Crossroads Project Moves Forward in Baldwin Place
The Crossroads at Baldwin Place commercial/residential development moved forward on March 3 as the Somers Town Board voted unanimously to refer a required zoning text change to the Planning Board for its recommendation.
Ken Kearney, founder and president of the Mahopac-based The Kearney Realty & Development Group, told the Town Board the text change was needed for the project to move ahead with the Planning Board.
Because the development is proposed in a neighborhood shopping district the Town Board would need to make a zoning text change to allow the commercial building to not be required to have housing on the second floor, Kearney said. The Town Board voted unanimously to ask the Planning Board for its comments about the potential zoning text change. The proposal will also be forwarded to Westchester County and the Town of Carmel because a half-acre of the property is located in the Town of Carmel.
The development would be located on the site of the National Golfworx driving range on Route 6.
Kearney is proposing a roughly 24,000-square-foot commercial office building, which would include offices for his company, with 12,000 square feet on each floor. He is also seeking to construct three residential buildings, totaling about 60,000 square feet. The first building would consist of 24, one-bedroom units of senior housing; the second building would contain 24 one-bedroom units of senior housing; and the third building would consist of 12 two- and three-bedroom units, with eight of the units to be set aside for affordable housing, which Kearny said previously could become part of the county’s housing settlement with HUD or for the town to use toward its requirements under the Angle Fly Preserve agreement.
The senior housing is intended for those 55 and older.
Kearney is also proposing a series of infrastructure improvements to the Baldwin Place area, including construction of about 2,000 feet of sidewalks along Route 6 to connect the northern and southern portions of the road, two pedestrian crosswalks on the road, and the extension of the current Westchester County sewer line in area to Mahopac Avenue. The infrastructure improvements would be helpful to not only his development, but would encourage future commercial development in Baldwin Place, Kearney said.
The county Board of Legislators would need to provide its approval to include the development and other neighboring properties into the county’s sewer district, town Supervisor Rick Morrissey noted.
