Request for Hearing on Mixed-Use Plan for Driving Range Denied in Somers
A majority of the Somers Town Board is receptive to a proposal to change zoning requirements for the proposed The Green at Somers mixed-use development, but the board did not act on a request from the owner of the site to schedule a public hearing.
The developer is asking the board to allow the construction of four commercial/residential buildings with three floors and have some homes on the first floor of the structures on Route 6.
The buildings would have 72 residential townhouse rental units, with a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom units. At least half of the units would be intended as affordable housing.
The fifth proposed building would house a one-story restaurant.
The development would replace a golf driving range that currently exists at the site. The 11-acre property, which is partly located in the Town of Carmel, is zoned NS (neighborhood shopping).
The developer wants the town board to allow the four, 8,400-square-foot commercial/residential buildings to be three-stories (about 50 feet) high; allow a reduction of the number of parking spaces that would be required for the project; and allow for an increase in the minimum floor area ratio. All three of the proposals have been endorsed by the planning board. The developer also wants the town board to amend town code to allow both commercial and residential development on the first floor of its four mixed use buildings. Currently, only commercial development is allowed on the first floor of mixed use buildings in the NS zone.
Rick Van Benschoten, owner of the golf driving range who is proposing The Green at Somers, said he was proposing to create 10,000 square feet of retail space, including a restaurant. His project would generate 125 construction jobs for a period of between 18 to 24 months and also create between 15 and 20 permanent jobs once the complex id completed, he said. Housing is a necessary part of his development plan, he said.
“We’re over-retailed in this area,” he said, adding that the affordable units being sought could be used to fulfill part of Westchester County’s agreement with the federal government to make more affordable housing available.
Linda Whitehead, an attorney for the developer, also said housing needed to be a part of The Green at Somers. “There’s already too much retail” in the area, Whitehead said.
Town Supervisor Mary Beth Murphy said she did not want to schedule a pubic hearing until she first spoke to officials from Peekskill and Cortlandt to obtain their thoughts about having the homes proposed for The Green at Somers be hooked up to the Westchester County sewer district in the area, which has effluent go to a plant in Peekskill.. Previously, officials from both municipalities have opposed the addition of more properties into the sewer disrtict. Murphy said she did not want Somers residents to pay for the cost of a lawsuit from Peekskill and Cortlandt if The Green at Somers entered into the county sewer district over their objections.
Whitehead replied that if there was a lawsuit over the addition of new homes into the county sewer district, the Westchester Board of Legislators would be sued because it would be up to them to allow the homes to come into the district. “The town doesn’t have to do anything” if an Article 78 suit seeking to overturn the county board’s action, was taken. An Article 78 suit does not seek financial payments from municipalities, she maintained.
In addition, the town board decided not to schedule a public hearing until after it received additional information from the developer, such as the amount of recreation fees it would agree to pay to the town if the project went forward. “We’d like to move ahead” with the approval process, but the board was not ready to schedule a public hearing until the additional information was provided, Councilman Rick Morrissey said.
