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Neighbors file appeal to P&Z for housing development decision

SHARON — The Planning and Zoning Commission’s recent decision to approve an application for a controversial housing development faces an appeal from outraged neighbors.

The appellants are Pablo Cisilino and Silvina Leone, who have been outspoken against the proposed development on Hospital Hill Road since the public hearing began in March of this year. Cisilino and Leone entered the appeal Aug. 29 alleging they are “classically aggrieved” by P&Z’s decision in that the enjoyment and valuation of their properties will be negatively impacted by “noise, traffic and diminished viewshed.” The filing was handled by attorneys Kenneth Slater Jr. and Richard Roberts of Halloran Sage LLP on behalf of Cisilino and Leone.

Leone is listed as the owner of 71 Hospital Hill Road, a directly abutting property of the proposed development, and both appellants as the owners of another property on Amenia Road.

The appeal argues that the Commission’s approval “was illegal under the general standards for special exceptions contained in the zoning regulations in that it ignored uncontroverted professional testimony that the project would have a severe negative impact on the value of neighboring properties as well as lay testimony to the same effect from affected neighbors.”

It alleges the Commission was unlawful in that its Aug. 13 decision “was not supported by the record” and that the application does not comply with Sharon’s zoning regulations.

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Sharon voters split opioid settlement funds between ambulance, regional programs

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The decision Thursday, Aug. 27, came two months after voters rejected an earlier Board of Finance-backed proposal, 27-11, at a June 18 town meeting. Residents had expressed concern about directing all the money, which must be used for opioid remediation, to a regional organization rather than supporting the town’s emergency medical service.

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Photo by Jessica YurkoMillerton author Janice Erlbaum will celebrate the 20th anniversary of her memoir “Girlbomb” at Black Rabbit Dispensary on Sept. 5.
Photo by Jessica YurkoMillerton author Janice Erlbaum will celebrate the 20th anniversary of her memoir “Girlbomb” at Black Rabbit Dispensary on Sept. 5.
With memoir...the character only knows what the character knows.
Janice Erlbaum

In “Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir,” published in 2006, author Janice Erlbaum wrote about the years after she left her family’s Brooklyn apartment at 15, moving through shelters, group homes, squats, clubs and the streets of 1980s New York while somehow continuing to attend high school. The book has sold more than 75,000 copies, stayed in print for two decades and continues to find new readers.

Now Erlbaum, 57, lives in Millerton and on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 7:30 p.m., she will celebrate the 20th anniversary of “Girlbomb” with a reading at Black Rabbit Dispensary. The event is open to the public and will be livestreamed on Instagram.

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Spencertown’s 21st Festival Of Books
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On Saturday, Sept. 5, the Spencertown Academy Arts Center in Spencertown, New York, will host its 21st annual Book Festival.

With over 20,000 gently used books, CDs, DVDs and vinyl donated by the community, it took volunteers 45 days — and an estimated 750 hours —to set the whole thing up. Most of that time was spent sorting through the vast troves of donations and organizing them by category.

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A scene from last year’s Dance Barn.

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Dive Barn is the brainchild of dancer, teacher and choreographer Sayer Mansfield, who has dedicated her life to contemporary and experimental dance. She studied in the Department of Dance at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance. She’s performed with companies including Pilobolus, Compagnie Marie Chouinardand Mark Morris Dance Group. Her work has been featured in films including “Little Women,” “Maestro” and “Sproutland.” She has served on the faculties of Jacob’s Pillow, Phillips Academy Andover, as well as Harvard and Yale Universities.

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Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.