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Ron Muzzo sat under an awning at a table in his backyard, took a swig of his Blue Moon beer and leaned forward. He rifled through the papers in his folder until he found the one he sought.
Muzzo has collected documents and maps during the past year and a half to wage a battle against the Village of Pelham Board of Trustees. He attended Tuesday nights board meeting as one of many detractors to the village's plan to declare Hillside and Brookside avenues as public streets.
If the streets becomes public, the Picture House will be allowed to lay a water runoff pipe onto Brookside Avenue, dumping excess rainwater off the roof of the building. According to the current plan, the pipe would release the water onto the end of the street in front of his home at 1 Brookside Ave.
Muzzo is one of the many residents on the street who oppose the plan, though the people in the Clovelly complex, also partially located on Brookside Ave., have their own stake in the fight.
"Everyone's concerns are different," Muzzo said. "Clovelly is just concerned about the parking. I'm concerned about the water coming into my driveway."
Muzzo, 70, said he is worried water dumped in front of his home would become stagnant and cause mosquitos to swarm outside his house. He added that he and his wife would not be able to handle illness caused by mosquitos and dirty water and doesnt want his grandchildren to deal with these problems when they visit.
Muzzo said the Picture House instead should run the pipe into a dry creek that sits a few feet behind his house. However, he believes the theater will not do that because the creek is on state property and state engineers and officials would have to get involved, creating more hurdles for the theater to clear.
Though he has contacted both the New York State Department of Health and the office of New York State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, both offices told Muzzo that the debate is a local matter and the state would not get involved. So he decided to take another course of action by attracting attention to his cause.
The 70-year-old has lived at his Brookside Ave. home for 32 years. Now he is afraid that the privacy he has enjoyed for so long will be disrupted if the board passes the resolution.
"They're going to get what they want because they have clout and the taxpayer's money behind them," Muzzo said. "Once it's done, I'm going to have to live with it. Barring litigation, I'm going to have to live with it."
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