Editor,
A neighborhood group has sued the Village of Warwick yet again trying to be heard yet again. This time the Zoning Board was sued on Apr. 21 over a recent decision to ignore their own lawyers’ counsel that the law is with the neighbors.
Now it seems that the Village Planning Board is ready to set another foolish precedent on the same project by allowing the permit holder to exceed the square footage of the proposed building on 16 Elm St. by 30 percent. Try building the deck on your own home 30 percent larger than your permit and see what happens. The application says 3,600 sq. ft. The permit says 4,000 sq. ft.
According to the DEC guidebook and the architects’ plans the building will be 5,286 sq.ft. because decks that are part of a building count as part of the building. The entire 5,286 will have to be insured correctly and workers comp will be calculated on the actual square footage even if the Planning Board can’t count or follow guidelines.
Why is this even being considered, why would this be allowed? At 4,000 square feet you don’t need an Environmental Impact Statement but above 4,000 you do and the neighborhood and community would have to be recognized as impacted. Go down to 16 Elm St. and look at the permit. Go over to Van Buren St. and look at the site.
We are not the first neighborhood to be disregarded by these boards. Come to the Planning Board Public Hearing at the Warwick Town Hall, located at 132 Kings Hwy. in Warwick, on Tues., May 11 at 7 p.m. and ask what the heck is going on here in the Village of Warwick and why do they keep getting sued by the neighbors.
PATRICK GALLAGHER
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