Neighbors Accuse Sunshine Children’s Home of Site Work Violations
The attorney for an opponent of the Sunshine Children’s Home expansion project urged New Castle officials to issue a stop work order last Friday amid allegations that the applicant has violated conditions of its permit.
Adam Stolorow, who represents Glendale Road resident Cynthia Manocherian, said Sunshine was supposed to limit work to its access driveway leading to the Spring Valley Road facility before moving onto additional site work. Neighbors charged late last week that tree removal was underway throughout the site before the required completion of the driveway improvements.
Even if the driveway work is complete, Stolorow said Sunshine is running afoul of the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan. He argued that soil disturbance must be limited to less than five acres at any time but that the disturbance has been taking place on more than eight acres.
On Feb. 15, he fired off a letter to town Building Inspector Thomas DePole and copied other town officials regarding the requirement for completion of the driveway before additional work starts. In the letter, Stolorow stated that last week “Sunshine commenced clear-cutting hundreds of trees through its property.”
“Sunshine has submitted a plan that splits up the project into phases,” Stolorow said. “So after the driveway, they’re supposed to do Phase 1, which is not in the area where they are cutting trees. So they’re cutting trees in an area that’s not part of Phase 1 and we think that’s a violation of the Clean Water Act.”
Sunshine is prepping for construction that will expand the facility from under 19,000 square feet to about 143,000 square feet.
No action was taken heading into Presidents Weekend. Eric Gordon, the town attorney most familiar with the project, said Friday that the proper sequencing has been followed. He said it was his understanding from the building inspector that driveway work, which is to make access to the property safe, has been completed. That allows Sunshine to progress with work elsewhere on the property, Gordon said.
A call from The Examiner on Friday to DePole was referred to the town administrator’s office but was not returned.
Project opponents near the site said that Director of Planning Sabrina Charney Hull responded to their inquiry, stating that building department is currently investigating the complaint and thanked the residents for bringing the matter to the town’s attention.
Manocherian argued that the town has handed over responsibility of oversight of the project to Sunshine, which has been allowed to run amok.
“Because they’re hidden in the woods nobody noticed that they completely went after all these trees and that’s what they’re going to do, with the way they operate, with the way they take care of the needs of the staff and the kids while they’re doing their construction,” Manocherian said. “They don’t care. They’re just after the money.”
Stolorow said there are two possible scenarios this week. He is hoping town officials acknowledge that Sunshine has violated its permit and that a stop work order is issued.
“If the town issues a stop work order, then we can seek a preliminary injunction from (state Supreme Court) Judge (Gretchen) Walsh, who is hearing our most recent Article 78 about the well work,” Stolorow said. “If the town does not issue a stop work order – and I can’t fathom how that would happen – then we’ll seek a temporary restraining order.”
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/