Tonight: Town Board Takes up Chappaqua Crossing, Conifer & Legionaries

On its agenda for tonight, New Castle's Town Board will take up three of the major land use proposals that it is considering: the retail development of Chappaqua Crossing, Conifer's affordable housing plan and a condos/hotel/spa mixed overhaul for the Legionaries of Christ site.

CONIFER (CHAPPAQUA STATION):

Discussion for Conifer will likely take up the most time because it involves two public hearings. One is for a proposed zoning change to New Castle's special permit provision for workforce housing; there are two versions of the change, with the first one coming from Conifer and a second one written by the town's law firm. The legislation calls for applying, by default, zoning for either a schedule in the code or that of the Retail Business (B-R) zone, instead of the underlying General Industrial (I-G) that would cover the site for uses outside of workforce housing. The town board would also have the ability to grant waivers of zoning requirements. A variant of the proposal, drafted by the town's legal counsel, would allow for applicants to appeal a waiver request to the zoning board of appeals if the town board opts not to give it.

The other Conifer public hearing will be for the special permit for its proposal, which is dubbed Chappaqua Station and would be located on a small site at 54 Hunts Place. The plan, which has undergone various revisions that included shrinking the building from 36 units to 28, has been criticized by some residents. Concerns stem from the building's site, which is near Metro-North train tracks and the Saw Mill River Parkway, and how it relates to safety and integration with surroundings.

LEGIONARIES (THE SPA AT NEW CASTLE):

The board is expected to vote on whether to declare itself the lead agency for an environmental review of the redevelopment plan at the Legionaries of Christ site, which is located at 773 Armonk Road (Route 128).

The proposal, called The Spa at New Castle, calls for 50 condos, 34 hotel rooms, a spa and pool. It includes an overhaul to an existing 1920s mansion and replacing 1950s-era wings with newer ones that will house the condos. Most of the hotel rooms would be in a new building to the south, while some would be in the mansion. The proposal calls for creating a new floating zone to enable the proposal; the site is currently zoned for 2-acre, single-family housing.

To read more about the board's environmental review vote, click here for our recent story.

CHAPPAQUA CROSSING:

The board will vote on whether to schedule a July 30 public hearing date for the retail proposal, which calls for creating a new floating zone and construction of 120,000 square feet of retail space. The square footage, which includes a mix of new and existing space, would include a grocery store of 36,000 to 66,000 square feet. Several residents have spoken out against the plan at previous public meetings, citing concerns about traffic and fear that the plan would lead to the creation of a new business district and undermine existing merchants. Developer Summit/Greenfield contends that its proposal will not pose harm to local businesses.

The date will cover legislative changes for the proposal, Town Attorney Clinton Smith said. This include rezoning legislation and proposed changes to the town's master plan. The town is not slated to have a public hearing for the final supplemental environmental impact statement (FSEIS) for the project. The earlier version of the review document, a draft supplemental environmental impact statement (DSEIS) was subject to a public hearing during the spring that ran concurrently with the hearings for the proposed legislative changes.

The meeting starts tonight at 7:45 p.m. at town hall in Chappaqua. Click here to search for the agenda and its packet.