Sober Living Retreat Owners Say They Strive to be Good Neighbors
The owners of a proposed sober living retreat facility on Underhill Avenue in Yorktown that has triggered opposition from some nearby property owners say they are looking to be good neighbors and help others in need.
Tom McCrossan, who, along with his partner, Mark McGoldrick, is seeking a special permit from the Town Board to house as many as 14 adults in an 8,470-square-foot home at 482 Underhill Avenue, said he is hoping to set the record straight at an informational meeting with residents on Monday, February 24 at 7 p.m. at Yorktown Town Hall.
“We believe we have an opportunity and the right to be in Yorktown,” McCrossan said. “We want to be transparent. We have nothing to hide. We’re most hopeful that on the 24th will be a respectful dialogue. We feel there is a bit of unfairness being played here. A lot of tactics being used have been scare tactics. We had hoped people would be more welcoming and open minded.”
Some residents have told town officials the convalescent residence would ruin the neighborhood and hurt property values by luring undesirable individuals to Yorktown.
In a letter to the editor to run in next week’s edition of the Northern Westchester Examiner, four residents expressed the view of many neighbors in opposing the facility.
“The applicants have called this an asset for Yorktown when in reality it will be occupied annually on average by 100 different transient residents virtually entirely from outside communities,” the letter from Nick Toumanios, Louisa Sigillo, Chris Stendardi and Al French states. “The bottom line, this is all about maximizing profits for the sellers and applicants.”
The long-time owners of the home, Kip and Julie Testwuide, who have been friends with McCrossan for seven years, stated they would not support a use for their residence that “we felt in any way was to the detriment of the neighborhood or the greater Yorktown community.”
“In fact we feel confident in the intentions of Tom and the capability of the people that will be running this facility along with him,” the Testwuide’s stated. “We are confident that the screening process, the 24/7 supervision and the privacy seeking nature of the targeted residents will in fact cause the neighborhood to be quieter and perhaps even more safe than when we had three teenage drivers and their friends coming in and out of our driveway at all hours of the day and night.”
McCrossan and McGoldrick both have extensive financial backgrounds. McCrossan said the residence, now called Compass Westchester, would be unique to northern Westchester and is intended to attract only alcohol and drug dependent adults 28 years old and older within a 20 to 30-mile radius.
“It’s not a halfway house. There will be no child molesters or sexual predators or anyone with a history of violence. It’s strictly for highly functional adults, doctors, lawyers, businessmen, husbands and wives, who have had issues with alcohol and drugs,” McCrossan explained. “We want people to feel respected and loved when they walk in. We’re good people. We want to do this respectfully. We feel this is a great thing to help people get back on their feet. We believe this is a noble effort. It’s not a get rich scheme.”
McCrossan said it was “bewildering” to him that initial attempts to reach out to neighbors and Alliance for Safe Kids (ASK) were not embraced, and now they find themselves having to try to respond to what they feel has been misinformation circulated by opponents.
“We’re trying not to be controversial, but the gloves came off early from the neighbors,” McCrossan said. “I didn’t think everyone would sit back and say great, but I didn’t think they would go to the degree that they have. We’re committed and if we are denied, that would be discrimination. We’re very optimistic the Town Board will do the right thing and the fair thing under the principles of law.”
A public hearing on the special permit is scheduled to take place Tuesday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m. at Yorktown Hall. If the hearing is closed, the current four-member Town Board could take action at the same meeting.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
