Mayor extends hand to Town Council

Posted October 12, 2021
Unfortunately, I will not attend the meeting tomorrow and wanted to share my letter to Town Supervisor English, which continues the constructive dialog between the Town and Village. 

I have read letters from Village Residents and heard directly from others recently, and while we understand the need to move forward with Tuxedo Farms, we also want to do so with our long-term future in mind. 

LETTER TO THE SUPERVISOR

Re: The Related Companies Tuxedo Farms Project – Special Permit Request

Dear Supervisor English,

An informal Q&A with an incumbent candidate running for Town Council happened at Wee Wah Park on Sunday. The session was informative and very much appreciated by village residents of approximately 35-people who attended.

As you know, how the Town leadership navigates the approval process of the Special Permit is more than just a town issue. The Town's decisions about the Special Permit will play a major, if not defining role, in the future of the Village of Tuxedo Park. As such, we offer our support and advice moving forward. To continue our constructive dialogue, here are several takeaways from Sunday's meeting for your consideration:

• Please do not fast-track this decision.
• Before considering the Special Permit, contemplate bringing the new sewer plant online.
• Think about hiring a firm with experience negotiating with developers that represent municipalities.
• Consider hiring independent experts to evaluate the project from a town planning perspective, including traffic and school taxes.
• Examine securing Mountain Lake as a shared resource with the Town and Tuxedo Farm residents to recreate.

2000 units and 4500 people are enormous to absorb

Some residents of the Village are concerned that increasing the number of units to 2000 poses risks to our tax base. For example, the density is approaching that of the apartments in Rockland County recently purchased by the Watchtower Organization (Jehovah's Witnesses). At the same time they are good citizens, a future sale could occur here, removing the property from the tax rolls. Of further concern, the 2018 count of Tuxedo's total population is 3,507. Therefore, the new residents of Tuxedo Farms could significantly affect the vote to their advantage, disaffecting other parts of Town.

Thank you very much for your consideration and shared concern.

Sincerely,

David McFadden

Cc: Town Council Members and Candidates

See Letter Below (Available on the Village website):