APPALLED BY ORANGETOWN ZBA

To The Editor,

I was angry and appalled at the conduct of the Orangetown ZBA at the Anellotech hearing on January 21. The rights of the public were trampled by a board that seemed to have made a decision prior to walking through the door. Point of fact, before one public comment was made Chairman Sullivan declared that a decision would be rendered that evening. How could he have known that the public comment would not elicit concerns he and the board had not considered? He then went on to list the limitations to the public comment that I have never seen imposed before. The public was limited to two minutes of comment and all questions were to be directed to the board not Anellotech (no follow-up questions).

To add insult to injury (and for no apparent reason other than intimidation) Sullivan proceeded to swear each commenter in before they spoke. The board then spent a mere 15 minutes questioning Anellotech about their environmentally questionable business at the Pfizer complex using but a few of residents questions. I was questioned for more time about a fence variance I sought for my residential property before this exact board a couple of years ago. Residents of Orangetown (and Clarkstown) deserve more due diligence than this board has done. I would encourage Orangetown and Clarkstown residents to view the meeting as posted on Youtube (titled “Town of Orangetown- Zoning Board of Appeals (Anellotech) January 21st, 2015”) and see if your interests are being served!

Sincerely,

Helen Shaw
Pearl River