Conifer Project Would Undermine Metro North Safety, Opponents Tell MTA

Opponents of the Chappaqua Station affordable housing project have opened a new front in their war against Conifer’s plan to put 28 apartment units in a 4-story building at 54 Hunts Place.

The developer is seeking rights to a 10.5-foot portion of the Metro North right-of-way for an emergency sidewalk.

The leaders of Chappaqua for Responsible Affordable Housing have sent a letter to MTA officials urging them to turn Conifer down.

“We believe that giving up this portion of the Right-of-Way would contradict the effort to improve safety along the MTA service lines, and would permanently restrict the MTA’s ability to improve and expand service on the Harlem line,” Jim McCauley and Bill Spade, two of the letter’s authors, wrote in a press release.

The group has said that the affordable housing project will isolate and stigmatize its residents; is too big for the property; and, despite changes and variances, is still unsafe. They have recommended that the developer drop its plans for Hunts Place and create a project on different land they say is available downtown.

RELATED:

• Lawsuit Filed to Nix Conifer Special Permit
• Conifer Presents Smaller Plan; Town Board Receptive
• NY State Department Reviews Conifer’s Chappaqua Station

The New Castle Town Board approved a special permit in 2013 for the proposed affordable housing project; angry residents and subsequently elected town officials have been fighting it ever since.

According to the Chappaqua Daily Voice, town officials have asked the state to reverse its January decision to grant Conifer variances for various building and fire code requirements. The developer and the town are squaring off in court about the permit’s expiration date. And a discrimination complaint filed by Conifer with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is still pending.

Here’s the text of the letter:

Dear Mr. Prendergast & Members of the MTA Board:

As you may or may not be aware, Conifer Realty has proposed a 28-unit affordable housing development on a 0.3-acre site abutting the Harlem Line Right-of-Way in Chappaqua, at the north end of the train platform (see rendering at right). This project is proposed to be developed under the auspices of Westchester County’s Affordable Housing Settlement in 2009. As part of this proposal, Conifer has requested that the MTA provide it with a permanent No-Build Agreement on a 10.5 foot portion of the 50-foot Right-of-Way, in order to provide a required emergency exit sidewalk. This sidewalk is to be built on the MTA property in conjunction with a permanent easement or permit (see attached Site Plan). The MTA Real Estate Department responded to Conifer’s request by indicating that the MTA has “agreed in principle to the lease” (see attached letter from Neil Mastropietro dated 2-6-14). For the reasons stated below, we believe that the required No-Build agreement is contrary to the mission of the MTA, and would adversely impact future operations and safety of the Harlem line. We ask that the Board deny Conifer’s request.

Since this proposal was first made public in 2010, our group of architects, engineers and other professionals have been arguing that this isolated, stigmatizing site, surrounded by the Railroad, the Saw Mill Parkway and the Route 120 bridge, represents many safety risks and is an incredibly inappropriate location for affordable housing. Since 2012, we have been advocating that Conifer’s proposal be relocated to a Town-owned 1-acre parcel nearby that is part of a residential community and far more appropriate (see attached Washington Ave. Site plan). A new Town Board, which replaced the Town Board that granted the Conditional Special Permit for this project, has stated it’s support for the relocation of this development to the other site, and the inappropriateness of the present site (see attached letters by Ed Phillips of Keane & Beane, Town Attorney). Conifer, however, has continued to refuse this request, due to the financial considerations of the funds it has invested in this project to date. This is a poor excuse to continue to pursue a project that has so many safety deficiencies.

We believe that granting Conifer this permanent No-Build Zone and easement on the MTA Right-of-Way would be contrary to the mission of the MTA for the following reasons:

1. 1. It would permanently restrict the MTA’s operational capacity on the Harlem Line: Providing a permanent dedication of over 20% of the Harlem Line’s Right-of-Way width immediately adjacent to the north end of the Chappaqua Train Station, and within 10 feet or closer of the railroad track, would permanently inhibit the railroad’s operational capabilities, including the possibility of third rail line in this section and improvements to the Chappaqua train station. As it is likely that the MTA would need to expand rail service for future needs, allowing this permanent restriction on the ability to expand service seems extremely short-sighted.
   2. It would create unsafe conditions for Harlem line operations, passengers and employees, local emergency responders, and, most importantly, the residents of the proposed housing: The proposed 300-foot long, 4-story building would be constructed on the property line abutting the Railroad Right-of-Way, within 19 feet of the railroad tracks, with 3 stories of apartments and windows facing the tracks. Any fire conditions on the tracks, or in the building facing the tracks, would immediately present a danger to track operations, passengers, employees, emergency responders & building residents. Given the recent safety-related events on the Harlem & Hudson lines, of which Chappaqua residents are very aware, allowing this project to take a portion of the Railroad Right-of-Way would certainly increase the level of risk, and be a movement in the wrong direction of creating a safer environment.
   3. It would go against the will of the local community: The prior Town Board approved a Conditional Special Permit for this project in September 2013 in a highly politicized process, against a great deal of community opposition. This opposition was solely based on the poor conditions of this site, as well as the clear benefits of an alternative site. In the subsequent election in November 2013, a new Town Board was seated on the basis of its opposition to this proposal. The new Town Board has steadfastly communicated its preference for the other site and its opposition to this site, including in letters to the New York State Board of Review and to the Federal Monitor (see attached). In addition, as these letters indicate, our Town Building Inspector and our Assistant Fire Chief have opposed this proposal due to its safety deficiencies.
   4. This project is being pursued by Conifer for purely financial reasons: As mentioned above, an alternate 1-acre site, owned by the Town, and nearby to the proposed site, has been offered to Conifer. This alternate site is located on a residential street, near the Town Hall, its playground, the Library and the Middle School. The site would comfortably accommodate the 28 units. Conifer has rejected consideration of this site purely on the basis that it, in their President’s words, “has spent too much already on the present site.” They stand to earn a $2million development fee, and the current landowner would earn $1.2million for a site that may be worth less than $300K.

1. 1. Subsurface Contamination that extends from the Site onto MTA property: The MTA should also be aware that the Conifer site is a designated Brownfield by the State DEC and that the documented on-site contamination extends to the MTA property line. The on-site remediation program requires a 10-foot excavation of much of the site, up to the property line. However, no testing has been done on the MTA property, and yet the required egress sidewalk is to be constructed on the MTA property.

We would like to stress once again that our opposition to this site is not the result of opposition to affordable housing. In fact, our group has been actively involved in locating and promoting other sites for affordable housing in Chappaqua. Our opposition to this site solely stems from the fact that it is an isolated piece of land, cut off from any residential community, and would serve to create a stigmatizing location for those desiring affordable housing in Chappaqua. The New Castle Planning Board determined in 2006 that this site is an inappropriate location for housing of any kind.

Even the Federal Monitor overseeing the Affordable Housing Settlement described this site as having “all of the indicia of isolation”, and that the “obstacles to integration with the community, and the stigma associated with the separation, cannot be overcome” (see attached letter dated 7-17-12 from James Johnson to Conifer Realty). (The Monitor subsequently flip-flopped on his opinion of the project 6 weeks later, but with no substantive changes to the project design).

To conclude, beyond the issues of the inappropriateness of this site for housing, we think it would be ill-advised for the MTA to consider this request, as it would permanently restrict the MTA’s operational capacity on the Harlem Line, while also enabling the creation of unsafe conditions for it’s passengers, employees, local emergency responders, and, most especially, the residents of this proposed housing, while also going against the will of the local community. We ask that you deny this request.

Respectfully Submitted by Chappaqua for Responsible Affordable Housing