Town Board, Residents Must Take the Time to Get Downtown Chappaqua Zoning Right
Over the past year, New Castle residents and stakeholders – including the Planning Board and Board of Education – have made hundreds of public comments on an environmental study draft of the proposed Form Based Code that has the potential to remake the character of the Chappaqua hamlet.
This zoning change would allow dense construction of up to more than 50 feet in height (from the current 35) and seriously reduce community input – both from residents and from our Planning Board. We have been waiting patiently for the town’s paid consultants to weigh in on our concerns. Indeed, recently the town authorized an additional $95,000 in fees to the consultants – on top of the original $400,000 – to address the many substantive issues.
The public has seen little feedback from the consultants. Yet our Town Board has seen fit, without the benefit of this input, to plow ahead with the code to pass this legislation, seemingly before the next election in November.
This is unacceptable.
For example, the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Study (DGEIS) claimed that the current cap on development at three stories (35 feet) would not generate profit for a developer and used this as justification to propose building higher. However, public comments from real estate experts as well as recent developments here like 91 Bedford Rd. show that three-story development is indeed viable.
The DGEIS also promised vague economic benefits to developing without either assessing how those benefits would arise or what the financial tax impact to current residents would be. There have been many more critical concerns including a lack of parking availability to support anticipated new development; displacement of existing low-income residents and small businesses, which would almost certainly occur; environmental damage to the natural landscape and vistas; and a lack of any mandate to include workforce housing.
I implore the New Castle Town Board to hold off drafting changes or voting to accept the Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement (FGEIS) until the consultants have thoroughly weighed in with responses that demonstrate a deep and thorough understanding of the community’s substantive concerns and address those concerns. After those are shared, residents and stakeholders, and also the Town Board itself, can have a far better assessment of the impacts and possible remediations of those impacts that the consultants were charged with addressing.
The Town Board has repeatedly assured residents that they were listening. We paid for those consultant responses – twice. I expect the Town Board to live up to these assurances, not rush forward without either having or sharing the consultants’ report, which was to address our concerns. If more time is needed, so be it. More information and options will only enhance the final result if this legislation goes forward.
Community buy-in is important. Rushing to the finish line is not good governance no matter how long the process has taken. We need to get this right as any development done now will surely last for generations.
Lynne Lambert
27-year Chappaqua resident
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