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SCARSDALE, N.Y. – A contentious public hearing Wednesday night at Scarsdale Village Hall gave several Scarsdale residents a chance to vent about what they said was mistreatment and lack of responsiveness by the Scarsdale Building Department.
The hearing was convened by the Scarsdale Village Board of Trustees Municipal Services Committee after the trustees received an e-mailed petition Jan. 27 signed by about 200 residents outlining their grievances.
The petition was initiated by Ruth Frankel and addressed to Mayor Miriam Levitt-Flisser and the Scarsdale Board of Trustees. According to the petition, the building department has failed to “represent the best interests” of Scarsdale residents and “most of the signers of the petition had their own negative experiences in dealing with the building department.”
“The large number of signatories were the result of only a limited attempt to speak with neighbors, and without resources or time to make the kind of thorough canvassing of the town, which would show the full breadth depth of dissatisfaction with the building department,” the petition said.
About a dozen residents packed into the hearing, half of whom spoke about their experiences with the department. Department head Nunzio Pietrosanti opened the meeting with an overview of how his department works from the start of a building permit application to the finished project. He spent the rest of the meeting listening to complaints and trying to defend himself, with the help of Village Manager Alfred Gatta.
“That’s a lie,” Pietrosanti replied while one person gave his version of a problem he said he encountered with the building department. He was quickly rebuked by Trustee Richard Toder, who told him, “You are not helping yourself.”
Phyllis Jay read what she said was a 30-second letter from Frankel, who was out of town and unable to attend the meeting. After complaining about the timing of the meeting – during school vacation week – Frankel’s letter introduced her petition and repeated her feelings about the department.
Other residents spoke of their specific situations, but Flisser and board members told Pietrosanti and Gatta not to address specific situations of people in their responses, but to speak generally about how such situations are handled. In some instances, resident complaints directed at the building department were redirected to the planning board and other village entities.
“We need to establish whose jurisdiction these problems are in,” Toder said, explaining that not all the problems should be laid at Pietrosanti’s feet. Toder pointed out that there are several boards involved in running the village, all staffed by volunteers. “They are your neighbors, too,” he said. “They make decisions. Sometimes they may be wrong. But you can appeal those decisions. There are remedies for decisions made.”
Pietrosanti said his department could only enforce village and state laws, and if people have problems with those laws, “that’s a board problem.” Flisser and Toder agreed, and said the board would continue to listen to the residents and continue to discuss methods and procedures for doing business. “This isn’t over, it’s just beginning,” Toder said. “And I promise you that, no matter what we do to fix it, it won’t be perfect.”
