Mt. Pleasant Planning Board Closes Kensico Preserve Hearing; Vote Awaits

The public hearing for Toll Brothers’ 162-townhouse project Kensico Preserve was closed last week by the Mount Pleasant Planning Board with the application likely to soon be considered for final approval.

Similar to previous sessions, most of the eight speakers who participated in the final session voiced concerns over traffic that they believe would be generated in the area of the 165-acre property off of Columbus Avenue in Thornwood. Despite the decision, two of the six attending board members voted against closing the hearing.

Concerns arose about overloading Westlake Drive, in particular, and that there was no mitigation proposed for the added volume.

Thornwood resident Jason Billig pointed out how an updated study from last year was conducted in June when Westlake High School no longer had a full schedule of classes and when the athletic fields at the high school and middle school campus were still under construction.

Furthermore, information from the initial traffic study used in the previous 73-unit Baker Residential application at the same site is obsolete.

“I’m not against building the development, but as previously stated, we should not build an entrance or an exit onto Westlake Drive, period,” Billing said. “It’s a public safety issue. We’re not asking to stop the project; we’re just asking for the basics, which is to keep our neighborhood safe.”

Billig said if Westlake Drive must be used as an access point for the development, certain classes of larger vehicles should be forced to use Columbus Avenue, including all deliveries, that the use of Westlake Drive be prohibited during morning and afternoon weekday high-volume periods and only allowing right turns out of the development onto Westlake.

“These are all simple solutions to improve the safety of the area and would have no impact on this project moving forward,” he said.

Greenwood Lane resident Ronald Prezner also criticized the use of Westlake Drive, saying it makes little sense for residents and visitors to Kensico Preserve to use that side as a main access point. Instead, there’s an existing traffic signal on Columbus Avenue between Lozza Drive and EF Academy, which should be used, he said.

For Westlake Drive residents, the street was designed as an access point for the neighborhood and for vehicles going to and from the high school and middle school campus, Prezner said. He recommended the board reach out to the Town of New Castle, which improved the area around Chappaqua Crossing where 91 units are being built along with a sizeable retail component.

“We’ve got a very good Planning Board in this town, but this is a huge project and I think getting insight from other people may be a benefit to both our town and also help our board,” Prezner said.

Foxwood Lane resident Cris Dibenedetto cautioned the board against overdeveloping and not to build out the town aggressively.

Dibenedetto also expressed some skepticism that the prohibition of anyone under 19 years old to live at the development to prevent any impacts on the Mount Pleasant School District will hold indefinitely.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen 20 years down the road,” he said. “There are no guarantees in life except for paying taxes and dying. You know that. You’ve got to watch.”

Kensico Preserve is estimated to provide all taxing jurisdictions a combined $2.2 million in tax revenue each year, including more than $1.9 million to the schools and about $166,000 to the town.

One of the speakers, Fred Kopilak of Eastview Drive in Valhalla, called on the board to approve the project because seniors need an option to downsize and remain in town. He said with the development being a 55-and-up community, chances are it will generate less traffic than if there were younger families living there.

Each of the units will have three bedrooms and two-and-a-half stories and measure between 2,400 and 2,800 square feet. Up to 25 percent of the units will be offered at a reduced size.

Of the site’s 165 acres, 49 acres will be deeded to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and about 18 acres to the town. Mount Pleasant officials have indicated that they hope to use the land for recreation purposes.

The board approved closing the hearing, although members Joan Lederman and Eileen McClain dissented. Neither one of those members provided an explanation for their decision.