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ALTERNATIVE PLAN TO DEMOLITION as presented to the Village Board of Trustees on June 29, 2010.

St. Paul's Update and Current Status-Fall 2009
Save St. Paul's Now: Protect Garden City's DNA (a video presented in conjunction with The Garden City Historical Society
The Garden City Historical Society

January-February 2008 Ad Series in the Garden City News
Wake Up Garden City...Now is the Time to Ask the Tough Questions
What are the True Costs of St. Paul's Redevelopment...Ask the Questions
Community Space and Historic Preservation: Key Aspects of a Credible Plan

January-March 2008, CSSP Letters to the Editor, Garden City News/Life
We're Still Waiting
Surveys of Community Need for Space
Analysis of the financial aspects of AvalonBay's proposal as presented during January 2008
Response to former mayor's Letter to the Editor
Trustee Mauk Should Step Down from Mayor's Committee
CSSP Continues Commitment to St. Paul's solution and Commends Trustee Mauk on Resignation

Link to Garden City News Editorial regarding Parkland Alienation

CSSP Developer Paul Rabinovitch of Canus Corporation writes Letter to the Editor, Garden City Life, October 12, 2007

Committee to Save St. Paul's Believes in Community Strength...read the
Statement following Recommendation by the Mayor's Committee and Vote by the Board of Trustees,
October 4, 2007

Letter to Mayor and Village Trustees, dated September 25, 2007
"The Committee to Save St. Paul's/Canus Corporation team has proposed the most credible plan."
Letter calls for realistic timetable for Board of Trustees decision and designation of a developer,
and attention to the lengthy State process for relief of "public trust" and "parkland" designations.

View a condensed version of the Committee's proposal for St. Paul's, Proposal at a Glance
Full RFP Response submitted by Committee to Village on October 5, 2006
Make your voice heard. Let Village Trustees and Senator Hannon know you favor this proposal: Sample Support Letter
Join our Petition Campaign in support of public control and public use of St. Paul's
St. Paul's School is mentioned in a News12 Editorial, "Use It or Lose It," about saving Long Island Landmarks. See the editorial and the Committee's Response.
Community Center and Senior Center Questionnaire
 Read about our development partner, Paul Rabinovitch and his firm, Canus Corporation
"The Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program"

News Stories:
July 11, 2006 - Court Ruling Reveals Trustees' Deception
June 6, 2006 - Committee to Save St. Paul's Conducts Tour
May 17, 2006 - Lawsuit Uncovers Shameless Deception by Village Officials
January 12, 2006 - What's Behind the St. Paul's Private Development Plan?

An Important Message to the Residents of the Village of Garden City:
What’s behind the St. Paul’s Private Development Plan?
January 12, 2006

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Just a few weeks ago, the Board of Trustees held a meeting to reveal their plan to sell the historical St. Paul’s building to a private developer for condominium construction. After committing more than $150,000 to consultants to study the “feasibility” of a “high end residential use”, they stated that the Board intended to move toward a decision on such private development very quickly. One Trustee explained that the Village had “exhausted all other options” for the building and that this plan represented the only choice except for demolition.

St. Paul’s is a Public Trust
Despite the fact that the courts have determined that St. Paul’s was acquired for public use and is held in “public trust” – an opinion upheld on appeal – the Board has now abandoned any effort to make public use of any part of the building. Instead, it has authorized the expenditure of many thousands of dollars more, to promote and market the concept of
private commercial development. Why?

The Private Plan Won’t Work
Ironically, the private real estate consulting team hired by the Board to determine the feasibility of private development concluded that it was not feasible to incorporate into the project many of the features that the Trustees established as desirable, including:

- preservation of the chapel and other significant interior features
- setting aside of some space for community us
- keeping the land under Village control
- accomplish redevelopment within the existing building envelope
- demolish Ellis Hall

Instead, the consultants determined that

- nearly 7 acres of valuable public land must be sold.
- there would be NO space for community use.
- many of the most important historical features, including the magnificent chapel, would be demolished,
- Ellis Hall, which is full of asbestos, would be rehabilitated to make way for additional condos.
- plus, some “minimal,” yet undefined amount of new construction would be needed to build a pool and health club for this new, exclusive condominium complex.

In all, there would be 76 private, high-end condominiums (some supposedly even in the basement?) on nearly 7 acres of private land in the middle of St. Paul’s fields.

Most of the residents who attended the meeting expressed their disapproval of this plan, for good reason. Simply stated, the presentation confirmed that this latest plan for private commercial development at St. Paul’s is not “feasible” unless the Village sells the property to a developer for almost nothing, gives up Village control, allows desecration of historic features, and surrenders all hope of creating community space for Village residents.

Unfortunately, one Trustee arrogantly asserted that the residents who were present were not representative of the sentiments of the Village. We strongly disagree. We believe that, as the Village-wide survey clearly showed, a majority of residents want some form of public use at St. Paul’s. Moreover, they are willing to pay for it, provided it is reasonable and affordable. At a recent Estates Property Owners meeting, there was an almost unanimous show of hands in favor of community use of St. Paul’s.

Therefore, the Committee for the Public Trust at St. Paul’s, and the Committee to Save St. Paul’s, have initiated a lawsuit to stop the Trustees from unnecessarily and illegally spending taxpayer dollars to market the private commercial development of St. Paul’s. They have committed $150,000 of our money to this misguided purpose.

Public Control is Better for All of Us

We believe that all public options have not been explored. And, if the current Board is not willing to fairly and objectively examine a detailed public option on their own, we will independently retain experts in historical preservation and community planning to make recommendations on the best and highest public use of St. Paul’s. We believe that is what the residents want and deserve.

St. Paul’s is in the heart of our Village. It could be the heart of community activity. With proper planning, a public alternative can be developed which will benefit all the residents, improve our property values, and serve as a priceless legacy for future generations.

We urge you to write to your Trustees and encourage them to re-think this foolish pursuit of private commercial development at St. Paul’s.