Elmwood Country Club Development

  Letter to the Editor.

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To All:

The Public Hearing on the DEIS for the Elmwood Country Club Development was closed on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021 but the Public Record will remain open to accept comments/concerns/questions until Monday, Feb. 22, 2021.

I strongly encourage everyone in our community to send an email ASAP to the Town Board expressing your opinion concerning the construction of 175 Town House Condos on this property which would require 2 zoning changes and be assessed at 60% of what Single Family Homes would be assessed at, thereby losing tax revenues for the Town, County, 2 School Districts (Elmsford & Greenburgh Central) and the Fairview Fire District.

This Condo plan also calls for a donation to the Town of 14.2 acres for use as ballfields. This would remove the property from the tax rolls and require the Town to be responsible for the future maintenance of the property. In addition, the developer would be donating the property "in lieu of" the required fee of $4,320 per unit to the Greenburgh Parkland Escrow Fund, which would be a loss of $756,000 to the Fund.

The Alternative Plan B in the DEIS for 119 Single Family Homes would not require any zone changes and would preserve the character of our neighborhood.

With this plan, the developer would be required to pay $8,640 per home, over $1 million dollars, into the Parkland Escrow Fund.

The Condo plan would result in a density increase per acre which is not in accordance with the 2016 Greenburgh Comprehensive Plan.

Feel free to share this email with your Greenburgh friends and neighbors as this development will set a precedent for all future developments in Unincorporated Greenburgh.

 State the following in your email:

Please include my statement in the Public Record re: TB 18-02 - Elmwood Preserve.

        

To: townboard@greenburghny.com

Cc: tlewis@greenburghny.com (Town Attorney)

      gduquesne@greenburghny.com (Planning Commissioner)

  townclerk@greenburghny.com (Judith Beville)

      clobrutto@chazencompanies.com (Caren Lobrutto)

  wwcagreenburgh@gmail.com

Subject: Public Hearing Comments: Elmwood Preserve - TB 18-02

Note: Request a confirmation that your email has been received and placed in the Public Record for TB 18-02 - Elmwood Preserve

Dorrine Livson

President

Worthington-Woodlands Civic Association (WWCA)

Elmwood Country Club - Ridgewood Development

I find it necessary to respond to “Hartsdale Resident’s” August 30, 2018 comments in response to my Letter to The Editor of August 25, 2018.

The first comment regarding the reservation of parkland or payment of fees in lieu thereof is premature. Such discussion properly takes place during the final stage of approval of subdivision and/or site applications regarding residential developments.

And, according to both NYS enabling legislation and the Greenburgh Code, it is the Town’s decision, not the developer’s, whether parkland should be reserved or recreation escrow fees paid. In the Ridgewood case, no subdivision or site plan application has been submitted.

Hartsdale Resident accuses the Town Board of “holding the developer  hostage,” requiring the developers “to submit plans for something  they have zero intention of doing,” and delaying projects  “for months if not years before referring projects to the planning board.”

Hartsdale Resident is misinformed. This application does not require  Planning Board input at this time. The only application Ridgewood  has submitted is for rezoning property and amendments to the official  Zoning Map. Zoning changes are discretionary actions that properly  belong before the Town Board. If it so chooses, the Town Board can decide not to entertain the application.

Hartsdale Resident is agreeing with me when he/she states that "the exploration of alternative uses for the site and their impacts  should be done during the SEQR review.”

If the Town Board chooses to consider this application, the following  steps, previously used when considering other large projects  (The Jefferson, Regeneron, Avalon, Stop & Shop, GameOn)  should be employed:

• Issue an Request for Qualifications (RFQ) or Request for Proposal (RFP) for an outside independent consultant Interview replying consultants

• Declare Town Board intent to be Lead Agency under State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) and identify the action as a Type I

• Choose the consultant

• Affirm Lead Agency status, issue a Positive Declaration, order that a DEIS be prepared and direct the consultant to prepare a draft “scope”

• Hold public scoping session(s)

• Refer the Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS) when prepared to the Planning Board and other involved agencies for review and recommendations

• Hold public hearing(s) on the DEIS

• Prepare an Final Environmental Impact Study (FEIS)

• Prepare Findings

Dorrine Livson

President

Worthington Woodlands Civic Association