Proposed Sports Field in Cortlandt Divides Residents
A sports field that could be part of a proposed luxury housing project on Croton Avenue in Cortlandt has nearby residents at odds with community coaches and other recreation proponents.
A third public hearing on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Hanover Estates, a 25 to 27-home development on the former 36-acre Croton Egg Farm, before the Cortlandt Planning Board last week centered instead on an all-purpose grass field with 89 parking spaces that is only conceptual and was not originated by the developer.
The hearing also included assertions that a Planning Board member should recuse himself from the deliberations since he had supported the field in the past as chairman of the town’s recreation advisory council, and a newly elected town councilman misused his office by sending out an email blast encouraging youth sports coaches and parents to attend the meeting.
“The town has an opportunity to take advantage of a developer who is willing to clear land for a field. This is not a sports complex. It’s a grass field with a parking lot,” said Scott Tompkins, a Croton-on-Hudson resident. “This is not the Cortlandt Town Center that’s open throughout the day with cars coming and going. This is not Yankee Stadium coming into our backyard. This is simple grass with lines drawn.”
“We have made a big commitment in this town to sports programs. Where we’re not living up to our obligation is with facilities,” said Thomas Johnson of Crugers. “It may not be fair, but this is what we call progress in America. If they’re going to do this let them put in the facilities for our children.”
However, many speakers who live in homes along Croton Avenue maintained the roadway was already congested and unsafe, and building a field that would be heavily used by soccer and lacrosse teams was a recipe for disaster.
“This is a nightmare waiting to happen. There are other places in Cortlandt where a field can be built,” said Dan Bizzoco, who lives in nearby Apple Hill Estates. “I would be the first one to say we have a lack of fields. This is not the place.”
“Those of us living in (nearby) communities bought our homes expecting to live in a quiet residential area,” said John Milmore, 39-year resident of Oriole Lane. “It is unfair to subject us to a sports facility that would impact the natural environment, increase traffic, and diminish our overall quality of life.”
Michele McGovern said she supported additional recreational fields but not along Croton Avenue, which she noted had received failing safety grades. “Let’s not put a field here because we have no other place to build it. If they build it, they will come,” she remarked.
She also took issue with an email Councilman Seth Freach sent out to try to sway the board in favor of the field, calling Freach’s actions “inappropriate of a Town Board member to meddle in Planning Board issues.”
The developer has agreed to provide the land to the town in lieu of paying approximately $150,000 into a recreation fund. If the town accepts that offer, it would have to develop the land into a sports field, which carries an estimated cost of about $750,000. The homes being proposed at Hanover Estates will be marketed for $850,000 apiece.
Meanwhile, Planning Board member James Creighton also found himself on the hot seat. Creighton explained he had asked legal counsel John Klarl if there were any ethical reasons for him not to participate in the project since he had written a memo several years ago backing the proposed field.
“I feel strongly there’s no reason to recuse,” Creighton remarked. “There’s not even an appearance of impropriety. It’s a little disappointing for people to suggest otherwise. I’m offended by it. I remain open in all ways in regard to this.”
Klarl and Chairperson Loretta Taylor supported Creighton, while planner Steven Kessler said each member had to rely on their own conscience.
“To me it’s a personal decision whether you’re recusing yourself or not,” he said. “Personally you have to decide if you can be objective or not. It’s not for me to judge.”
Former Peekskill Corporation Counsel Bernis Nelson, who lives in Cortlandt, said an Ethics Board should rule on Creighton’s situation. She also urged Creighton to “clothe” himself “in humility.”
The Planning Board closed the public hearing on the DEIS and asked the Town Board for cluster authority in order to consider three separate options for the project, two of which include the field.
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/
