Comprehensive Village Plan Approved

The Scarsdale Board of Trustees met on Tuesday March 9th and at long last the Village Center Component of the Comprehensive Plan was approved. The plan has been in the works for two and a half years and many factions of the community provided input and contributed to the result.

Two Planning Boards, Village Planner Elizabeth Marrinan, the Conservation Advisory Council, The League of Women Voters, Scarsdale Friends of the Parks, the neighborhood associations, the TVCC plus shoppers, brokers, property owners, retailers and concerned citizens all provided input during the planning process.

The resulting plan closely examines three key opportunity sites; Spencer/Christie Place, Scarsdale Avenue and Freightway where development could occur. For each area the plan describes existing conditions, opportunities, planning options and recommendations.

The plan does not make zoning changes or provide specific plans for development. It is meant to give the village a framework to make planning decisions as they arise.

Before the voting took place, the Mayor, trustees and attendees were given the chance to comment on the plan and the process. Mayor Stevens thanked all involved for their hard work and long hours spent formulating a plan that addresses the concerns of the community. She reminded the public that the purpose of the plan was to provide guidance for future planning and provide trade-offs for improvements downtown while protecting the scale and character of the village.

Mr. Pullman, representing the Overhill Association thanked the Board for listening, respecting member views and for amending the plan to meet their concerns. The Board had made revisions to the plan in February and March 2010 to address Overhill resident's comments about permissible building heights on Scarsdale Avenue. He said, “Overhill residents are still concerned and will always be concerned” as their properties border the Village. Trustee Lindsay echoed the Mayor’s thanks to the community, saying that the plan “is a sound document because you all cared.”

Trustee Flisser was not as positive about the plan or the process. She commented that the plan “started with a flawed premise” and provided urban solutions for a suburban landscape. The initial survey was given to only 70 passengers on Metro North and was not reflective of the views of the community at large. She reminded the group that the original plan called for building over the train tracks and constructing housing where there were no services to support residents. The original planners neglected to maintain Scarsdale as a “village in a park.”

From there, the process improved as a second survey was done and caring residents spoke up. The plan grew to incorporate the sentiments of tree-lovers and homeowners and ideals for “green development.” She ended by encouraging residents to speak up and by assuring them that “the people they elected will listen.”

Trustee Dan Hochvert said that a great deal of thought had been put into the plan and that it should serve as a reminder for future boards that mass building is not desirable. He also felt that building height limitations should be noted in feet, not in the grade above sea level.

Ending the comments section, the Mayor said, “I do appreciate the conversation”. Trustee Lindsay read aloud the resolution to adopt the SEQRA findings, and the Resolution to adopt the Village Center Component of the Comprehensive Plan and both were approved unanimously.

In an earlier discussion of the Village Budget, the Mayor announced that she anticipated a 5.96% increase in the Village Budget for fiscal year 2010-2011, which would mean an average increase of $296 per household. She cited declining Village revenues and said that any further cuts to the bare bones budget would impact services.

Bob Harrison spoke about financially stressed families and the decrease in real estate values and called for a 4% increase in the budget. He asked for cuts to the library budget and the funds for road repairs suggesting we use the hot patch machine to temporarily fill potholes until the economy improves. The Mayor replied that the Village gets many complaints about potholes and that failure to repave the roads would impact safety.

In other news, the Mayor invited the community to attend a ceremony at Village Hall on March 29th at 2 PM to honor former Mayor Walter Handelman and his wife Judy who both gave years of service to the Village. The Handelman family will donate a sculpture called “Yearning” by Aris Demetrios in honor of their memory.