Edgemont seeks to become seventh Greenburgh village

• Would be the first village created in Westchester since 1982
• Study says village could provide same services for less than what Greenburgh charges
• Town Supervisor Paul Feiner said only he could accept the petitions, but he was on vacation
• Neither the village clerk nor the town attorney would accept the petitions

Citizen activists in the Edgemont section of Greenburgh this week are seeking to create the town’s seventh village — and the newest municipality in Westchester since Rye Brook’s establishment in 1982.

Their effort, however, has been temporarily delayed until Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner returns from vacation.

The stakes are high in Greenburgh, Westchester largest town, with a population of 88,000, and myriad governments — 6 villages, 10 school districts, and 3 fire districts. The village of Edgemont, in the town’s southeast corner, would border Yonkers to the south, Scarsdale to the east, and the Sprain Brook Parkway to the west, and Hartsdale to the north.

Edgemont, which has about 7,600 residents, would be Greenburgh’s wealthiest village, according to a 68-page feasibility study drawn up by the citizen group. Median household income is $201,000 while the median house value is $848,000, and 79 percent of its adult residents over 25 have a college degree.

About half of Greenburgh’s population lies in the town’s unincorporated area — outside of the villages, in neighborhoods like Hartsdale, Edgemont, and Mayfair-Knollwood. Residents in the villages pay a pittance in town taxes — typically less than 2 percent of their tax bill — because services such as police and public works are handled by their village governments.

Those living in unincorporated Greenburgh get those services from the town, and about 16 percent of their total tax bills cover the town services. Though Edgemont residents comprise just 17 percent of the population of the unincorporated area, the homes and commercial properties along Central Avenue comprise 26 percent of its assessed value.

The study's bottom line is that Edgemont could provide local services cheaper for less than what it now pays Greenburgh, with a surplus of $2 million by its second year of incorporation.

If approved, the new village could contract with the town for certain services. That will require cooperation between Edgemont and the town government.

"I don't know why the town wants to start this process with this level of tension," said resident Jeff Sherwin, whose home back up on Sunningdale County Club on Oxford Lane. "We need to keep it amicable, so we can negotiate for reasonable services, with empathy for each others constraints."

Take your time

Feiner, meanwhile, insisted he just wanted to make sure he has enough time to make sure the petition has enough valid signatures to qualify for the vote.

"If I had less time to personally review the petitions, I wouldn't give me the opportunity to carefully review the signatures to see if the petition meets the threshold set by state law."

The campaign to create the town's seventh village also involves a political campaign, as the Edgemont Incorporation Committee will have to convince a majority of the area's 4,800 eligible voters that establishing the new government within the town is a good idea.

When the citizens arrived at Town Hall on Tuesday with their locked Sentry suitcase filled with 350 petitions containing 1,446 signatures and a check for $6,000, they were told by Town Clerk Judith Beville to return the next day to hand them to Town Attorney Tim Lewis.

But when they came back Wednesday, Lewis told them Feiner himself needed to be there to accept the petitions and hand the citizens a receipt.

Now, they expect to hand the petitions to Feiner on Monday morning.

EDGEMONT: Village feasibility study

LAUNCHED: Edgemont launches village petition drive 

REVALUATION: Greenburgh grapples with revaluation fallout

Feiner’s delay will stall the incorporation effort by a week, as once the petitions are submitted, the statutory time-clock begins to tick. The timetable puts the vote sometime in June — unless further delays emerge to push into the summer months when voter turnout would be lower.

“It’s not a good way to get started,” said Jon Lewis, a municipal finance professional who helped craft the Edgemont Incorporation Committee’s  feasibility study that details the financial implications of creating the village.

Sherwin, who has spearheaded the effort, was disappointed as well.

“I didn’t like the whole idea,” said Sherwin.  “Paul sees the law one way, he’s on vacation, and there will be no business transacted until he returns. You can’t do this. The law doesn’t move on the swings of Paul Feiner’s mood or his vacation schedule.”

Advantage for Edgemont

Edgemont’s campaign to form its own village will allow the village to control its zoning and development and develop its own programs for recreation, parking, sanitation removal and police.

Feiner, now in his 13th term, said it was the fault of the Edgemont residents, who needed to work around his vacation schedule.

“They basically filed during a holiday week,” said Feiner in a phone interview from Florida.

Town Hall was open and staffed during the week.

“You have been collecting these signatures for over a year," Feiner wrote in an email. "I personally think you’re playing games and trying to cause a controversy when you could have filed the petition last week or any previous week when we were around. Hope to see you on Sunday or next week. When I receive the petition in person, I will provide you with a receipt.”

Sherwin said he hadn't a clue that Feiner was away. Feiner said it wasn’t a secret in his circles that he was in Florida.

“I was telling a lot of people I was on vacation,” he said.

Town Attorney Tim Lewis said that Feiner had cited a section of village law which requires the petition to be filed with “a supervisor of the town in which all or the greatest part of such territory is located.”

But EIC’s attorney, Les Jacobowitz, insisted there was no impediment for other town officials to accept the petitions.

“The EIC believes that filing of the Edgemont Petition should have been accepted by the town yesterday, and we will attempt to refile today,” wrote Jacobowitz on Wednesday.

During Feiner’s absence, Town Board member Ken Jones had been authorized to serve as deputy supervisor, to serve as the supervisor’s designated replacement. Jones did not return a message seeking comment.

Sherwin said he spoke with Jones Tuesday night at a meeting about parking issues in Hartsdale, when he told the deputy supervisor about his travails in filing the petition with the town.

I asked Feiner why Jones couldn’t accept the petition.

“I'm not sure who is around and who isn't around," he said. "This is not that that the town is not functioning. There's no intention for delay."