Chappaqua Affordable Housing Plan Moves Closer to Approval
The Chappaqua affordable housing project moved to within one step of approval early Thursday evening after the New Castle Town Board passed a series of required resolutions related to the proposed 28-unit building.
In a split 3-2 decision, the board approved a conditioned negative declaration stating that Conifer Realty’s Chappaqua Station proposal for Hunts Place would not have a significant effect on the environment. It also reaffirmed two votes–adoption of a local law containing amendments to the town’s workforce housing law and another stating that the amendments would not cause a significant effect on the environment under the state’s Environmental Quality Review Act. Both measures passed 4-1 during Tuesday night’s board meeting.
Supervisor Susan Carpenter and council members Elise Kessler Mottel and Robin Stout backed the negative declaration while councilmen John Buckley and Jason Chapin voted against the measure. Buckley was the lone dissenting vote on the two other votes.
All that remains for the project to proceed is for the applicant to obtain a special permit from the town board, said Andrew Bodewes, Conifer’s vice president who is overseeing the project. With the close of the public hearings on the requested special permit and on the workforce housing law amendments late Tuesday night, the board now has between 30 and 62 days to vote on the permit, making the final decision due to come up between late August and late September.
“I think we’re really excited about moving forward and we’re grateful for the opportunity to work (on) the challenges with the town, and the town demonstrated some leadership here to work through these issues and we look forward to finalizing the process and starting construction,” Bodewes said.
Thursday’s votes came less than 48 hours after the continuation and eventual closing of the two public hearings, which once again featured a similar number of residents in favor of and in opposition to the project. Supporters cited the need for affordable units that would bring a more racially and economically diverse set of residents to New Castle. Opponents pointed to the difficulty of the cramped one-third of an acre site, including safety issues because it would be in close proximity to the Metro-North train tracks and the exit ramp to the Saw Mill Parkway; how the size of the three- to four-story building would be out of character with downtown Chappaqua; and that the facility would stigmatize its residents.
The vote on the negative declaration was postponed until Thursday until Conifer representatives and town staff could hash out several details in the document’s language. Most notably, the board asked that Conifer ask the state Department of Transportation (DOT) to extend the existing fence that is on top of a portion of the Route 120 bridge. The DOT has jurisdiction over the bridge because it is a state road.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
