need to tell the Rye City Council: Don’t make living near Peck and Midland Avenues dangerous, ugly and noisy! Don’t further degrade the character of Rye!
- Read the agenda at www.ryeny.gov (see the plan on pp. 8-62)
- Attend by Zoom or phone
- Email comments of any length to [email protected] by NOON Wednesday with subject “Midland Rye LLC”
- Speak at 6:30pm (limit 3 minutes)
Why has Councilman Stacks recused himself from this proposed zoning change? Is he close friends with Rye resident Peter Duncan of George Comfort & Sons or is it possible his company is providing financing for this project?
I believe the Rye City Council may be intentionally delaying updating the 1985 Master Plan until after all of their favored son$ have lined their pocket$.
No Comfort Zone: what other possible reasons besides friendship or financial involvement are there for recusal?