Town Board members vote 4-1 to approve retail zoning at Chappaqua Crossing
December 19, 2014
by Christine Yeres
Because Town Court was in session on Thursday, Town Board members met in the Chappaqua Library theater to vote on several amendments related to the retail zoning change for Chappaqua Crossing. Board members were somber, a handful of residents were present, Felix Charney of Summit Development sat listening from high in the raked theater. No questions or comments were allowed. The Board’s counsel, Nick Ward-Willis ran through minor changes to the latest version of the each amendment to be considered.
In a 4-1 vote, Town Board members approved alterations to the Town Development Plan and then the creation of a floating retail overlay district on the property, leaving approval of the preliminary development concept plan (PDCP)—the specifics of where on the property the retail zone will be applied and where buildings will be placed—for early in the new year.
Deputy Supervisor Lisa Katz alone voted “no” to each.
Board members read prepared statements. Included in Supervisor Greenstein’s was a list of several “mitigations” Summit Greenfield had proposed: money, land, roadway improvements, jitney service, and consulting fees. [Below are links to each of these.]
After the meeting, Greenstein reiterated that although the Town Board does not intend to share PDCP approval authority with the Planning Board, it will seek Planning Board participation in reviewing the project. Board member Elise Mottel vowed in her statement to “press Summit Greenfield to work harder to incorporate traditional neighborhood design concepts into the Preliminary Development Concept Plan and to adaptively reuse the existing buildings.”
Absent from the zoning amendment was the 15,000 square foot limit on restaurants desired by Whole Foods; instead, there appeared only a limit of 7,500 square feet on carry-out food establishments. Any grocery must be between 30,000 and 45,000 square feet, personal services—with the exception of medical services—remain prohibited, truck delivery start-time was changed from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., and “no truck storage or idling on the site at any time (or during overnight or early morning hours)” was added.
Below are statements from each Town Board member, a press release from the Town, one from Summit Development by Geoff Thompson, and the “mitigations” letter from Summit Development to Town Board members. The video of the meeting is embedded at bottom.
Town press release on retail zoning approval
Summit Development press release on retail zoning approval
Summit Development letter to Town Board setting out additional mitigation measures
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