Sept. 28 Info Session on Chappaqua Crossing: A chance for input from residents

Q&A with Supervisor Barbara Gerrard on the format of the info and comment session
September 17, 2010
by Christine Yeres

This week many residents received a mailing from Chappaqua Crossing developer Summit Greenfield describing the latest alternative proposed for the former Reader’s Digest site, now called Chappaqua Crossing.  Next Tuesday, September 28, at 7:30 p.m. (following a brief town board meeting that begins at 7:00 p.m.) residents will have an opportunity to question Summit Greenfield on its “Modified Plan.”

In the five years since Summit Greenfield purchased the property, the proposed plan has gone from 348 condominium units to 278 in the official proposal and now to 199 in an alternative that was presented in document form to town hall on July 23, 2010. 

With the town board in the last stages of reviewing the environmental impact statement required by New York State, Town Supervisor Barbara Gerrard has announced to New Castle residents that the board will hold an information session on Tuesday, September 28, so that residents can hear from the developer about the latest alternative and board members can hear from residents what they think of it.

On September 28, the town board will conduct a brief regular meeting, beginning at 7:00 p.m.  At 7:30 the information session will begin with the developer’s representatives explaining the latest proposal, called the Modified Project or Alternative I (the letter ‘i’). 

Q&A between NCNOW and Supervisor Gerrard about September 28 information session

NCN: Will there be a time limit for the developer’s presentation?

Gerrard: Not exactly, because we really want the public to understand what the Modified Project is.  The town board feels that this plan is so much better than the plan for 348 and 278 units, now down to 199, with much of the North Village cut back to take up an area that’s already been disturbed, and the amount of commercial space they will keep increased by 120,000 square feet, which helps balance [the developer’s] economic sheet.

NCNOW: For the residential portion of the Modified Project, has the board decided that 199 is the right number of dwellings?

Gerrard: I can’t answer that, because no one on the board has said: “That’s the magic number.”

NCNOW: Do board members have open minds on the Modified Project and the number of residential units?

Gerrard: Yes, our minds are still open.  That’s why we’re having the public comment, so that we can get information out to the public and receive input from the public.  This meeting is absolutely not required by the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act, but we know that the public wants to be heard and we board members think it’s absolutely appropriate for the public to be heard.

NCNOW:  The applicant’s Modified Project has described all 199 residential units as condominium ownership.  The town board has said the 60 townhouses must be made fee simple, taxed like single-family homes.  Is the board open-minded on this point?

Gerrard: No. This is not negotiable.  The 60 townhouses must be fee simple.  The applicant knows this.

NCNOW: How can residents ask questions on September 28? 

Gerrard: We’ll have index cards. The applicant wants to answer questions, but they want the questions written so that they can get back to the questioner. So we’ll give out index cards on which people can write their questions, but residents can also come to the microphone and read their questions in public. The applicant’s representatives may not have the information at the time, and will want the option of providing their answers later. 

NCNOW: Will residents be permitted to ask board members questions on the 28th?

Gerrard: No.

NCNOW: Will town board members be permitted to ask questions of the applicant’s representatives? 

Gerrard: Yes, if town board members have questions they may ask them.

NCNOW:  Will residents’ written questions be part of the public record, available for the public to see?

Gerrard: We’re thinking about that, and how questions that can’t be answered that night – and any answers that follow later – can be made available to the public.

NCNOW: It seems problematic for the public to be treated to an information session by the applicant without the benefit of fact-checking some of the applicant’s information by calling on town board members and their consultants to elucidate some points on a project that has a great deal of technical material behind it.  Town board members and the town’s consultants have spent months reviewing the materials. Will the town board make its consultants available for questioning that night? 

For example, if the applicant says something the board or its consultants believe to be inaccurate or a partial truth, will they say so?  And for the written answers that follow: will the town board offer any opinion on the accuracy of the applicant’s follow-up answers?  Does the town board have a duty to tell residents whether they believe the applicant’s answers to be accurate?

Gerrard: I’m not sure how many of our staff and consultants will be there.  Certainly our attorneys, Clinton Smith, and outside counsel, Bob Davis.  Les Steinman and Joanne Meder will be present also.  On hearing a resident’s question or an answer by the applicant’s representatives on a particular point, our counsel may respond, “That’s not established yet.”
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From NCNOW’s archives: For coverage of Chappaqua Crossing from June 2010 to present, with commentary from readers, click HERE.

For NCNOW’s complete coverage of Chappaqua Crossing, dating from 2007, click HERE.