Town Board Adopts Chappaqua Crossing Findings Statement

On Tuesday night the New Castle Town Board voted to adopt a supplemental findings statement for the Chappaqua Crossing retail plan.

The findings statement is important to the process because, according to state law, it is the last document for an environmental review. The first environmental document for the plan was submitted to the town a year ago by developer Summit/Greenfield and is called a draft supplemental environmental impact statement (DSEIS). That document was subject to town review and a public hearing before being superseded by a final supplemental environmental impact statement (FSEIS), which the town board voted to adopt at a meeting in September.

The document was adopted in a 3-1 vote. Supervisor Susan Carpenter, Councilman Robin Stout and Councilman Jason Chapin voted in favor while Councilman John Buckley voted against. Deputy Supervisor Elise Kessler Mottel, who was absent, has recused herself from the review due to a connection between her employer and an affiliate of Greenfield Partners, which is part of the Summit/Greenfield joint venture.

Buckley, who is the only board member running for re-election this year, announced at a candidates' night last Thursday that he would vote against the rezoning.

The retail plan calls for rezoning part of the site to allow for 120,000 square feet of retail space and a grocery store of 36,000 to 66,000 square feet. However, the findings statement calls for limiting the grocery store size to just 50,000 square feet. 

The document offers the following rationale for doing so: "Allowing the grocer to use 50% or more of the total available retail space may prevent the most desirable complementary and mutually sustainable tenant mix for the comfort and convenience of occupants in the underlying Office Park District and occupants and residents in the community as a whole.  Moreover, by limiting the grocer to a range of 36,000 SF to 50,000 SF allows the maximum tax revenue to be captured."

Tax revenue projections were analyzed for 36,000, 50,000 and 66,000 square feet, with each estimated to create more than $3 million. However, the later scenario had the lowest revenue projection of the three.

The findings statement also gives a lengthy list of mitigation measures for the proposal. The full report is at this link on the town's website.

With the environmental review concluding, the next steps, according to what was outlined at the meeting, would be for the town to vote on the rezoning as well as changing the master plan. Also important, however, is the preliminary development concept plan, which is relevant to layout. It was noted that a next step is for Summit/Greenfield to submit one, which will be subject to a public hearing, and if all three items are approved by the town board then the proposal will go to the planning board for a site plan review.

Tuesday's meeting, which went on for nearly three hours, was contentious like earlier ones held for the proposal. Concerns about traffic impact and competition with the existing business community were again mentioned.

Matt Weinberg said he “can't imagine how this won't cannibalize the downtown," adding that storefronts that are empty will be seen by prospective residents. 

Rob Greenstein, a co-founder of the Chappaqua-Millwood Chamber of Commerce and Team New Castle's supervisor candidate, asked about shoring up the downtown to help it from being cannibalized. Stout replied by noting that an inventory of businesses was taken, with square footage data included, and noted that a study done by AKRF, which was for the town, showed that a different retailer type would come to Chappaqua Crossing than in Chappaqua's downtown or to Millwood.

Greenstein was not satisfied with the response and felt that a risk was being taken.

Cindy Lupica, who owns Marmalade in downtown Chappaqua, worried about creating a new retail area and felt that it would negative impact existing merchants.  Giving a shopper demographic example, she suggested that moms with limited time will not split what they are doing between the downtown and Chappaqua Crossing.

Betty Weitz, who noted that she does not live near the site but has concern about the impact of the project on nearby residents, said she does not want to “benefit from someone else's loss.” She also engaged in a dialogue with Stout about looking out for the interests of the residents, who she described as being a minority and doing so in a political context.

Adam Reinmann asked about Summit/Greenfield's financial condition and suggested that its status is tied with its cost basis, a point that is similar to something Greenstein expressed a few weeks ago during a presentation on Summit/Greenfield that included several financial claims.

Chapin replied that information was received, which confirms the financial soundness of the developer. Town Attorney Clinton Smith, who got into the dialogue, brought up what Summit/Greenfield owes on the only mortgage on the property that is with the Westchester County Clerk's office, which includes an outstanding amount of several million dollars.