Katz and McCall Reveal Competing Visions for Revitalizing Hamlet

Lisa Katz and Holly McCall, the two opposing candidates up for election for the 2 year term as New Castle Town Supervisor, squared off in a Candidates Forum held last Thursday evening. Katz, who is currently finishing up her 8th year on the town board, brings a wealth of experience in governing the town and has previously been elected to serve two 4 year terms on the town board. McCall is coming off a recent 3 year term as a member of the Board of Education (BOE) for the Chappaqua Central School District (CCSD) which is ironically at odds with the current town board over its proposal related to a 72 acre environmental study of the downtown Chappaqua hamlet and a zoning change that would institute a form based code (FBC) for a 7 acre a portion of the area.

Katz is clearly not ready to walk away during this crucial point in the town’s development. Katz has been elected twice before focusing directly on local issues in a town where residents are fiercely independent about their local politics.

On the big topic of the night, McCall clearly stated she was supportive of the direction that the town board is currently taking with the FBC, that she was happy to see 5 story buildings had been removed from the code and that she feels the town board has both been listening and very responsive to the community by limiting the area that the FBC will initially be applied to.

Katz clearly stated that the after receiving detailed information as part of this process, she recognizes this is not the right solution for New Castle. She focused on the need for planning and collaboration with landowners and developers to get the amenities that residents want without creating risks related to the school system, taxes, traffic and parking. She specifically pointed out the area impacted by the FBC proposal is not limited to the one block area referenced by McCall. She stressed that the study area encompasses 72 acres which is the entire Chappaqua hamlet and can be expanded by any future town board after a single required public hearing. Katz expressed extreme discomfort with putting the future of the hamlet in the hands of developers as opposed to doing the planning now and targeting the amenities that residents want.

McCall rebutted that property owners control the fate of their land, not developers. What was left out was many of the owners of the largest lots in the hamlet are developers of their own land. She also made the point that she was not currently advocating for the sale of any town owned land.

McCall felt that the FBC remains our best opportunity for revitalization and reminded listeners of the time and resources already spent developing it. McCall felt it would tell us how well the FBC works to accomplish our goals.

Katz countered the lack of any parameters to determine what success looks like was major problem with the proposal, a concern that echoes that of the CCSD and many residents. She also pointed out that the information in the recently accepted FGEIS would still help anyone looking to develop projects in the study area by using that information and decreasing development costs to help streamline the process with the town’s planning board.

McCall opened the night talking about the Town Supervisor position as being the chief collaborator and gave her experience on the BOE as an example of that. With the town board unwilling to incorporate core aspects of the CCSD’s feedback into the current proposal as one of the key areas of outstanding disagreement on the proposal, bringing the sides together on this issue will be a challenge for McCall, especially when there are concerns that her own positions on the FBC proposal have changed over the short period of time since she announced her candidacy while completing her term on the BOE in the spring. This conflict is one of the factors why 10 year BOE member and 3 time BOE president Victoria Tipp is also on the ballot for a 2 year position on the town board as part of the Unite New Castle team which is headed by Katz, McCall’s opponent in the election.

Katz agreed about the importance of facilitating collaboration, and further stressed the importance of making sure all residents of the town have their voices heard, regardless of political affiliation and whether they agreed with her personal position on an issue or not. Katz reiterated that this was one of the reasons she was so pleased that Tipp had decided to join the Unite New Castle team, and bring her long tenure on the BOE, where she is currently a member, to find solutions that would satisfy both entities and avoid future conflicts.

On the subject of climate change, McCall identified this an issue she feels passionate about and discussed how the recent flooding in town was a wake up call that the we needed to do more beyond the recent infrastructure improvements. She mentioned further electrifying the town fleet and referenced purchasing and preserving available green spaces.

Katz pointed to her history on the town board which included partnerships with Solarize New Castle, adopting the first comprehensive reusable bag law in the state, a compost program to cut down on waste and New Castle’s leadership in defaulting to green energy as part of a county wide program to jointly purchase power among many projects the town had worked on during her tenure.

The impact of the local airport is one that elicits strong reaction from many residents. McCall felt this was an area of agreement between the two candidates and referenced looking for ways to adopt an alternative landing approach being studied and her ability to work with local representatives who are part of this process and who have all endorsed her.

Katz also supported the alternative landing approach and vowed to stand with residents to advocate for change as she has done in the past and to make sure local voices are heard as part of the upcoming Airport Master Plan. She also stressed the importance of working closely with the Airport Advisory Board to stay in the loop about airport developments, pointing out that this didn’t happen during the approval of major leases several years ago that preceded the uptick in recent residential concerns.

Additional questions about diversity and inclusion, the impact of Covid, reuniting the community, and opening and closing statements can be found on the video of the debate.

Residents were left two very different visions going forward, though the areas of disagreement on policy matters seem to heavily focused on issues tied to the FBC.