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Initiation Of An Investigation Over Ethics Breach Prompts Resignation
A controversial development proposal has done more than simply raise questions about the design of a housing complex and where it should be sited. It has torn at the heart of the fabric of a small village.
“The Village Board of Trustees and I wish to thank Mr. Mitchell for his service to the Village of Piermont,” said Mayor Bruce Tucker.
In the latest fallout over the controversy surrounding the proposed 14-unit, multi-family rental dwelling at 447-477 Piermont Avenue in Piermont, Piermont Trustee Nate Mitchell resigned over the revelation of emails and texts that question whether Mitchell breached his official duties when he revealed confidential information with members of the public who’ve been fighting the building proposal.
In a letter read aloud at Piermont’s Tuesday board meeting, Mitchell wrote, “In light of the agenda item for this evening’s meeting discussing initiating an investigation of me, I feel it is in the interest of the Village for me to tender my resignation as Village Trustee, effective immediately.”
Mitchell has been a Village of Piermont Trustee since 2018.
What led to Mitchell’s resignation was the FOIL-ed surfacing of hundreds of text and email exchanges between Mitchell, Robert Zitt and others. Zitt has been leading the opposition of the building proposal by Piermont Developers LLC, and a zone change that makes the development possible.
While a group of residents, including Zitt’s wife Valentina, filed suit against the village to stop the project, attorney Lee Lefkowitz in August, who is representing the developer, claimed the text exchanges showed Mitchell was sharing information with Zitt derived from a confidential memo sent to Village Trustees by the Village of Piermont attorney Lino Sciaretta.
A review of the FOIL by RCBJ revealed hundreds of texts, emails and direct message exchanges between Mitchell and opponents of the project. The Piermont Code of Ethics, Standards of Conduct, specifically precludes Village Trustees from disclosing confidential information acquired in the course of their official duties without proper authorization.
“The Village Board of Trustees and I wish to thank Mr. Mitchell for his service to the Village of Piermont,” said Mayor Bruce Tucker, in a text on Wednesday.
In another exchange on April 24, between Mitchell and someone known as “Alexis,” Mitchell wrote: “It’s unclear if I am authorized to do any of that as a trustee on my own. I’m supposed to ask Lino for all legal advice. Sharing village confidential information or issues could be a breach of my oath and get me sued or charged criminally. I have to be very careful, but it is frustrating to have no other legal guidance.”
The exchange related to strategies Mitchell was discussing with “Alexis” to undermine the progress of the development project.
The tawdry tale of a village’s unwinding over a proposed project has been playing out since the village’s passage of a rezoning plan along its Main Street last March that gives wider berth to a proposed 14-unit apartment complex’s land-use approval process.
In 2023, Mitchell, along with the rest of the board trustees, voted in favor of the zoning amendment creating the CBM zone that allowed residential development in the downtown by Special Permit.
The new zoning law, passed in March of 2023, created the CBM (Central Business Multi-Use) zone, which would allow residential multifamily buildings along historic Piermont Avenue.
The developer’s boxy, modern design offended many residents, who called on village officials to preserve the historic Victorian character of the central business district.
When residents discovered what they perceived to be a flaw in the passage of the underlying CBM zoning that allowed the residential project, rather than oppose the project at the Village land use boards, they chose instead to file a lawsuit in Rockland County Supreme Court in April to stop the Village from hearing the developer’s application.
The flaw, an alleged failure of compliance with a legal requirement to refer the new zoning law to the County Planning Department for review, could void the new zoning and derail the developer’s plans.
In April, four Piermont residents, who oppose the proposal to construct a modern multifamily residential building in the Village’s historic downtown, filed a lawsuit in Rockland Supreme Court to void the village’s zoning law and to stop the developer’s application before any approvals or permits are issued.
The plaintiffs are Janice Young, Laura Healy-Grznar, John Grznar, and Valentina Zitt, all of whom live within 500 feet of the proposed project. They allege the new Zoning Law and the CBM zone are illegal and have asked the Court to declare the local law “null and void.”
Rockland Supreme Court Justice Hal Greenwald in May halted, at least temporarily, the processing of an application pending before the village for a Special Permit to construct the multi-family dwelling unit at 447-477 Piermont Avenue.
Greenwald entered an order granting the residents the relief sought. The order derails the application, prevents the processing or granting of any approvals, and precludes the Village from holding a public meeting unless and until it complies with New York’s Open Meetings Law by making the materials available related to the application available to the public.
Greenwald is set to rule on whether to continue or vacate the temporary injunction that precluded the Village from hearing the developer’s application on Sept. 17. A decision voiding the CBM zone would send the Village back to the drawing board to either leave the old zoning in place or recreate some version of the CBM zone with County Planning Board input.
