Developers seek to allay locals’ concerns

Drainage, road access trouble Broadacre neighbors

By Marge Feuerstein | Manor Ink Mentor

Livingston Manor, NY – “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” That observation by Albert Einstein is applicable to the Broadacre Farm proposal because, well, the developers’ plans are changing.

In its August issue, Manor Ink reported that developers, Joseph Satto and Stefan Martinovic, were contemplating building a unique housing development on the site of a former farm on Hoag Road in the hamlet. Last month the paper followed up with an interview with Satto and Martinovic regarding that proposed undertaking.

The interview caused some property owners neighboring the Broadacre site to voice serious concerns about the venture. Though the developers told the Ink they had distributed a flyer with information about their plans, not everyone saw it. High Street resident Zintis Muiznieks said that he and other immediate neighbors had not been approached.

“The flyer describing the proposed community was never left at our homes,” he said. “It was only distributed to the businesses on Main Street.” The paper also spoke with two other High Street homeowners, Helen Williams and Nina Augello. All three said they were concerned about  potential drainage and flooding issues on the property, and about the inadequacy for the increased traffic of its access road.

When he learned of the residents’ objections, developer Satto reached out to Muiznieks and several other neighbors. His object, he said was to address their concerns and correct some “false information” that they had about the development. “In a series of meetings,  we hope to allay their fears and clarify the proposed plans,” Satto said.

Those meetings are ongoing, and by press time, Muiznieks, Williams and Augello were relieved to learn that High Street has been removed from the development’s plans. Residents of the Broadacre community will no longer have access to the street from the development.

With that change, Muiznieks said he believed the whole Broadacre layout would have to be reconfigured. The three neighbors have adopted a wait-and-see attitude and declined to comment further. But they did say they felt more positive about the developers and their intentions.

It is now likely that the Broadacre Farm project will not come before the town’s planning board before November. Stay tuned!