Saturday, August 25, 2018

Letter To The Editor





To A Better Greenburgh,

A Scarsdale Inquirer article of 8/10/18, concerning the proposed development of the former Elmwood Country Club by the New Jersey based company, Ridgewood Realty, contained mis-information and omissions.

The “pre-submission conference” with the Planning Board that was requested by Ridgewood should NOT have been granted because there is no provision in NYS Town law enabling legislation or the Code of the Town of Greenburgh that allows an applicant seeking a map change and proposed rezoning to bypass the normal procedure of first going to the Town Board. According to the Code of the Town of Greenburgh, this type of meeting is allowed for site plan or sub-division approval only. It is not allowed for projects that require changes of zoning. All zoning changes must be approved by the Town Board.

In a July 3rd letter to the Planning Board, Ridgewood blames the Town Board for delaying action on their application. The problem of the delay is not the fault of the Town Board. At a Town Board Work Session, a request was made to Ridgewood to submit their plans (site plans, landscaping, water course, steep slopes, utilities, roads, etc.) for the as-of-right 119 Single Family Homes development. To date, they have only submitted an engineer's rendering of the Single Family Homes. Ridgewood is the problem for the delay, not the Town Board.

In the article, Ridgewood claims that the Town House Condo proposal, an Adult 55+ Community, will generate $350,000 more tax revenue (Town, School, Fire District, etc.) than the Single Family Homes proposal. That statement is incorrect because of the fact that Town House Condo units are assessed at between 50-60% of their value as compared to 100% assessment of Single Family Homes. At comparable selling prices, the 119 Single Family Homes will generate more tax revenue than the 175 Town Houses.

Ridgewood also states that their traffic engineer says that “the traffic generated from the 175 unit development proved to be less than the traffic generated from the as-of-right 119 unit single family home plan”. At our Civic Association meeting, the Ridgewood CEO, made the statement that people over 55 do not go to work. That claim was strongly disputed by the association members. If that assumption is being used as a criteria for the traffic study, there is a major problem.

Our community strongly believes that a full comprehensive SEQRA review of the project should be conducted by an outside, independent consulting firm to study all the issues concerning this development: financial, density, environmental, traffic, alternative development options, etc., as has been done previously by the Town for major projects such as The Jefferson (JPI) and Regeneron.

Dorrine Livson
President
Worthington-Woodlands Civic Assoc.

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Shots Fired In Area

This story has been updated

Westchester County police, state police and Mount Pleasant police have responded to a shooting on the fourth floor of the Westchester County Medical Center. Apparently, a man in his 70's killed his wife, a patient at the hospital also in her seventies, before taking his own life. No information is being shared about the two deceased. The hospital regularly holds active shooter training for its staff.

The hospital complex at 100 Woods Road, is one of the region's several Level 1 Trauma Centers serving Westchester County. WCMC also maintains the only burn unit between New York City and Canada, after the burn center in Albany was closed.

Several nights ago, shots were also reportedly fired in the Payne Street and Winthrop Avenue area of the north Elmsford unincorporated section of Greenburgh. This is not the first incident there. The area also is very close to the Mazzaro Park recreational facility and a small convenience store.

It is unknown if anyone was struck by bullets during the shootings at the Mazzaro Park incident. We will report more as we learn more.

Friday, August 3, 2018

Community & Friends Day in North Elmsford

























You, your family and friends are invited to the North Elmsford Civic Association  Inc. 2nd Annual Community & Friends Day. This event will be held on Saturday August 05, 2017 from 12:00 pm til 7:30 pm at Massaro Park on Payne street. Live Entertainment will be provided by, Jazz sounds by Kenny Lee and the All stars, The Renaissance Youth musical group, and African Drummers.  The Association has also planned a full day of fun and activities including; Basketball Tournament, Bouncing Castle, Face Painting, Free swimming, and Sprinkler, Tennis, and Free Zumba. Other events also include Vendors/Foods, arts & crafts, clothes/accessories, and more.