Mount Kisco Senior Housing Plan Returns to Planning Board
A senior housing project that was introduced to the Mount Kisco Planning Board about 10 years ago is moving forward after a lengthy delay.
Representatives of HFZ Capital appeared before the planning board last Tuesday evening seeking site plan approval and special use, steep slopes and wetlands permits.
The project is nearly the identical proposal from Hearth Management to construct a 129-unit senior housing facility that had been considered for 270 Kisco Ave., opposite Holiday Inn Drive.
Resumption of the plan’s review came two weeks after the Mount Kisco Village Board voted unanimously to grant HFZ Capital the option of purchasing the 17.7 acres of land owned by the village where the project is proposed. Under terms of the agreement, about 12 acres of the property would be left undeveloped.
Mark Miller, an attorney representing the applicant, recently sent a letter to the village requesting that the proposal once again be considered, board Chairman Doug Hertz said. During the past 10 years, the project has had various iterations, he said.
Hertz said the project is currently the largest proposal before the village’s planning board, which last reviewed the application a few years ago. The public hearing has remained open during that time. Several new planning board members and village personnel needed to take time to familiarize themselves with the project.
Anthony Veneziano, founder of the Armonk law firm Veneziano & Associates who also represents HFZ Capital, told the planning board his client is seeking approvals from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.
“They move at a glacial pace. They’re very thorough,” Veneziano said.
Miller provided the planning board with a history of the various proposals for the land. He said the development that had been sought by Hearth Management will remain the same. The plans are to construct 129 rental apartments for seniors, as well as a memory care facility, he said.
Copies of the project’s finding statement and Final Environmental Impact Statement, which had been submitted several years ago, were provided to the board last week.
Members of village staff agreed to meet with HFZ Capital representatives. The meeting will also include the village’s consultants.
Veneziano said he hoped the applicant will be placed on the planning board’s agendas as often as possible to complete the approval process.
The early public discussions of the project were met by stiff opposition from some residents concerned about the environmental and visual impacts of a 129-unit project on a hillside.
