County Will Not Reimburse Paul Camarda

The Putnam Legislature’s Audit Committee has approved a resolution calling on the full legislature to deny the use of sales tax to fund any developer—whether it be residential, commercial, or business.

This resolution directly relates to the proposed Patterson Crossing shopping complex planned near I-84 at the Patterson Kent border. Six years ago, developer Paul Camarda began plans to build Patterson Crossing at his own costs. According to County Legislator Sam Oliverio, Jr., Camarda received approval from the town planning and zoning boards and then later requested that the town spend its own money to fix roads and drainage at his site.

Camarda said he was not asking Putnam County to pay for anything on his property: “I only get reimbursed if Patterson Crossing is built and the money is generated from sales tax.”

Oliverio explained that the resolution was not composed to stop Patterson Crossing but rather to cut off any future developers that may expect the town to spend taxpayer dollars on their projects. He expects this amendment to be accepted by the committee’s recommendation at its meeting next week.

Camarda had requested that the county create a district to benefit four tax-map parcels comprising of the 410,560 squarefoot shopping center. The district would have allowed Putnam to reimburse Camarda for up to $3.75 million for improvements made to Route 311 or the I-84 ramps with sales tax revenues set aside for the purpose. But Camarda stressed that none of the sales tax dollars would be used for work done on the shopping center site or its entrance road.

Putnam County, Legislator Tony Hay of Southeast, who chairs the Audit Committee, was adamantly opposed to Camarda’s suggestion, telling his colleagues at Monday’s meeting, “If we say ‘yes’ to Mr. Camarda, we have to say ‘yes’ to all future developers.”

Still, Camarda remains hopeful that ground will finally be broken for Patterson Crossing; he is awaiting approval from the Town of Kent to sign off on a driveway that is located in the small portion of the site that is located in Kent.

“It took us seven years to get SEQRA (State Environmental Quality Review Act) approval. My staff and I worked “extremely hard to answer all questions and concerns by dotting every ‘i’ and crossing every ‘t.’ I wanted everyone—supporters and naysayer alike—to know that we were doing everything above board. As a matter of fact, we exceeded the regulations,” Camarda said.

The SEQRA was approved two years ago and Camarda said site plans were submitted to both Patterson and Kent within one day of each other in 2008 and should have only taken a couple of months.

The Patterson site plan constitutes 74 acres of the land and 406,000 square feet of the stores; the Kent portion of the plan constitutes 15 acres as well as 2,000 square feet of shopping which Camarda said represents “one half of one percent of the project. Camarda charged there was “no excuse for the constant delays. The DEP has approved the proposal. The only thing holding up Patterson Crossing is the Town of Kent.”

Camarda’s attorney, Charles Martabano of Mt. Kisco, called Kent’s actions “regrettable that the board would continue to engage in revisionist history with targeted obfuscation and omission of relevant facts.”

Kent Supervisor Kathy Doherty answered Camarda’s criticism, “Mr. Camarda should realize when dealing with government everything has a process. We are going through the process.”

Camarda estimated that he has expended more than $2.5 million to date in “paper soft costs not including the land purchase. Between planning, engineering, soil-testing and traffic consultants, the price has skyrocketed with one million dollars of that being spent on planning alone.”

Camarda has come under attack from residents of the Lake Carmel area who fear for the safety of their lake should the project reach fruition. He assured residents of Kent that his engineers have devised a plan to treat water running from I-84 and Route 311.

Despite Camarda’s assurances and the endorsement of the project by Supervisor Michael Griffin, a number of Lake Carmel and Patterson residents have protested the Patterson Planning Board’s issuance and approval of the findings opening the door for Patterson Crossing to proceed.

Southeast resident Ann Fanizzi said that “Stop Patterson Crossing” members would continue to vigorously oppose the project. She said its construction would “disproportionately harm Lake Carmel by subjecting the community and its residents to blasting, noise, crime, air pollution and traffic leaving the vast majority of Patterson unaffected enjoying the peace and tranquility of their homes.”

Camarda firmly believes Patterson Crossing is in the best interests of the residents of Putnam County. “We are talking about generating millions of dollars of sales tax each year. Sales tax is a viable solution in easing skyrocketing property tax,” he said. Camarda also said the project would not succeed until all avenues were thoroughly reviewed: “Outside interests including the Clean Water Coalition and Trout Unlimited are hiring people to do anything they can to fault my work.”