State Board Rejects Variances for Chappaqua Affordable Housing Project

A state board voted Wednesday to reject most of the fire code variances needed by the developer of the proposed affordable housing project in downtown Chappaqua throwing the application’s future into doubt.

The Department of State’s Hudson Valley Regional Board of Review denied seven of the eight variances requested by Conifer Realty to build the controversial 28-unit Chappaqua Station on about one-third of an acre on Hunts Place.

Last year’s New Castle Town Board voted in favor of a conditional approval for a special use permit pending the outcome of the application for variances. The variances were necessary because town Building Inspector William Maskiell concluded that the project failed to meet key requirements for firefighter access and fire separation.

Following the decision, the attorney representing Conifer Realty, Randall McLaughlin, pledged that his client would press on and eventually prevail. He said he and Conifer’s other representatives would review the transcript from the hearings before deciding how to proceed.

“We have no plans at this time to abandon this project,” McLaughlin said. “We think it’s a critical project that’s needed in this county, that affordable housing and diversity is clearly an issue in the village of Chappaqua and the Town of New Castle. At the end of the day this project will be built. We just have to go through this additional step to make sure the project is safe as it could be.”

Conifer Realty could file an Article 78 in state Supreme Court if they discover there were procedural defects by the Board of Review or it could choose to rework the project to boost its chances of receiving the variances, said Town Attorney Ed Phillips.

Board member Marco Gennarelli read the decision, which was announced following the board’s one-hour and 45-minute deliberations behind closed doors at Cortlandt Town Hall. In denying the variances, the board concluded Conifer “failed to provide adequate aerial fire apparatus access.”

It also cited the lack of separation between the building and the property line and that some of the materials used in the structure would be unsafe.

The only variance that was approved concluded that fire trucks would have enough room to clear a nearby Saw Mill River Parkway overpass to reach the site.

Phillips said the board’s decision justifies the judgment shown by Maskiell who called the currently proposed building unsafe.

“Mr. Maskiell’s been doing this for a long time and he knows the code, the fire code, the building code and felt they needed variances, and again, the board agreed 100 percent on all eight that Conifer needed eight variances,” Phillips said.

In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, New Castle Supervisor Robert Greenstein said that while last year’s town board granted the special use permit that approval contained conditions that Conifer obtain fire and building code variances.

Greenstein, who opposed the project as a candidate last year, said Wednesday’s decision highlights that Conifer has more work to do. It also does not mean the town is against affordable housing.

“The Board of Review’s decision today simply confirms that Conifer has not adequately addressed the fire safety issues associated with this project site,” Greenstein said in his statement. “Today’s decision had nothing to do with building affordable housing, which remains a priority for the town. The town has approved the construction of 20 affordable housing units at Chappaqua Crossing. We welcome the development of affordable housing in our community.”

One of the outspoken critics of the plan, Chappaqua architect William Spade, said he hopes the vote’s outcome convinces Conifer that it’s a bad location for the site. He hopes it provides the impetus to get the discussion moving toward identifying better locations for affordable housing in town.

He pointed to town-owned property on Washington Avenue as well as ongoing discussions by the First Congregational Church on Orchard Ridge Road as possible alternatives.

“We’re happy that a bad alternative has been hopefully denied in its final form,” Spade said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Conifer pursues its legal options still further but we’d like to know that we’re going to start focusing on good locations for affordable housing.”

Board of Legislators Chairman Michael Kaplowitz (D-Somers), whose district includes New Castle, said the site has been beset with problems from the start of the project’s review and that local officials’ concerns had been confirmed.

The county had delayed allocating funds for the project until the variances were granted. The units would have counted toward Westchester’s requirement of building 750 units of affordable housing by the end of 2016 to comply with its settlement with the federal government.

“I remain committed to working with stakeholders at every level to build affordable housing but I cannot support the expenditure of county funds on a project that may not be safe for residents,” Kaplowitz said. “It makes no sense to build affordable housing that potentially jeopardizes the health and safety of the very people we are trying to serve.”