STONY POINT, N.Y. – After voters narrowly rejected selling the town golf course to a local developer, Supervisor Jim Monaghan said this week he believes any deal is off the table and blamed false fears of high-density housing for scaring off support.
Residents voted down the town board-supported sale of Patriot Hills Golf Course and 26 former Letchworth Village acres on Tuesday by 118 votes — 2,265 to 2,147, according to unofficial Board of Elections results. Monaghan said the uncounted write-ins and absentee ballots are unlikely to change the outcome.
Monaghan said he spoke with the developer, Raja Amar, and Amar told him he and his partners are not interested at this point in renegotiating or leasing the property from the town.
“I believe we lost a great opportunity to revitalize the Letchworth property and golf course,” Monaghan said.
Monaghan said people believed the false claims the property could be used for high-density housing — linked to Hasidic Jewish builders. He said the property is not zoned for high-density housing and Amar had no intentions of reselling the land.
“How do you change that perception?” he said. “People didn’t vote against a new community center or other amenities and property improvements.”
Democrat supervisor candidate Michael Diederich, who opposed the sales conditions but lost to Monaghan Tuesday, said people “instinctively knew selling to Raj on his terms was a bad deal, thus the ‘no’ vote.”
Diederich argued the property could be flipped to developers seeking high-density housing, raising the specter of Hasidic Jewish builders controlling the land and potentially the town government. He’s been critical of Hasidic Jewish development.
Under the contract signed by the town board, Amar would spend up to $6.4 million to build a community center, $6 million to demolish or remove asbestos from eight buildings on the Letchworth property and pay $3 million to the town, the supervisor has said.
The town is paying off a $25 million bond in 2022 covering the 1999 purchase of the property from the state and the golf course and clubhouse.
The town bought the property three years after the state in 1996 closed Letchworth Village, a facility for the developmental disabled. Stony Point owns 10 asbestos-laden buildings, with five in use.
Argument over sale
The proposed sale came after years of debate and a petition drive and failed court fight by advocates who wanted a public referendum on selling the 18-hole course.
Diederich and sale opponents pressed the issue that the property could be flipped to another developer who would seek to build multiple-family high-density housing. They said such a development would change the semi-rural nature of the community.
Diederich and other opponents argued the sale was a bad business deal for taxpayers, but a bounty for Raja and his partners. Diederich took the town to court to force a public vote on the sale of the golf course and Letchworth property.
Diederich offered his plan, which included seeking bids for operators of the golf course and clubhouse with a catering facility, and developing the Letchworth land. He also advocated for a task force of citizens and others to evaluate options.
“As to both parcels of land, the overarching concern must be potential future undesirable use (for example high-density housing and/or a tax-exempt religious college),” Diederich said.
Despite the golf course defeats, Monaghan and his town board running mates, Keith Williams and Todd Rose, won the election overwhelmingly.
Monaghan said he is moving on and plans on establishing a committee of local business people and residents to look into economic opportunities in town.
Monaghan said the town has developed a reputation of anti-development through opposition from local activist groups. He said he’s concerned the golf course sale defeat will have a ripple effect.
He said despite the golf course sale defeat, he and the board members were elected because voters know they have the best interests of the town at heart.
Diederich said Democrats overall did not have good messaging to overcome the general inclination to vote anti-President Joe Biden in the suburbs.
“Many Dems I spoke with are not happy with the Dem Party,” he said. “I had a great plan for approaching Patriot Hills, yet it seems too few voters were listening or cared.”
Steve Lieberman covers government, breaking news, courts, police, and investigations. Reach him at slieberm@lohud.com. Twitter: @lohudlegal.
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