Five Corners Coalition Poses Questions About Development

Development at the Five Corners in Scarsdale continues to be a hot topic at Scarsdale Village Hall. On June 7, the Land Use Committee held a second open meeting in Rutherford Hall to review questions about the proposed condominium project to be built at 2-4 Weaver Street on land adjacent to the Heathcote Tavern.

Developers Frederick Fish and Stephen Oder have offered to buy a small strip of Village land that borders the parking lot to include in the project. The additional strip of land would allow them to set the project further back from the road, increase the distance between the new building and the Heathcote Tavern and move the curb cuts for the project further away from the intersection.

However there is still community concern about congestion in the area, the additional traffic that could be created by the project and pedestrian safety. Members of the Heathcote Five Corners Coalition attended the hearing and posed many questions about the size and height of the project, setbacks, variances and building and zoning requirements.

Stephen Oder did not attend this meeting, but asked Project architect Joe Plouffe to respond to the long list of questions that compared the buildable area, the building footprint and the project size in the case that the Village retained the land or opted to sell it to the developer. The Coalition also posed questions about lighting and ventilation in the Tavern building in the event that the new building was constructed and questioned the required setbacks from Wilmot Road and the Heathcote Bypass.

The architect responded that no variances would be needed for setbacks, however the developer would require a variance for the number of required parking spaces – which is currently three per unit. In response to questions about the number of units to be built with and without the village owned land, the architect said that 10 units could be built in the new building without the village strip and 12 units if it was included in the project. However, additional units can be added in the space in the current tavern building.

From the conversation, it appeared that the Trustees would have little reason to deny the developer the land. Land Use Committee Chair Jonathan Mark ended the session saying that the Trustees would go into executive session to discuss the potential land sale.

However it appears that the Heathcote Five Corners Coalition plans to continue to address area development. Last week they mailed out a fundraising letter to their members asking for $100 per household to pursue their work. Citing traffic congestion, pedestrian safety and new construction the Coaltion appealed to residents for funds. They said, “Volunteer members of the Coalition attend meetings of the Village Board of Trustees, the Planning Board, the BAR, and other meetings with local civic organizations. We seek the advice of urban planners, architects and legal counsel …to protect the interests of residents.”

Many of the decisions affecting the area have already been made. The new 11,000 square foot retail building at 1 Palmer Avenue has already been approved. The nine homes at Heathcote Manor further down Weaver Street are under construction and it looks as if the land sale and development at 2-4 Weaver Street will go forward. That leaves the discussion about a potential traffic roundabout at the Five Corners that was proposed to ease congestion. Any objections to that?