Where is the Village in a Park?

This letter was sent to Scarsdale10583 by Lika Levi of Lockwood Road on April 16 and published here with some editing by the site administrator: Dear Editor: I continue to be concerned for the fiscal as well as the physical well-being of our dear Village that once was known as Village-in-a-Park. We may soon ask, "Where is the park? Where is the open space, where are the trees, where are the beautiful stately homes basking in the shade of age old stately trees? Where is all this? Where are the homes built in 1925, dignified, reserved, quietly elegant, understated?" They are all going one by one: just attend any of the meetings of the so called Committee for Historic Preservation. They approve demolitions.

In spite of so called regulation, buildings way too big for their lots are going up everywhere in our Village, just drive on Rock Creek Lane or even closer, look across Village Hall on Crane Road where instead of a historical building that was once there, now two big McMansions are reminders there of the inadequacy of our building regulations. Be present at any meeting of the Panning Board or the Board of Appeals if you need more examples, any month. Or, better still, to receive their agendas add your email address to the list serve from Village Hall.

Every mechanism seems to be here to regulate and stop such insult and yet every regulation everywhere is ineffective. They say democracy is not a spectator sport; this adage seems very relevant today in Scarsdale. Our history, our environmental values, our architecture, our neighborhoods, our trees all are up for grabs to the highest bidder every day at Village Hall. It is a very busy place.

Our volunteer and professional staff work long hours to safeguard our interest, and yet the developer seems to have the say at the end of the day. There are now drainage basins everywhere, wetlands are being built upon, lots subdivided, a real building boom going on in Scarsdale as lots are being divided every which way, boards approving all that come their way and the average tax paying citizen left in the cold of the harsh reality that our village is degrading our life-style deteriorating. There is now even a sewage tax imposed above and beyond all the other raises in our taxes above the CPI (Consumer Price Index) of course.

Nobody moved here to see more buildings or fewer trees. We moved here for nature, for our freedom, for the schools, for the bird calls, for the rabbit we see occasionally in our yards. Yet, these building practices are creating habitat loss right here in our backyards even as I write this. When the developer's backhoe hits the ground, it is the executioner's song. Turning a blind eye makes us robots. A Silent Spring (by Rachel Carson) is in the works.

Even though there is One Palmer going up at the intersection at Heathcote Five Corners, a huge monster, 2-4 Weaver Street is being planned. It is again on the Planning Baord agenda, this time as the first item on agenda for April 24th at 8:00 p.m. Their proposal is to add further insult to the injury: a building more than three times the size of One Palmer, this while selling village land at bargain price or no price.

While our taxes are going up: both school and village, while our roads are full of pot holes, while there is no provision to add to our green space to make more parkland... while the rest of the world is crying out, screaming about global climate change, carbon footprint, in the aftermath of Sandy and obvious repercussions of our damage to our environment, Scarsdale, the suburban community that first passed zoning laws in 1925, is now in 2013 building like no other.

If you think this is not right, if you would like to see a stop to this conquer and plunder mentality, please come to the meeting at Village Hall on April 24th at 8:00 p.m.

Let the Planning Board know the only alternative to 2-4 Weaver Street is not to sell village land, but to acquire more to make a park there at that same location. After more than five years of negotiation that I know about, countless hearings, many emails, it is time we put a stop to this continuous aggravation. Nobody has the time or the energy to deal with this over and over again, year after year, board after board. We are bored, frankly. The zoning at Heathcote Five Corners has to be updated so we do not face such monstrous proposals any more, ever.

Planning at every level has to plan for a better Scarsdale, not a worse one. Laws, regulations need to be revised, updated. The FAR reduced, commercial area zoning updated to give way to less building, more green space. We cannot be writing Scarsdale's death sentence at every land use board meeting. Yet, this is precisely what is happening over and over again at meeting after meeting, despite of many letters, many objections from activist and concerned groups and individuals alike.

After the monstrous One Palmer, hideous 7 Popham, colossal Christie Place, we need a park, and none other than a park. I would love to have One Palmer razed, and a park made there as well.

The only acceptable solution, now is to acquire 2-4 Weaver by eminent domain and let this community have the park it deserves and sorely needs. Residents who have been here longer than I remind me there was once a plan to make a parking lot at De Lima, and another parking lot at Chase Park. In 2013, it is time for a park at Heathcote Five Corners.

I hope readers of this site agree with me and support me. We need your input. Please contact me and let me know you agree with me.

I would love to see many of you at the meeting on April 24th at 8:00 p.m. in Rutherford Hall. 2-4 Weaver is the first item on the agenda. If you cannot make it to the meeting, please e-mail me at Likallevi@aol.com with " Scarsdale" in the subject line and I will add your name to the list of concerned citizens wishing for reform in our building codes. Email me your comments or call me at (914) 722-0004.

We have to stop this and let our government know we do not approve of these deleterious practices.

Remember, "Democracy is not a spectator sport." Tomorrow is too late, call or e-mail me today.

Lika L. Levi
Lockwood Road

Photo credit: Lika L. Levi