STOMP BITS (Please share with your friends, family and neighbors): Operation STOMP has organized now for over six weeks, and maintains a Petition of over 2,500 constituents in complete opposition to the entire way this project has been handled to date. First, the failure of the County to conduct an environmental assessment to mitigate the adverse impact of the indiscriminate removal of over 200, decades-old healthy oak trees--which are incredible public investments that should be preserved rather than destroyed in as many cases possible. Counsel at the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) upon reviewing the specifics of this roadway project strongly advised an environmental assessment per SEQRA environmental law should have been conducted; calling this indiscriminate tree removal effort one of the most strong-armed, insensitive approaches ever observed. Second, the failure of the County to meaningfully inform as well as involve the community. Third, after organizing as a community group, the blatant disregard of countless residents, particularly residents who reside on S. Oyster Bay Road, who have legitimate concerns regarding air quality, traffic noise, trees serving as physical barriers against a truck-laden, highly trafficked roadway, and property values. Fourth, the failure of the County to consider, explore, and exhaust methods that could have been utilized to preserve as many trees possible while simultaneously repairing sidewalks. This is $10 million dollar project in scope while we are operating under a major deficit in this County. There are methods to repair sidewalks efficiently, and importantly, incredibly less expensively. These methods were not even considered, an arborist not even consulted. We (along with every state-legislator in the districts covering this roadway) have asked for not only a temporary halt to this project, but something as simple as a public forum, a town hall, a meeting to review everyones comments and feedback, (for and even against this project), these requests were completely denied. We also wanted this forum as an opportunity to engage in meaningful discussion and seriously examine the field-tested, well-researched, highly used sidewalk repair / tree preservation methods that countless municipalities utilize across the Country, including even the Town of Oyster Bay and New York City. This is the second wide-scale tree-removal effort in the last 4 months (Seaford, August 2014) where the public was left completely in the dark, 176 trees removed overnight. A comprehensive traffic study for a heavily trafficked roadway such as S. Oyster Bay Road (where speed cameras are necessary), and an environmental study, even before reaching the topic of sidewalks and sensible methods to address the trees, would have been the appropriate avenue to follow first--and the failure to complete these two key items and brazenly disregard all constituent opinions on these matters, is of prime public health, legal, ethical, and environmental concern. #savethetrees #operationstomp
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 03:08:46 +0000
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