Hearth Environmental Review Winding Down

The environmental review portion of the Mount Kisco Planning Board's oversight of The Hearth at Mount Kisco could come to a close this Tuesday.

Mark Miller, an attorney for the development team for the proposed 129-unit senior housing complex, made a request at the board's June 25 meeting to wrap up the review by July 9. Miller also hopes that the board will then schedule an Aug. 27 public hearing for a required special permit.

The proposal, which is for more than 17 acres of a steep site to the west of Kisco Avenue, also requires the planning board to give site plan approval.

At the June 25 meeting, board Chair Joseph Cosentino appeared receptive to Miller's suggested timeline, at least for the environmental portion.

The proposal, formally submitted to the village last fall, has been coupled with a technical memorandum to show that changes for it are "consistent" with those in an earlier version that underwent an extensive review by the board that culminated in a findings statement, according to Nanette Bourne, who is a planning consultant for Mount Kisco. The memorandum was submitted in March and has been subject to review and dialogue with the village.

Since the formally submission, the project has undergone several changes. They include flipping the orientation of the building, adding in an emergency access connection to the Curtis Instruments site and tweaking the primary driveway. An official speaking for the developer stated that the change result in a 25-percent reduction in tree removal, a 40-percent decrease in impervious area and a 1.5-acre reduction in the amount of acreage being disturbed.

The project in its current form is the latest update to a long-running saga for the site, which was once part of the Swiss Benevolent Society's property that once spanned the slope to the Captain Merritt's Hill neighborhood.

The senior housing proposal was originally called Westchester Residence & Club. It came from developer Robert Mishkin and was the result of a 2005 lawsuit settlement that he made with the village. The deal came in response to litigation that he pursued in the early 2000s, after Mount Kisco did not approve an expansion for his senior center, Town & Country. The center, which was located at the top of Mountain Avenue, had room for 44 residents while Mishkin wanted to add capacity for 46 more. Under the deal, Mishkin and the village agreed to a land swap, with Mount Kisco getting the approximately 4-acre Mountain Avenue site in exchange to Mishkin getting the land on the slope. Both sites were once owned by the Swiss Benevolent Society and fell into separate ownership for a period of time.

Once Mishkin submitted his proposal, it underwent an detailed environmental review from the planning board, including an environmental impact statement, from 2006-09. The board wrapped up the review with its findings statement, while the village board of trustees voted to rezone the site the same year. From 2009 to 2012, the project was dormant in response to a bad economy. Mishkin is now a minority owner for the project, which is led by a joint venture between Fortus Group and Hearth Management.