Plans Progress for Construction at Heathcote Tavern Site

Architect Mark Behr was back before the Land Use Committee of the Scarsdale Board of Trustees on 11-19 to present proposed changes to the term sheet for the sale of village-owned land at 2-4 Weaver Street to developer Frederick Fish. Behr reviewed plans for the new building that will include 11 apartments – one of which will be an affordable unit. A survey of the village-owned property that surrounds the site revealed that there are 5,715 square feet of additional space and the developer has agreed to pay the Village $95,000 for that property. That's on top of the $150,000 already agreed to for the strip of Village-owned land that now serves as the driveway to the parking lot of Massa on Weaver Street.

Also proposed was an 8-foot variance to allow the developer to build a green deck to cover parking in the rear of the building that backs onto the Heathcote Bypass. The greendeck would be landscaped with trees and shrubbery to mask the parking structure below it. The cupola from the top of the tavern building that blew off during Hurricane Sandy will also be repaired.

The new building will be set 40-feet back from Weaver Street and the additional land around the property will allow for a better

configuration for the structure. The project has already passed the SEQRA process and was found to have no negative environmental impact on the village.

Residents from the Heathcote Five Corners Coalition attended the meeting to pose questions and comment.

Saying, "the devil is in the details," Marty Kaufman asked if "we can agree on the wording" of the changes to the term sheet and also wanted to know, "how can we confirm that the developer will not ask for additional changes to the term sheet?" Trustee Jon Mark replied that the process "was organic" and, in response to Kaufman's request to bar the developer from asking for additional changes, Mark responded, "I think that's an overreach," because "situations could occur where change would be required."

Lika Levi said, "it seems like planning for the Five Corners was a hodge-podge process," and Ruth Frankel added, "Anyone that lived in a different country can see it is biased here. It is wrong how you are handling your business here."

Following their comments, Trustee Mark summed up and said, "I am inclined to recommend that the developer's request be granted." "Land use provisions as part of the sale are beneficial to the Village of Scarsdale. If not for these provisions, the developer could build a building that was all commercial – and increase traffic – or resell it to another developer. This allows us to have significant input into the building."

Update: At the 11/27 meeting of the Scarsdale Board of Trustees, the non-binding term sheet that provided for the sale of the additional 5,715 square feet of land was approved by the Trustees.