Letter to the Editor: MAN SAYS SUFFERN IS OVERDEVELOPING

To the Editor,

The Village of Suffern is currently in a stage of overdeveloping the village. Within the last few years the village has changed zoning and policies to allow for mass development. Two zone changes allowed 24 town houses to be built on Wayne Avenue and another zone change allowed around 50 condos to be built on Washington Avenue.

This allows around 75 new units to be built in the village within a few short years. If this rate of expansion continues it can result in property values dropping in the area. This current administration also lowered the fees builders pay for recreation. They made it so that as a builder builds more units they pay less money for each unit to the village. This policy is specifically designed to increase development in the village.

Now there is a proposal for 111 apartments to be built on Orange Avenue. In this current market it will be difficult to rent out these apartments. If the builder can’t rent them they will either use it for section 8 housing to make their money back or sell it to a non-profit which will take it off the tax roll. This has happened before where a non-profit bought a building complex at chestnut gardens and took $56,000 off the tax roll.

It is time this board stood up for the residents and not the developers. If you wish to see this project stopped join me at Suffern Village Hall on October 15, at 7:30 p.m. and let our elected officials know that if they vote yes to this project we will vote no to them.

Sincerely,
Adam DeStefano

  Suffern