HomeMy WebLinkAboutN. Saccamano Letter.pdfDear Zoning Board Committee Members:
1 a€n out of town and unable to attend the repeat meeting to review the Mr. Warren's .request for a
variance to subdivide his property. I know that the Planning Board has decided that the variance
would comply with its criteria and that the subdivision could be approved. As 'far as I
understand the difference in the concerns addressed by the two committees, this does not mean
that the variance should be approved by the Zoning Board- I urge the board, once again, not to
grant the variance and to think about it'hi, you miuht tyrant to suspend the regulations in place to
favor o€.ie property owner (-�vho does not reside at the location) over another (or two others, if T
might communicate to the coma-tittee the opposition to the subdivision expressed by iMr.
Weinstein at the Planning Board tneetingl. What ";,soot]" wil] the board realize by granting the
variance? Is it a matter of allowing someone to make a profit ora real. estate Speculation? is there
a stated policy to reduce the larger lets in the Village in order to increase the tax base:' Is there an
effort to increase the popidation of the Village.'? I ask you to think about the reasons you would
vote one way or another in this case.
My reasons for opposing the subdivision, as you know, have to do with the potential for new
construction on the; lot to which the granting of the variance opens the door. My, wife and I
moved to dais property in Cayuga Heights from Belle Sherman precisely because of (lie special
openness of the property and the, possibility of designing a beautiful garden. We hired Barbara
Mat -tin to design a series of beds in which every square foot is planned, including the selection
and placement of trees and shrubs on the basis of the open space on the property Mr. Warren
now wants to subdivide, We have spent ten years oftirne, labor, and expense installing the
stone scape and gardens, which the residents of Mr. Warren's property on Cayuga Heights Road
also enjoy and which enhance the character of the neighborhood.
Here's one photo of the gardeia facing Mr. Warren's property from the patio near our house:
Here is what you see as you step into the garden and look south, a-w-ay from .Mr. Warren's
property:
And this is what you see if you took just tnove sti htly to the lett on the patio and look toward
Mr. Warren's property:
The "garage/workshop/rental apartment" --now "house" ( it's a slippery slide) --did not exist when
we bought the property twelve years ago, and there were more trees. Nothing was visible but
greenery. Now imagine a two-story house fifteen feet from the border midway up the property
ora the other side. As i said at the meeting last time. we can't even build a fence taller than 4 feet
at the edge of our border because of the zoning regulations, but a 20 foot tall house 15 feet away
is just tine`s if the variance is approved, we would be put to the expense of extending the screen
ofspntce trees at the top (which we put in to block the view of tile Cayxrga heights house since,
again, tall fences are not allowed) all the way down the garden. This would screen the sight of
what exists noir, but I have no idea how a newly constructed house close the border would affect
Us.
So, i would like to ask you. what "good" the board is accomplishing by granting a variance and
opening tip the possibility of new construction. We would not have built this garden as it is if
we had known the zoning regulations could be waived. it's true that we could have more trees
planted the length of the border, closing off the view and the sure from that direction, but are
smaller lots blocked off ti-om each other and compartmentalized by green screens the future of
the Village envisioned by the zoning board? So that property owners. can make more money?
Would the board like to see us subdivide our property, too, as Mr. Cross suggested I do if I was
worried about how new construction next dour would affect our property values?
Thanks, again, for your consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Neil Saccamano
61.6 Cayuga Heights Road