Town Board Disregards Rhinecliff Residents

Posted December 18th

Last Monday (December 15th) the Town Board voted 3-2 in favor of leaving the 49 unit Rhinecliff extension in the Comp Plan. Members Bruce Washburn, Dan Staley, and Supervisor Tom Tradut voted for the extension while Members Dod Crane and Ellen Silverstein voted against the inclusion of the extension.

For three years the Rhinecliff Hamlet Advisory Committee has recommended against this option and most recently on September 26th, the council voted 7 to 1 in favor of Alternative Plan F, which would not have allowed for such an extension. 

In addition, Randall Arendt, one of the nations leading landscape planners, recently met with the Town Board and members of the community in an effort to explain why such an extension was not practical from a developer's perspective. Mr. Arendt clearly indentified the area for the proposed Rhinecliff extension as having steep slopes, wetlands, and poor drainage, making it completely impractical for small lot development.

The terrible flooding experienced by the Stortini development is the result of poor planning and is exactly what  three members of the Town Board just advocated for Rhinecliff in voting for the inclusion of the Rhinecliff extension.

In voting for the inclusion of the Rhinecliff extension in the Comp Plan, these two board members and the Town Supervisor have completely ignored the wishes of the Rhinecliff community, both large and small land owners, farmers, the recommendations of the Rhinecliff Advisory Council, and the sound advice of the top conservation planner in the country. These actions have placed the Town in a precarious legal limbo with many lawsuits sure to be filed. It is truly astounding that in these economic times the Town should embark on a path that will surely end in a protracted and extremely expensive legal battle.

Rhinecliff.org will be following these developments in the next few weeks and you can look for comprehensive video and reporting in the days to come.