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February 24, 2014   

 

Curtain Up on the Final Act

Dear Fellow Congregant, 

The evening of Tuesday March 4, the curtain rises on the final act of our little drama -- getting town approval for our new synagogue. In Act I, we acquired the land; during Act II, the site (with the town's approval) was reconfigured to our needs; in Act III, the Inland Wetlands & Watercourses Agency (IWWA) unanimously approved our project. Their comments made clear their view that the synagogue will be a great success for the neighborhood while utterly rejecting the alarmist and exaggerated claims of opponents.  For the final acts of this approval process, we go before Planning and Zoning (P&Z) on March 4, and before the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) on March 5.

I'd like to point out that despite all the noise and hoopla, GRS has been successful in each step of the process, and will be so again in this next step.  We may ping-pong once or twice between Planning and Zoning and the Zoning Board of Appeals before it's over, but sooner than you might think, we will be breaking ground.

Since it is a drama, we must pay attention not only to substantive matters (which are well in hand) but theatrical as well.  GRS needs you to attend these meetings.  Some opponents claim that they alone speak for "the community."  Your presence and support provides proof that they do not and reminds the Commission that we too are part of the community. 

We can be proud of the work that has been done in designing our new spiritual home. It's worth remembering (I've mentioned this before) that GRS is in an extremely strong position -- morally, ethically, aesthetically, and financially. There's nothing wrong or even unusual about building a house of worship in a residential neighborhood; in fact, 30 of the 35 places of worship in Greenwich are in residential zones. No one is being harmed by our efforts nor can anyone who has seen the current condition of 92 Orchard and its structures possibly say that we are not improving the area; our beautiful building and its landscaping will be a vast improvement. Last but far from least, we have the financial resources to accomplish our goals.
  
We have always acknowledged that our project raises legitimate questions and concerns.  But there comes a point when the questions have been answered, the concerns have been addressed, and the remaining "issues" shown to be without merit.  We are fortunate that the town engineers and the Planning and Zoning Commission members are fair-minded and seek to be objective. I'm certain they will find, as did their colleagues at the Wetlands Agency, that our project meets and even exceeds the relevant standards.

The Planning and Zoning Commission meets on Tuesday, March 4 in the Town Meeting Room at Town Hall, starting at 7.30 pm.  Our presentation will probably start around 8.  The Zoning Board of Appeals meets Wednesday March 5 in the Cone Meeting Room on the 2nd floor of Town Hall at 8 pm.  I hope to see you at both, or at least one, of these meetings.

 

 

Best regards,

 

robert's signature

Robert Birnbaum  

 
phone:203-629-0018
fax:  203-629-0613