Village Board Discusses Floods, Roads, Wetlands, Affordable Housing, and Development

As many as fifteen impassioned Village residents made an appearance at the August 9, 2011 Village Board Meeting. They expressed their dismay about the Village’s inability to ameliorate flooding and poor road conditions. Village Manager Al Gatta spoke on both these pertinent issues before turning to the agenda, which included the Freshwater Wetlands Map, Fair and Affordable Housing, and the sale of Village land at 2-4 Weaver Street.

In the public comments session, one frustrated resident expressed “the disappointment they all felt,” as they had attended meetings and heard repeated assurances that their concerns were heard, but were still flooded without sufficient relief. Another brought attention to the flooding that took place on Post Road. He indicated that the area is number 15 on the Village list for mitigation of flood damage. “I think that is inexcusable,” he declared. “The area is one of the most sensitive and precarious areas in the village.” Priority should be given to areas that have already shown significant damage, he concluded.

Another resident spoke about Cayuga Pond and Catherine Road which are prone to deep flooding. The Village would have the greatest impact “dollar for dollar” in the Cayuga Pond and Catherine Road neighborhood, she asserted, and asked the Village to consider this point when making its final evaluation.

Evelyn Stock of 26 Catherine Road, expressed her love for her house and her neighborhood and stated that every time there is a downpour, she is afraid they are going to have “what they had 4 years ago” during the heavy floods of 2007. “To think that the Village could do something to allow me to sleep okay when it’s raining hard…I wish the Village would attend to it,” she said. True to the spirit of the evening, another woman ended her statement by asserting: “Everyone has to speak, or else you don’t know what other people want to say.”

In regard to road conditions, Elliot Ritterband an automotive consultant for Mercedes-Benz, who lives at 1 Canterbury Road, opened his statement by complimenting the village on dealing with snow removal last year. However Ritterband explained, snow removal comes with harmful side effects, such as potholes and destruction to highways. Findings from a brief evaluation that he conducted and from his contact with local dealerships revealed that in the Scarsdale area, there has been a 50% increase in the number of tire punctures, a 27% increase in the number of broken rims, a 67% increase in the number of broken shocks, as well as significant increases in the number of broken suspension components and in uneven tire wear. This is an “irreparable issue when it comes to servicing cars not covered under warranties,” said Mr. Ritterband.

Michael Weinstein decried the state of Village roads. “Compared to other communities throughout Westchester, we’ve done a particularly bad job,” he declared. Mr. Weinstein provided two copies of a picture taken on Butler Road in front of his house. “Is there any common sense in what is being done as one [pot]hole was fixed and one [pot]hole that’s less than ten feet away was unfilled?” questioned a perplexed Mr. Weinstein. “I question how our money is being spent,” he concluded.

Two Scarsdale residents discussed the sale of Village land at 2-4 Weaver Street. Lika Levy of 21 Lockwood Road was skeptical about the Village Board’s offer to reduce the price of Village property from $200,000 to $150,000. This price reduction was intended to compensate the developer for the additional restrictions that the Village had placed on the potential uses of the land. “How much debt does Scarsdale currently have?” asked Ms. Levy. She asserted that the land should be sold at a price that is calculated as a percentage of the new property to be developed. Furthermore, Ms. Levy expressed concern that the “geometry and physical consonance in the area” simply would not permit the developer’s proposed project. She suggested that slight reduction of wait time per traffic signal may resolve traffic flow, an issue that has been examined in conjunction with the developer’s proposal.

Martin Kaufman of 322 Heathcote Road seconded Ms. Levy’s comments. “By selling the village property you are enabling him (the developer) to double his,” said Kaufman. “The purpose of selling the Village property at 2-4 Weaver Street was to better site the developer’s project, but not to make the project bigger. You have achieved the opposite,” he pointed out. In conclusion, he discussed the developer’s motives, and stated his belief that “the Village Board...and the Land Use Board should not be motivated by the hollow threat of the developer to develop the area for commercial buildings.”

After the public comments, Village Manager Gatta voiced the Village Board’s perspective on flooding and road conditions. “The drainage system we have could not accommodate the [floods of] 2007 year,” he started. After a condition report, the three major areas that the Village Board has sought to address on flooding are the South Fox Meadow basin, the Murray Hill confluence and the Cooper green region, and the Sheldrake drainage area, which includes parts of Mamaroneck Road, Catherine Road, Brookby Road, Carpenter’s Pond, and Cayuga Pond. With regard to road conditions, Manager Gatta cited that the village is spending a million dollars a year on road construction. “We know what the conditions are, we know what is bad...we try to keep up, doing as much as we can without doing the easy thing” stated Manager Gatta. “It’s difficult, it’s a series of forced choices, but we’re not running away from anything.”

During opening comments, Gatta also brought up a power outage at Post Road and Huntington Avenue that occurred on July 21 due to the overload of a high voltage primary fuse. He noted that the sweltering heat caused residents to expand their use of air-conditioning. This unexpected increase in energy consumption required a rebalancing of the load system, which was achieved by 10:12pm that same day. Gatta suggested that in the future the Village should have residents file upgrades and should have electricians report to Con-Edison, both of which would allow Con Edison to rebalance system overload.

The first item on the agenda was adoption of revisions to Village Code to preserve wetlands including a revision of the Freshwater Wetland Map and the local laws that regulate activity around wetland regions. The report, entitled “Recommendation on the proposed update of the Freshwater Wetland Map and related amendments to the Village Code,” cited the multiple functions that wetlands serve in their natural state, including flood control and protection against stream bank erosion, support of natural habitats, recreational opportunities, and “visual relief from intense development.” Additions to local laws included the requirement of a permit for any controlled activities in a freshwater wetlands controlled area, a “stop-work order” to be enforced if a permit applicant has not complied with any or all of the terms of the permit, and penalties for offenses. The amendments to the map and to the local laws were referred to committee for further discussion.

The second item on the agenda was the Planning Board’s proposed Fair and Affordable Housing Zoning Code amendment to Village Code. The Planning Board reviewed the model code recommended by Westchester County and made several amendments and recommended that the Village Board “favorably consider the proposed code amendment with a few suggested changes.”

They recommended the following changes and clarifications:

• For developments of 5-9 units and 10-14 units, one affordable unit is required
• Within developments the appearance of the affordable units shall be indistinguishable in appearance to the furthest extent practicable
• A government office, local agency or non-profit must be designated to monitor the FAH units and marketing requirements for the FAH units.

The Village Board also passed the resolution introduced by Trustee Mark of the Land Use Committee in regard to the sale of Village-owned land at 2-4 Weaver Street. The Non-Binding Term Sheet was approved following meetings on April 14, May 16, June 7, June 22, and August 4 to discuss the proposal to sell “Village land abutting 2-4 Weaver Street,” The Land Use Committee and the Board of Trustees sought and received input from residents, “particularly the Heathcote Five Corners Coalition.” The result of these discussions and of discussions with the developer was a non-binding term sheet “detailing significant terms and conditions that the Village would impose should the Village consider the sale of its land to the abutting land owner/developer.” At the meeting, the Board voted to refer the term sheet to the Planning Board, so that the Planning Board would consider the Village Board’s terms and conditions “as part of any application submitted by the abutting land owner/developer.” Since the developer would have to submit his proposal “to the appropriate environmental review undertaken by [the Planning Board]” should he wish to purchase the Village land, the Village Board and the Land Use Committee were able to move the project to the next phase by passing their final provisos on to the Planning Board. Read more about the potential land sale here.

All other committee resolutions at the meeting were approved. They included an amendment to the February 10, 2009 Resolution Authorizing the Issuance of $11,500,000 in bonds for the Public Safety Building Addition and Renovation Project, an Application for a New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Grant for the Wayside Cottage Restoration Project Phase II, a Scarsdale Public Library roof top unit replacement, an Easement Agreement for a Public Sanitary Sewer Line at 229 Madison Road, and an Authorization to Execute a Professional Services Contract with Malcolm Pirnie Inc. as part of the Reeves Newsom Water Supply Station Modifications and Upgrade Project.

Lasting approximately two hours, the meeting oversaw fifteen public comments, two significant reports, and twelve pertinent resolutions.

This article was written by Tara Basu, a graduate of Scarsdale High School's class of 2010 and a rising sophomore at Dartmouth College.