New Location in Works for Cortlandt Indoor Sports Facility
A new location has been identified for a proposed indoor sports facility that was planned on Route 202 in Cortlandt near Cortlandt Lanes.
Cortlandt officials announced last week they were currently in negotiations with the decision-makers of NY Indoor Sports to form a public/private partnership and have the 68,000-square-foot, two-story building, known as Cortlandt Pitch, built in another part of town. The Northern Westchester Examiner has learned the property being targeted is in the Hendrick Hudson School District.
“We’re putting together something that will be beneficial to the town at large,” said Councilman Frank Farrell.
A continued public hearing on the project, which attracted more than a dozen residents from Mohegan Colony last week, was adjourned March 12 by the Town Board to April 16.
“We thought there would be an agreement by tonight,” Town Attorney Thomas Wood said at the meeting. “We’re very optimistic it (the current location for Cortlandt Pitch) will be withdrawn by the April meeting.”
Cortlandt Pitch is slated to feature an artificial turf surface and is designed to mostly serve youth soccer and lacrosse players. It was planned on a former six-acre farm land close to Lincoln Titus Elementary School in the Mohegan Colony section of town.
Martin Russo, the primary applicant, has explained 45% of the venture by NY Indoor Sports is owned by town residents, such as himself, with the other funding coming from investors and sports enthusiasts. He has stressed the vital need in the area for indoor space for athletes from November through May when outdoor fields are often unplayable. He also said existing town and school fields were unable to handle all the games that are scheduled.
Residents of Mohegan Colony, while sympathizing with providing facilities for youth, have contended the current location, which is only planned to have one right hand turn in and out from busy 202, wasn’t the place for the indoor field of dreams.
“We’re very concerned additional traffic would have a direct affect on our living,” Mohegan Colony resident Fred Omid said last week.
The Cortlandt Town Board is the lead agency for the proposal and will be making the final determination on the project and all its related environmental requirements, along with modifications to the Zoning Ordinance.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/