Millwood Supply Property Owners Pitch Mixed-Use Plans for Site
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The owners of the Millwood Supply property pitched a conceptual plan to the New Castle Town Board last week for a mixed-use development at the former lumberyard site.
Preliminary plans call for up to 50 units of housing over ground-floor retail at the 1.8-acre site near the North County Trailway on Millwood Road.
Paulette Beldotti, one of the owners of the property, said her grandfather started Millwood Lumber in the 1950s. The business ceased operations in December 2020. Her father, Leo Rotta, died nearly a decade ago.
“It became one of the top-producing lumberyards in the whole Northeast and we’re very proud to develop the site,” she said. “We’ve been wanting to do this for years.”
Architect John Fry, of Nexus Creative Design in Tarrytown, said currently he and his clients are envisioning a mixture of carriage house-style townhomes in one structure and apartment units above small retail shops in another. The buildings holding the units would be consistent with the look of the residences across the street on Station Road, Fry said.
Some of the parking would be out of view from the street under the larger building, he said.
A sewage facility is proposed to be tucked into a back corner of the property. Fry said the property’s potential has been constrained over the years because of the lack of public sewers for the Millwood hamlet and its proximity to the New York City watershed. That has been a key obstacle in redeveloping properties in and around the commercial and industrial zones that would generate larger sewage flows.
“The site gas been limited by its zoning, it’s in IG industrial zoning, and clearly by its lack of municipal sanitary facilities,” Fry said.
Specific details about the units’ square footage, retail space and parking were not discussed at last week’s Town Board work session, although Fry said most of the residences would likely be one- and two-bedroom units.
Dan Ciarcia, the engineer for the owners, said his clients are trying to figure out what to do with the property, but their choices have been limited by the sewage issue.
Ciarcia said given the town’s vision in the hamlet centers for mixed-use development a plan like this could work.
“We’re seeing a lot of nice concepts but ultimately what it comes down to is sewage disposal,” he said. “The issue is do you try and do something in the IG zone that doesn’t generate as much sewage or do you realize some of these mixed-use visions that the town has been trying to promote with the Millwood hamlet.”
A possibility that could be explored would be for the property owners to partner with New Castle in hopes of establishing what is called a transportation company, Ciarcia said. A provision in New York State law allows private corporations to build facilities such as sewage wastewater systems and treatment plants that would be regulated by the state Public Service Commission.
A large enough sanitary facility would not only benefit the residents and the businesses at the former lumberyard property but other property owners in the area could pay to share use of the facility, he said.
State funding of as much as 80 percent has been available for some projects, according to Ciarcia.
“We could go on our own but if we establish a transportation company then that becomes the means to bring other people in and have them pay their fair share for benefitting from the district,” Ciarcia said.
He said it would likely be best to pursue both options for sewer disposal, the smaller facility just for the property and a large one that could help a wider area.
Town Board members said they would be open to continuing the conversation with the property owners. Supervisor Lisa Katz said issues such as impact on traffic and schools would have to be addressed.
Councilwoman Tara Kassal added this could represent a chance for development that could help the town.
“I have some concerns but I do think there’s an opportunity to have some responsible development there,” Kassal said. “So I think more conversation is definitely in order.”
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/
