Pocantico Lake is a Treasure That Should Not Be Developed
We thank The Examiner for Martin Wilbur’s comprehensive story last week, “Pocantico Lake Residents Gear Up for Development Fight.”
If you were on the Mount Pleasant Planning Board and meeting on Sept. 2, would you need to know more, or see more than the photo with the article, before deciding that the proposed 31-McMansion development would destroy the wooded shoreline and must never be built?
Couldn’t you just look at that photo, or stand on the shoreline and take your own cell photo, to know that the proposed development is egregious, arrogant, unseemly and would cause irreparable harm to the lake and our community?
It’s not just a local issue about a developer removing thousands of trees on a rare, pristine lake for lots of housing – and all of the environmental impacts that will roll off the rooftops, down the asphalt driveways, across the chemically fertilized lawns, down the steep, deforested hillside and into the water where herons and osprey feed on bass and sunfish.
There are key stakeholders beyond the narrow geographic confines of Pocantico Hills, who might, respectfully, want to share their expertise with you. A few come to mind:
*The state Department of Environmental Conservation designated Pocantico Lake and nine-mile Pocantico River a “Critical Environmental Area.”
*The Westchester County Parks invested millions of dollars in hiking trails on the opposite shoreline.
*Briarcliff Manor Parks just invested to develop trails off the adjacent shore.
*The Rockefeller State Park Preserve and Friends of the Rockefeller State Park Preserve, Inc. know that all of the water from Pocantico Lake courses for miles and miles through the Preserve, helping to create that park’s signature magic.
*Riverkeeper undertakes monthly surveys of the water quality above and below the lake as part of its monitoring of Hudson River wetlands from upstate Troy to Battery Park.
It’s also true, if you are on the Planning Board, you don’t really need to become steeped in any of the urgent environmental and legal issues that inform and complicate this matter. Simply walk the shoreline with your dog, talk to the community here and marvel at an eagle perched on the developer’s shoreline.
Using only common sense, you might, with deep conviction, arrive at the conclusion that Pocantico Lake is an irreplaceable treasure in our community, and it’s worth preserving just as it is.
Todd Shapera
Pocantico Hills
Examiner Media – Keeping you informed with professionally-reported local news, features, and sports coverage.
