Letter to the Editor: There Are Alternatives to Mt. Kisco’s Kirby Commons Proposal

The Kirby Commons development consisting of two high-rise apartment buildings and a multilevel parking structure to replace the two commuter parking lots for Metro-North in Mount Kisco, is scheduled for a vote by the Village Board at its next public meeting.

The mayor and a Village Board member, who have reached their final decision to unilaterally support the Kirby Commons development, have stated the following:

1. This is a project that has been “worked on” for two years, and no further delay is justifiable.
2. This “transit-oriented” development is the only way to ensure the long-term prosperity of the Mount Kisco downtown business community, and the town/village overall.

My response is as follows:

1. We are talking about a 99-year lease of public property to a Manhattan developer, which generations will have to deal with. There is no reason we could not wait six more months to have a vote on the November ballot regarding this development, allowing all residents to voice their opinion.
2. I do not believe Kirby Commons is either the only way, or maybe even the way at all, to ensure the long-term prosperity of the Mount Kisco downtown business community and the town/village.

There is another idea.

Mount Kisco should have a branch of Westchester Community College downtown.  We have the train and the bus. The college would bring people walking to town to shop and eat. It would be a great place for tech and medical certificate training programs. 

We have a lot of space, including the empty movie theater. This would also provide opportunities for our adult immigrant population, approximately 48 percent of our town, to grow or enhance skills. Local families needing to postpone university plans for their kids due to the COVID economy would also benefit. And community colleges are very important to the President and First Lady. So there likely is money out there.

There will be far less impact upon the environment if we use an existing building, instead of building two high-rise apartment buildings, to bring people downtown to shop and eat. And we can avoid giving a Manhattan developer, as bad as or worse than the one who has a monopoly on Moger Avenue, a 99-year lease that future generations will have to live with. We can still turn some of our parking lot into a park or promenade to further enhance our downtown and attract visitors. This plan could even live up to the mayor’s favorite term, re her vision of the village, a way to make Mount Kisco “vibrant.”

Here is the link to an article about President Biden’s planned investment in community colleges as an investment in our economy https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/04/01/what’s-2-trillion-infrastructure-plan-higher-ed.

Thank you for your consideration.

Judith Sage
Mount Kisco

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