Hearing Set on Age-Restricted Housing Project in Yorktown
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
A public hearing will be held Tues., Sept. 3 for an age-restricted housing project at 800 East Main Street in Jefferson Valley.
Proposed on the 35-acre site that once was the home of Contractors Register are 250 luxury, multi-family rental apartments and for sale townhomes that will be restricted to individuals 55 and over. The “market rate” units will be sorted out as 200 rental and 50 for sale.
However, during an Aug. 12 Planning Board meeting, Peter Feroe, Vice President of Municipal & Land Planning for AKRF, revealed an alternative plan that would be better suited for stormwater engineering design on the site would only have 165 multi-family units and 20 cottages.
The number of trees that would be removed would also be reduced from 1,320 for the 250-unit project to 651 for the 185-unit alternative.
The property is currently zoned OB-1 Research Laboratory and Office District and needs to be rezoned to RSP-2 Senior Citizens District for the project to move forward.
On July 16, the Town Board voted that the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the project was complete, triggering the public hearing.
Feroe said the site currently generates $270,670 annually in property taxes. If developed, property taxes would jump to $1.82 million, with the Lakeland School District getting the bulk of that money ($1.3 million).
Meanwhile, the development would also result in a new traffic signal being installed on Route 6 and Old Route 6. The left turning lane on Route 6 would also be extended.
Planning Board member Robert Phelan said he was concerned there was only one access road to the site. Feroe responded by saying that roadway would be expanded to provide a lane for emergency vehicles.
Planning Board Chairman Richard Fon said developer Yorktown Dev AMS had a much larger issue to deal with: traffic.
“You’ve got a problem with traffic. That area, that intersection, is insane,” he remarked. “It’s an accident waiting to happen. Whatever we do there we have to improve that situation. That’s problematic.”
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/