Neighbors seek to reclaim view and privacy
When the Rosenberg family bought a house in 2013 on a hill rising from Route 9 in Philipstown, the views to the south and north were “1,000 percent blocked with trees,” said Beth Rosenberg.
To the south sat Cockburn Farms, which had been dormant for two decades. To the north was a single-family home at 201 Old West Point Road.
“We didn’t hear anything and didn’t see anything,” she said. 
Three years later, in 2016, Sean Barton and Joshua Maddocks bought and reopened Cockburn Farms to sell Christmas trees. Five years after that, Barton bought the home to the north, cut down trees and began operating, without town approval, a landscaping business.
“I would have never bought the property if it was sandwiched between two commercial properties,” said Mark Rosenberg. 
Now, some trees will be returning, courtesy of the Philipstown Planning Board, which is reviewing a request by Barton and his company, KPB Properties, to legalize its commercial use of 201 Old West Point Road.
KPB wants to construct a 7,400-square-foot, two-story building with an office and storage for landscaping equipment and materials. It will have eight parking spaces and an access road from Route 9 that runs along the south side of the Garrison Garage. The residence will remain.
A planting plan reviewed during a public hearing in February shows young trees along the front of the structure to screen it from Route 9 but no screening along the border with the Rosenberg property. “He absolutely needs to find not just one level of depth [of trees] but a couple of levels for Beth’s side because that just seems like an unnecessary burden for a homeowner,” said board Chair Neal Zuckerman.
When the hearing continued March 20, project engineer Margaret McManus opened with a revised proposal reflecting changes based on the board’s criticisms. Chief among them: Two rows of evergreens — up to 8 feet when planted, and as high as 50 feet when mature — to replace weathered stockade fencing.
Between the hearings, Beth Rosenberg said she and Barton discussed her family’s concerns while walking the property together. “Since we were able to talk, it ironed out some things,” she said. “It’s just the privacy.”
Both properties are in the Highway Commercial zone, which allows single-family homes to coexist with businesses ranging from art galleries and bed-and-breakfasts to light-industry, retail and service businesses.
Cockburn Farms had not grown trees since the mid-1990s when Barton and Maddocks, both from Garrison, purchased the property. In 2018, KPB bought 201 and 203 Old West Point Road.
According to Ron Gainer, the town’s engineer, Barton moved his landscaping business to 201 Old West Point Road “without benefit of any permits or town approvals,” resulting in multiple violations and a stop-work order.
When Barton introduced the project to the Planning Board in January 2024, his appearance “had been mandated by the court,” which required that he get a site plan approved by the board, said Gainer.
Last month, Beth Rosenberg told the Planning Board that she and her husband and three children were sometimes awakened as early as 6 a.m. by the sounds of mowers and other equipment, along with workers yelling and playing music. Those concerns spurred a discussion this month about ways to mitigate the impact on the family, including adjusting operating hours.
Barton told the board that when snowstorms occur, his employees arrive early to warm up the trucks and attach plows. Warming up a diesel truck can take up to 20 minutes, but “Route 9 traffic is louder than my trucks,” he said.
Beth Rosenberg said she understands that trucks need to idle but that the yelling and laughing from employees while they’re getting set up is a problem. “I’m not trying to stop them from doing business,” she said. “It’s just being more cognizant of what you’re doing at what hours.”
