Somers Holds Public Hearing on Comprehensive Plan
The process of implementing a revised Comprehensive Plan for the Town of Somers moved forward on December 10 when a public hearing on the draft document was conducted during the town board meeting.
The plan, formerly known as the Master Plan, was last updated in 1994.
Frank Fish, a consultant hired by the town, is working with Town Planner Syrette Dym to update the document. Fish is using much of the information compiled by the former Master Plan Committee, which volunteered its efforts from 2003 to 2008.
A Comprehensive Plan is “a vision for the overall town” for a period of about the next decade, Fish explained. The town board will listen to comments during the public hearing and take them into consideration when it makes revisions to the document, possibly as early as January, he said.
“It’s really a guide to the future,” Fish said.
The major concern raised by several residents during last week’s public hearing was they did not agree with a recommendation in the draft to make changes to the West Somers Park. Resident Maureen Devine said the roughly four-acre park was donated to the town by the Boniello family in 1978 for passive recreation use. Devine said the draft plan’s proposal to put a basketball court and parking in the park was not what the Boniello family intended for the park .
Another resident, Frank Mazzotta, agreed with Devine, saying the park features a pond that should be used for fishing and ice skating and the property should not be used for active recreation.
Supervisor Rick Morrissey said the town had no intention to change the park from a passive recreation facility. Any mention of changing the character of the park would be taken out of the final version of the Comprehensive Plan, he said. Morrissey also said the town would seek grants to pay for improvements to the pond.
Somers resident Lori Ensinger, president of the Westchester Land Trust, asked the town to make as a priority in the Comprehensive Plan the preservation of Stuart’s Fruit Farm on Granite Springs Road. The Land Trust is working with other entities to purchase the development rights that would assure the current owner would maintain the property as a farm. Stuart’s is “the oldest working farm in Westchester County,” she said.
Later in the meeting the town board agreed with the request from Ensinger to continue the process of working to purchase the farm’s development rights. The board voted unanimously to write a letter of support for the Westchester Land Trust’s application to the state. Morrissey said the town would be working with the state, the Land Trust and Westchester County to preserve the farm.
Mazzotta said he was concerned about the changes that have taken place over the decades he has lived in town. “Somers is no longer the town I moved to 32 years ago,” he said. “There is no affordable housing in Somers.”
Devine noted that previously planning boards adopted Comprehensive Plans. In the 1990’s state law was changed to mandate that Comprehensive Plans be approved by town boards rather than planning boards, Fish replied.
The town board voted unanimously to close the public hearing and the town is accepting written comments for 10 days following last week’s meeting. The draft Comprehensive Plan can be viewed on the town web site at www.somersny.com.
