Politics & Government

Astorino Signs Sewer Extension for New Castle Neighborhoods

The legislation will affect three residential communities and part of Chappaqua Crossing.

Nearly two weeks after the Board of Legislators for parts of New Castle, County Executive Rob Astorino has signed the measure.

"He signed it into law this morning and it was delivered to the board today," spokeswoman Jessica Proud said on Friday.

The county executive's signature follows an 11-6 passage through the legislature, a step that was historically hard to achieve for years because of opposition from Yonkers area officials due to concerns that the sewage, which would stop at a treatment plant in the city, would have a negative odor impact. Several concessions were made in response, including approval of a $9,635,000 bond for phase II of an ongoing odor mitigation project. In addition, the New Castle sewer extensions can't start until after design work has been done for phase III of the odor mitigation.

Find out what's happening in Chappaqua-Mount Kiscowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The extension will affect 293 parcels in town, including the residential communities of Yeshiva Farm, Random Farms and Riverwoods in the northern part of town. These communities, located near New York City's Croton Reservoir drinking water, use on-site sewage treatment or septic systems, which pose a health risk due to their proximity to the water. The city's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has been pushing for years to get the situation mitigated, and in October the agency asked the county government to approve of New Castle's extension for having the region's residents connect to an ultra-violet water treatment plant being built in the central part of the county. The DEP backing, combined with the Astorino coming out in favor of it, helped reignite momentum for the extension.

The extension also covers the eastern portion of Chappaqua Crossing, a necessary measure for developer Summit/Greenfield, which proposed a total of 199 condos and townhouses for the former Reader's Digest property. In April, after years of environmental review, the New Castle Town Board only gave rezoning approval that would allow for 111 of those units, many of which would overlap with the expanded sewer district. Summit/Greenfield is with the town over how its rezoning application was reviewed and does not have plans to build. The district already covers the western part of the property, where Reader's Digest originally built its offices.

Find out what's happening in Chappaqua-Mount Kiscowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The next step for residents is to get financing set up for the project. The extension will be paid for through a combintion of Croton watershed environmental funds that New York City gave the county in 1997, plus out of pocket costs from residents.

The extensions might not be the last in town. There is a desire among some in the Millwood area to have the sewer's trunk line, which currently stops around Route 100 in Briarcliff, to . Currently, the trunk line's extension is planned to go through downtown Millwood but is not intended to include the business district in usage.


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