Letter to the Editor: Inauspicious Start to New Assisted Living Proposal

To the Editor”

It’s apparently time for summer re-runs.

It was almost exactly 13 months ago, June 23, 2014, after more than 18 months of public discussion & debate in multiple meetings of the Pleasantville Village Board, that the board voted down a proposal from Benchmark Senior Living to build an assisted living facility in the woods north of - and owned by - the United Methodist Church, on land that is zoned for single family homes, and in a neighborhood of such homes & the low-key Foxwood condominiums.

Now along comes a group investors, none of whom live in the Village & some of whom may have had a financial interest in the Benchmark proposal, to claim that they have the support of Village residents for a do-over with a different ALF operator.

It’s utter nonsense.

A few weeks ago, these non-resident investors commissioned a misleading phone survey with questions designed to push respondents to the answers the investors wanted. No “nationally-recognized public opinion firm” - as they characterize their pollster - would hide behind a faked Caller ID of “0000000000” & no name, guaranteeing many people called wouldn’t even both to answer, or would hang up when the caller would not say who was asking the questions.

And the questions: starting out by asking if respondents have favorable or unfavorable opinions of Mayor Peter Scherer & Trustee Steven Lord, the two “no” votes that defeated Benchmark; no other trustees mentioned.

Then on to asking if property taxes are “too high” - as if any non-billionaire living in Westchester might think they are “too low.”

And claiming $500-thousand in tax revenue from an ALF, more than Benchmark estimated, which would be shared by the Village, town, county & school district. It sounds like a lot, but even a half-million dollars is barely 1 percent of property tax revenues in Pleasantville & the school district.

Another misleading question on whether “it is important to provide affordable housing options for seniors” – who are later defined as 55 and older – when even Benchmark conceded its assisted living was not “affordable housing,” as it was projected to cost $80,000 per year per resident - or more - without medical services, and the majority of residents in ALFs are 85 or older, and four-fifths are over 75 years old.

Then questions about whether a small group of residents should be able to prevent a development, that the “village engineer” concluded has no adverse impact. There is no village engineer.

The real question was – and is – should a large commercial development of any type be allowed in a wholly residential neighborhood of Pleasantville, within 100 feet of single family homes, on land zoned for such homes. The Village spoke last year – in public hearings, letters, emails & phone calls to the board - and the answer was – and remains, “no.”

Our neighbors on Maple Hill, Summit Place, Bedford Road & in Foxwood remain ready to work with the Methodist Church on a common sense and compatible development of their property, but so far all we have are non-Village investors proposing a contentious re-run.

Bill Stoller

Andrew Laden