Very high tide combined with rain on December 5th. Pictures taken along Shore Road, mid afternoon. The water is nibbling at the road.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Very very
Very high tide combined with rain on December 5th. Pictures taken along Shore Road, mid afternoon. The water is nibbling at the road.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Hotel at SUNY: Village Times reports
The December 10 issue of The Village Times has a story (page A5) on the Town Hall meeting.
The civility of that meeting was mentioned in an editorial in the same issue (page A14). Same page contained another letter.
The University has set up a website devoted to the hotel issue.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Hotel at SUNY: Legal points brought up
Friday's Town Hall on the hotel issue (see my posts of 11/23, 11/30 and 12/2) was the subject of an email Sunday from the Stony Brook Environmental Conservancy:
Dear SBEC Members:
Thanks to all who attended the Town Hall meeting on Friday. Over 150 people from both the university and community attended; so many the venue had to be shifted to the SAC auditorium. The meeting ran one hour over the allotted time. Many ideas were eloquently expressed on both sides of the issue, mainly against locating the hotel at the designated site. The Setauket Fire Department talked about increased stress from an extra facility in their territory. Craig Lehmann from the Health Sciences Center talked about how important the hospital is to the community (nobody disputes that). A letter was read from the Veteran's Home about the need for respect (they have it) and access to accommodations by visiting families.
I began and ended my presentation claiming that it is a violation of New York State Environmental Conservation Law and Regulations to remove ANY FOLIAGE before the SEQRA review is completed, even for foundation test hole borings. This claim is based on New York State Environmental Conservation Law, Section § 8-0109.
Item 6 states (see <http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS>)
6. To the extent as may be prescribed by the commissioner pursuant to
section 8-0113, the environmental impact statement prepared pursuant to
subdivision two of this section together with the comments of public and
federal agencies and members of the public, shall be filed with the
commissioner, made available to the public, and, unless impracticable,
posted on a publicly-available Internet website prior to acting on the
proposal which is the subject of the environmental impact statement.
AND
Section §617.3 General rules of SEQRA regulations (see <http://www.dec.ny.gov/regs/4490.html#18109>) states
(a) No agency involved in an action may undertake, fund or approve the action until it has complied with the provisions of SEQR. A project sponsor may not commence any physical alteration related to an action until the provisions of SEQR have been complied with. The only exception to this is provided under paragraphs 617.5(c)(18), (21) and (28) of this Part. An involved agency may not issue its findings and decision on an action if it knows any other involved agency has determined that the action may have a significant adverse impact on the environment until a final EIS has been filed. The only exception to this is provided under subparagraph 617.9(a)(5)(i) of this Part.
We will be reminding university counsel of these statutes and regulations.
SBEC has formally requested to be listed as a Party of Interest to the preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement (see attachment). This means SBEC must be informed of all reports and dates of public meetings, etc. This letter was hand delivered to VP Barbara Chernow by me at the Town Hall meeting.
What next? If you still have not written a letter to President Stanley and VP Barbara Chernow, do so now. It is important to keep a continuous stream of viewpoints pouring into administration.
Stay tuned,
Malcolm Bowman.
See the December 4 Newsday story by Olivia Winslow "Eco-concerns raised at Stony Brook hotel plan meeting".
.
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/eco-concerns-raised-at-stony-brook-hotel-plan-meeting-1.1638019
Dear SBEC Members:
Thanks to all who attended the Town Hall meeting on Friday. Over 150 people from both the university and community attended; so many the venue had to be shifted to the SAC auditorium. The meeting ran one hour over the allotted time. Many ideas were eloquently expressed on both sides of the issue, mainly against locating the hotel at the designated site. The Setauket Fire Department talked about increased stress from an extra facility in their territory. Craig Lehmann from the Health Sciences Center talked about how important the hospital is to the community (nobody disputes that). A letter was read from the Veteran's Home about the need for respect (they have it) and access to accommodations by visiting families.
I began and ended my presentation claiming that it is a violation of New York State Environmental Conservation Law and Regulations to remove ANY FOLIAGE before the SEQRA review is completed, even for foundation test hole borings. This claim is based on New York State Environmental Conservation Law, Section § 8-0109.
Item 6 states (see <http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS>)
6. To the extent as may be prescribed by the commissioner pursuant to
section 8-0113, the environmental impact statement prepared pursuant to
subdivision two of this section together with the comments of public and
federal agencies and members of the public, shall be filed with the
commissioner, made available to the public, and, unless impracticable,
posted on a publicly-available Internet website prior to acting on the
proposal which is the subject of the environmental impact statement.
AND
Section §617.3 General rules of SEQRA regulations (see <http://www.dec.ny.gov/regs/4490.html#18109>) states
(a) No agency involved in an action may undertake, fund or approve the action until it has complied with the provisions of SEQR. A project sponsor may not commence any physical alteration related to an action until the provisions of SEQR have been complied with. The only exception to this is provided under paragraphs 617.5(c)(18), (21) and (28) of this Part. An involved agency may not issue its findings and decision on an action if it knows any other involved agency has determined that the action may have a significant adverse impact on the environment until a final EIS has been filed. The only exception to this is provided under subparagraph 617.9(a)(5)(i) of this Part.
We will be reminding university counsel of these statutes and regulations.
SBEC has formally requested to be listed as a Party of Interest to the preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement (see attachment). This means SBEC must be informed of all reports and dates of public meetings, etc. This letter was hand delivered to VP Barbara Chernow by me at the Town Hall meeting.
What next? If you still have not written a letter to President Stanley and VP Barbara Chernow, do so now. It is important to keep a continuous stream of viewpoints pouring into administration.
Stay tuned,
Malcolm Bowman.
See the December 4 Newsday story by Olivia Winslow "Eco-concerns raised at Stony Brook hotel plan meeting".
.
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/eco-concerns-raised-at-stony-brook-hotel-plan-meeting-1.1638019
Sunday, December 6, 2009
I saw Santa!
Here he comes trotting down Main Street, Stony Brook, at 2:00 today.
He had a police escort so I guess there were a lot of expensive presents with him in the carriage. He turned to wave but I didn't catch that.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Public Forum on the Hotel Issue this Friday
There will be a town hall meeting on the question of the proposed Hilton hotel on the campus of Stony Brook University this Friday, December 4 at 12:30 pm in room 302 of the Student Activities Center.
There will also be a live feed of the event at Thinksb
SUMMARY of the situation to date (Dec. 5, 2009)
There will also be a live feed of the event at Thinksb
SUMMARY of the situation to date (Dec. 5, 2009)
Monday, November 30, 2009
Hotel at SUNY: the proposed site
The curving line from top to bottom is Nichols Road, a very busy highway that has been kept wooded and non-commercial ... up till now. This plan for a hotel at this spot is a huge environmetal blunder and one hopes the perpetrators of the ill-advised project can be made to see reason. On the left is the main campus. On the right is the Health Sciences Center.
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