Tag: Don Willeman

In a classic case of “hurry up and wait!”, the Zoning Board last night, after duly convening the meeting, going thru all the procedural gobbledygook to make it a legal meeting, decided in very short order to do . . . basically nothing.

Not exactly nothing, but pretty close. What they decided to do was continue the hearing until October 22, so that in the mean time they would have time to consult with the Town’s attorney about the issue of whether or not the board actually has the jurisdiction to hear the case. Wait, what?

You may recall that CRC mouthpiece Michael Tierney delivered a letter to the ZBA at 5:43 PM on the day before the hearing (read it here if you want the full experience: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zdSXVmkdTWjB5pGFMX9B83bZkMiITDZS/view?usp=sharing ). In that letter, he raised an objection to the entire proceeding, based on the fact that he claims that appeals to the Zoning Board must be made within 15 days, and ours was filed after 21 days. And, in a “technically strict reading of just the Zoning Ordinance” sense, he’s right. But, here’s the twist – in Rob Houseman’s decision that is the subject of our appeal, he specifically told us that we had 30 days to file an appeal:

“Please note that any party aggrieved by this decision may appeal to the Zoning Board of Adjustment under an Appeal of an Administrative Decision within 30 days of becoming informed of the decision.“

That email was delivered to us on August 6, and we filed our appeal on Aug 21.

So, here we are – as my son neatly summed it up: “So, the church is upset that they say you filed your appeal 6 days later than you should have, and that somehow those 6 days harmed them so much that they are going to now wait 30 more days to find out whether those 6 days are enough to make it so you shouldn’t be able to appeal!”

And all the while, the fish, and frogs, and other critters that call Mink Brook home are just crying out, saying, “Hey, can we get a break here? Doesn’t anyone care about us?”

So, again, I’ll ask you – look at the pictures – what kind of people would try to get away with that by relying on some kind of legalese and loopholes? Certainly an interesting way to try to win the hearts and minds of your new neighbors . . .

So, instead of actually trying to fix the problem, the church has, predictably, lawyered up. Attorney Michael Tierney – CRC’s hired gun – delivered a letter to Town offices via email at 5:43 PM today. For those who are following along at home, you might remember Tierney as the fast talking, out of town lawyer with the fancy briefcase who has been the church’s mouthpiece in the past.

Not surprisingly, there’s no mention in Tierney’s letter that the whole fiasco started because CRC lied on their original application. No mention that they might have any responsibility for increasing the runoff through our back yard or polluting Mink Brook. No indication that the church intends to do anything to remedy the situation.

Nope, instead the ZBA should reject our appeal on procedural grounds – we filed it too late, we didn’t use the right fancy lawyer words when we wrote it, stuff like that, and even if it wasn’t too late, and even if we did use the right words in our filing, it still should be thrown out because, because, because . . . well just because we say so, damnit!

The old lawyer’s adage about pound the facts, pound the law, or pound the table rings true. I suspect Mr. Tierney’s poor kitchen table is getting quite the workout tonight!

The entire text of Tierney’s letter is here – feel free to read it for yourself if you’d like:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zdSXVmkdTWjB5pGFMX9B83bZkMiITDZS/view?usp=sharing

And, if you make it all the way thru his letter, do me a favor and take another look at the picture up top. Ask yourself what kind of people would want to support that activity, and justify it on “procedural” grounds.