Candidate for Supervisor calls the proposal “illegal spot zoning” that would break the Town’s promise to protect its great open spaces.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — NEW CITY, NY (June 10, 2026)
Eugene Bondar, candidate for Clarkstown Supervisor, today made a statement for the record in firm opposition to the proposed application to rezone the Paramount Country Club property from R-160 to R-22, calling on the Town Board to reject what he described as “a direct assault on the foundational principles of land use planning in Clarkstown.”
“This is not a routine zoning matter,” Bondar said. “This proposal strikes at the very heart of this Town’s commitment to its residents and its own laws.”
The existing R-160 Conservation Density Residence District is the most protective zoning designation in Clarkstown. Under Town Code § 290-6(O), the zone exists to protect the Town’s scenic resources — including streams, wooded areas, steep slopes, large open spaces, and scenic vistas — to minimize development near streams and marshes, and to protect the watershed of the Hackensack River.
A Seven-Fold Increase in Density
The requested R-22 zone would permit a seven-fold increase in density, allowing lots of just half an acre where the law currently requires nearly four acres per home. Bondar warned the consequences are predictable and severe: the permanent loss of one of Clarkstown’s great open spaces and an immense new strain on schools, water, and emergency services.
Bondar stressed that the project’s traffic cannot be analyzed in isolation. It would compound existing congestion and the imminent additional traffic from developments already in various stages of approval — and those soon to be proposed in downtown New City. “This rezoning does not just add to the problem; it acts as a multiplier, threatening to push our already burdened infrastructure beyond its breaking point,” he said.
The Supervisor’s Preservation Hypocrisy
Bondar pointed to the profound contradiction of the moment: even as the application is pending, the Town Supervisor is publicly asking the State for authorization to create a Community Preservation Act — a fund that, in the Supervisor’s own words, would “preserve open space, scenic vistas, and historic places” and “safeguard our community character.”
“It is a stunning contradiction to ask residents to pay a new tax to preserve open space with one hand, while preparing to give away a crown jewel of Clarkstown’s open space to a developer with the other,” Bondar said. “Approving this rezoning would make a mockery of any community preservation effort before it even begins.”
A Textbook Case of Illegal Spot Zoning
Bondar, an attorney, stated that the proposal presents a clear case of illegal spot zoning. New York law disfavors singling out a parcel of land for a use classification totally different from that of the surrounding area, for the benefit of the property owner and to the detriment of other owners. See Rodgers v. Vill. of Tarrytown, 302 N.Y. 115 (1951).
“Creating a high-density R-22 island within a sea of low-density, conservation-focused zoning is the textbook definition of spot zoning,” Bondar said. The rezoning is inconsistent with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan, serves only the financial interests of the developer rather than the general welfare of the community, and is an arbitrary and capricious action that invites legal challenge.
A Critically Dangerous Precedent
Approving the application, Bondar warned, would send a clear signal to every developer that the Town’s most protective zoning designation is negotiable and can be discarded for profit. “If the Board is willing to sacrifice this cornerstone of our open space, what other R-160 parcel is safe?” he asked. The decision would open the floodgates to speculative rezoning applications on every other golf course, estate, and large tract in Clarkstown — rendering the Town’s conservation zoning meaningless and replacing the stability and predictability of the Comprehensive Plan with “the chaos of deal-by-deal zoning.”
“Your duty as a Board is not just to evaluate a single application, but to uphold the integrity of the entire zoning code,” Bondar concluded. “I respectfully urge you to honor your legal and ethical obligations, consider the dangerous precedent you would be setting, and vote NO on the application to rezone the Paramount Country Club.”
Media inquiries: inquiry@voteforbondar.com — Bondar for Clarkstown, P.O. Box 310, New City, NY 10956