Yorktown Tables Landmark Committee Appointments
The Yorktown Town Board’s proposal to appoint a slate of members to a newly reformed landmark preservation committee was tabled Tuesday after the council decided to address a policy disagreement before moving forward.
The issue came up when Mark Michaels, a former member of the landsmark preservation committee, spoke during courtesy of the floor to say he was upset that the appointments only made it to the agenda at about 5 p.m. Tuesday and were not included on the tentative meeting agenda released the Friday prior.
Michaels said he found it “very, very problematic” that Thomas DeChiaro, proprietor of the Winery at St. George in the Old Stone Church in Mohegan Lake, was being recommended for an appointment to the committee.
Michaels said he and several other members of the landmark preservation committee resigned in protest back in 2007 when DeChiaro told them he did not support his business receiving landmark status.
According to New York State law, Michaels said, landmark status does not require owner consent.
DeChiaro, addressing the town board, said he’d be an asset to the newly reformed committee because of that experience.
“The current law is too restrictive on the owner,” he said. “We have to just behave with a little more sensitivity toward the property owners and, as property ownerts, we’re going to do the right thing by our property.”
Thought the town board discussed amending the preservation committee to make it “adivsory-only” and not be able to force landmark status on owners, Michaels said that would make the committee “toothless” and ineligible to receive state grant funding.
When that was pointed out, Councilman Dave Paganelli said he’d be willing to forego the funds.
Councilman Nick Bianco said that’s an amendment he’d be willing to support.
“I believe the law is the law,” he said. “If we’re going to have a landmark preservation committee, it’s up to them and we’ll see what happens.”
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
