Mount Pleasant Board Hears Pace University Plan
The long process of approving the consolidation of Pace University’s Briarcliff and Pleasantville campuses began on June 28 when the Mount Pleasant Town Board unanimously referred three zoning text amendment change proposals to the planning board for its review.
Under the plan, which was originally announced in the fall of 2010, Pace would sell its 35-acre Briarcliff campus, which opened in 1977, and add facilities to the 200-acre Pleasantville campus.
The university would complete the project in a five to eight year period. The first phase would be to construct residential buildings for students and athletic fields on the Pleasantville campus to replace those that would no longer be in Briarcliff once Pace sells and leaves that campus. The university plans to implement the rest of the phases in ways that would minimize the impact on activities on the 48-year-old Pleasantville campus and the adjacent area.
About 590 students live on the Briarcliff campus and approximately 690 students reside on the Pleasantville campus.
Pace is seeking to build three new residence halls for students – one east of the Goldstein Health and Fitness Center; a second that would be east of the Kessel Student Center; and a third new building would be located east of the Mortola Library. The three new residence halls would be four stories high. The current Martin Hall would be renovated and the three townhouse buildings on the northern end of the campus would be replaced with new residence halls of equal size. Under the plan, the number of student beds on the Pleasantville campus would increase from the current 690 to 1,400.
The Pleasantville campus is located in an R-40, single family residential zone.
Representatives of the university addressed the town board last week. “This is a very exciting time for us at Pace,” William McGrath, the university’s senior vice president and chief administrative officer, said. The university’s proposal came following two years of study to come up with the university’s new Master Plan, McGrath said.
The project will be done in “a sustainable manner,” McGrath said. About 60 acres of the Pleasantville would remain as open space. By closing the Briarcliff campus, the estimated 3,000 annual bus trips between the Briarcliff and Pleasantville campuses would be eliminated. A new “campus green” would be created in the center of the campus, linked by pedestrian paths. A tree lined entranceway would be created, beginning at the west entry of Bedford Road that would lead to a new roundabout east of Wilcox Hall to create access to the east and west sides of the campus.
A new multipurpose artificial turf field for football, soccer and lacrosse with lighting and a grandstand would be built where the current football field is located. The new field would feature a surrounding track that would be available for student and community use. A new field house with locker facilities, athletic offices and concession space would be built at the south end of the new multipurpose field, Lighting and artificial turf would be brought to the current baseball field. A new grass softball field is planned for the southwest corner of the campus.
The Kessel Student Center would be renovated and expanded to provide dining and student club space. North Hall, which is currently a residence hall, would be renovated to become administrative offices to replace the offices that have been located in Briarcliff. A new welcome center would be constructed off the new west entry to the campus. The Environmental Center buildings would be relocated to the area west of Patton Hall and the animal shelter and paddock would be moved to a space north of the Goldstein Health and Fitness Center. A theater and/or academic building would be constructed on a site west of the Kessel Student Center.
Andrew Tung, a landscape architect and partner from the White Plains-based firm of Divney, Tung and Schwalbe, told the town board the university needs three town zoning text amendments from them. One change being proposed would be to change the code regarding the number of stories that would be allowed for the student residences from the current limit of two-and-one-half stories (35 feet in height) to four stories (55 feet). The second text change sought by the university would be to allow the distance between buildings on the campus to be lowered form the current 110 feet to 30 feet. The third zoning text change wanted by the university would be to reduce the distance between proposed athletic fields to public property (the Taconic State Parkway) from the current 100 feet to 25 feet.
Ruth Roth, an attorney representing the university, said the approval project would be a long one. “The entire review process is before us,” Roth said. “This is just the first step.”
Councilman Thomas Sialiano, noted at last week’s meeting that he was a member of the planning board in 2000 when Pace’s previous Master Plan was being reviewed. At that there time there were concerns raised about how many students were using the Pleasantville campus, Sialiano said. If the plan was adopted the number of students enrolled in Pace programs in Pleasantville would not increase from the current maximum of 3,800, Tung said.
The project was praised by Councilman Peter DeMilio said, “It’s an intelligently drawn plan,” he said.
