Toll Brothers Receives Final Approval for 162-Unit Townhomes in Thornwood
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Toll Brothers received site plan approval earlier this month to develop a 162-unit townhome development on a portion of the 165-acre Legionaries property off of Columbus Avenue in Thornwood.
The Mount Pleasant Planning Board also granted subdivision, steep slopes and wetlands approval for the project called Kensico Preserve after there was a dispute regarding the language focusing on land preservation.
Of the site’s 165 acres, 49 acres will be deeded to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to guard against future development of the land and about 18 acres to the town, which will be used for recreation purposes.
Attorney Brad Schwartz, representing Toll Brothers, said DEP wanted to eliminate language regarding preservation purposes until the sale of the land from the Legionaries of Christ to the agency is completed.
Schwartz said the appraisal of the property the DEP is receiving and the final sale price is predicated up on the land not being protected because it would lower the value of the land.
DEP has every intention of preserving the land since it’s in its best interests to protect New York City’s drinking water, said Kevney Moses, Toll Brothers’ land entitlement manager.
After Schwarz and Moses called the attorney for the Legionaries, which has entered into a contract with the DEP, to receive a more thorough explanation for the DEP’s rationale, the Planning Board relented.
“Thank you for your confidence and your support through this process,” Moses told the board after all approvals were granted. “It was extremely thorough and we are happy to be a part of it, and we are so thrilled to bring this project to the town.”
There was no indication at the meeting when ground may be broken by Toll Brothers.
Each of the units will have three bedrooms and two-and-a-half stories and measure between 2,400 and 2,800 square feet. As many as one-quarter of the units will be offered at a reduced size in hopes offering units at a lower price point.
In order to ensure that the project will generate no school-age children for the Mount Pleasant School District, no one under the age of 19 years old can live there, one of the key conditions for approval.
Kensico Preserve, on the site of the previously approved 73-single-home cluster subdivision Baker Residential, which was never built, is expected to generate a projected $1,942,000 net tax gain for the school district annually and about $166,000 for the Town of Mount Pleasant.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
