Having a discussion with NYS Senator Kemp Hannon at campaign headquarters. Both of us are Chaminade High School graduates.
Monthly Archives: August 2012
Sea Cliff POC interviewed by FOX 5 NY Linda Schmidt
On August 17, 2012, Sea Cliff POC Chairman Anthony Losquadro was interviewed on-air by Linda Schmidt of FOX 5 news NY for the 6pm broadcast.
Ms. Schmidt reported on the tree permit issue in the Village of Sea Cliff. Until recently, residents had the right to remove one tree per year without any permit from the Village. Subsequently, the Board of Trustees voted to enact a bureaucratic, costly, and restrictive tree permit scheme. In addition to costly permits, residents are now required to obtain permission from a “tree committee.” The tree committee usually demands that replacement trees be planted as compensation. This greatly and unnecessarily burdens the property owner, and diminishes his sovereignty over his own land.
Anthony Losquadro stated in the interview, “It is the property owner that makes the mortgage payments and pays the taxes, he should have discretion over the management of his own property. Additionally, as our entire power grid is above ground, every time a storm passes through our area trees inevitably come down, causing blackouts. Hence we should be encouraging residents to remove trees, not discouraging them!”
Reverting the tree laws back to the old code has been part of the Sea Cliff POC campaign platform.
Sea Cliff changes legal definition of a tree. Sea Cliff POC mentioned in Newsday
NEWSDAY 08/16/2012
5:31 PM By David Uberti
Photo credit: Brittany Wait
The Sea Cliff Village board of trustees redefined what a tree is — legally, at least.
The board voted unanimously Monday night to change the definition of a “tree,” increasing the minimum trunk diameter from 6 inches to 8 inches. The fallout: residents seeking to remove trees will now need permits only for those 8 or more inches in width.
Residents must apply for the $25 permits through the village’s Tree Committee, a four-person group that evaluates each application — including an on-site inspection — individually.
The village granted nearly 200 such permits in 2011, village officials said, bringing in about $5,000.
“Two inches may sound small, but it actually is a big difference,” said village administrator John Mirando, adding that the increase in diameter amounts to more than a 40 percent growth in trunk area.
Despite the change, Anthony Losquadro, chairman of the Sea Cliff Property Owners Committee, said the ordinance by definition violates owners’ rights.
“You have to go begging before a tree committee … to remove a tree,” he said.
Mayor Kennedy’s “credibility gap” – Village of Sea Cliff Board Meeting August 13, 2012
Over the last five months Mayor Kennedy has been very outspoken with regards to a constitutional question lawsuit commenced by Anthony Losquadro. Kennedy was quoted in Newsday, The Glen Cove Record Pilot, and the Gold Coast Gazette.
Three weeks before the election, in a mudslinging effort directed at the Property Owners Party candidate, Kennedy said,” We have no laws on the books that are unconstitutional. The Village submits that this is a frivolous lawsuit that does nothing more than cost the taxpayers money and drains time from our staff from being of maximum service to our residents. I am confident that our Village will be triumphant.” March 1, 2012 Gold Coast Gazette
After the Village lost the decision on the lawsuit, the Mayor told Emily Ngo of Newsday on July 24, 2012, “It’s the last thing in the world that we wanted: anything that was unconstitutional on our books,” he said, adding that “constitutionality issues should be taken up with the state attorney general’s office, which approves local laws.” In this interview the Mayor now attempts to sidestep responsibility and blame the N.Y.S. Attorney General’s Office.
The Mayor repeats those comments to the Glen Cove Record Pilot. He says “This law was passed in 1979, and was enacted only after it was submitted to the N.Y.S. Attorney Generals Office.” Glen Cove Record Pilot
Now, at the August 13 2012 Village Board meeting, the Mayor denies making all of these statements to the press. Pushing his credibility beyond the breaking point, he says, in essence, the reporters fabricated their interviews.
While the Mayor may now wish he never made such statements, the fact remains he was directly quoted by reporters. Additionally, he never wrote any letters to the editor refuting the printed quotes.
Mayor Kennedy clearly has difficulty being truthful. Such behavior is starting to make some wonder if he is suitable as the leader of our Village.
Watch the Video of the Village Board Meeting
Village of Sea Cliff debate on Bill 4A-2012 – New restrictions of fences. You be the Judge
Watch the debate on changes to the Village Code that will add more restrictions on fences. Bill 4A-2012 will regulate any height fence erected near driveways. The issue arose during a dispute by two neighbors, one of which wanted to erect a fence on his property line, and his adjoining neighbor didn’t want a fence alongside his driveway.
Under questioning, the Mayor initially declined, then claimed he couldn’t remember the resident who will benefit from this new law. The Mayor and Trustee Carol Vought claimed no particular inspiration for the new law. They claimed fences along driveways is an issue they noticed just driving around the Village. SCPOC intends to file a FOIL demand with the Village to ascertain the identity of the mystery person, and to check the veracity of the Mayor’s statements.
Town of Oyster Bay proposes to roll back tree removal permit regulations.
A proposal to repeal an Oyster Bay Town ordinance that requires permits for tree removal was introduced in the Town of Oyster Bay.
Supervisor John Venditto said the current code has been slammed by many residents as “adding insult to injury” — permit fees on top of “government intrusion,” as he put it.
He invoked former President Ronald Reagan, paraphrasing, “Government typically is not the solution, it’s usually the problem.”
Sea Cliff POC applauds Supervisor Venditto’s strengthening of property owners rights in the Town. Due to the nature of the power grid on Long Island, our electric service is almost entirely dependent on overhead wires strung along telephone phones. Excessive overgrowth from trees places our electrical service, our health and safety in jeopardy every time a storm passes through. In 2011, Hurricane Irene left areas without power for days due to trees falling on power lines. Road crews needed to remove downed trees from blocked roadways before they could even reach affected areas.
Misguided tree permit ordinances can have other consequences. Falling trees can land on houses and cause property damage and personal injury. Insurance companies may increase premium rates due to rising experience ratings if there are many claims in a given area. Tree permit requirements tend to discourage residents from removing trees in dangerous situations.
Diseased or dead trees are not the only trees that can be danger of falling. Oftentimes a tree that appeared to be healthy will fall in a storm. Even tree experts cannot predict when or where a tree will fall. Therefore it is imperative that residents not be burdened with a tree permitting process.
SCPOC demands that the Village of Sea Cliff Board of Trustees adopt similar tree regulations as those proposed by Supervisor Venditto.
Newsday reports on the story:
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/oyster-bay-tree-proposal-baffles-activists-1.3902987
Board of Trustees propose amendments to Village Code Bills 4a-2012 and 5-2012
The Village Board of Trustees propose to amend the Village code. The changes include additional restrictions on fences (4A-2012), and changes to the definitions of “height/setback ratio plane.”
The SCPOC opposes changes incorporated in “4A” to for the following reasons:
1. The Village Board refuses to identify the resident who requested the fence restrictions. Therefore we cannot evaluate whether a conflict of interest exists with the Trustee’s or the Administration.
2. The fence restrictions in Bill 4A are an overreaction designed to cure one resident’s complaint with more restrictions on the entire village.
3. Bill 4A is a “Robin-Hood” scheme, where the law is designed to benefit one resident at the expense of another without compensation.
4. Property owners will not be compensated for loss of use of property and loss of privacy that fencing can provide.
Glen Cove Record Pilot “Decision in Losquadro v. Sea Cliff”
Jill Nossa of the Glen Cove Record Pilot reports on the decision against the Village. See attached article. GlenCoveRecordPilot
It is an insight into Mayor Kennedy’s character to see how he attempts to pass off responsibility of the Village laws to the N.Y.S. Attorney Generals office.
However his comments are nonsense. The Village is solely responsible for the laws it enacts. We called to the Village’s attention that its law was unconstitutional, and asked them to repeal it. In response they advised that they concluded it was constitutional and that they intended to enforce it. It is also untrue that most other municipalities have such laws on their books. Further, most of those who do have such laws on the books know it is unconstitutional and do not enforce it or threaten to enforce it.