Land Use Committee Leans Toward a Deal at 5 Corners

Scarsdale's Land Use Committee met Thursday night to discuss selling a Village owned plot of land at 2-4 Weaver St. to add to a project at Heathcote Five Corners. The sale of the strip of land would both allow the proposed construction to be larger and allow an upper story to be set back further from the Tavern Building, currently the site of the Massa restaurant.

The Committee began the evening by inviting public comment, then ended in executive session.

The Committee has been negotiating with the developers, Frederick Fish and Stephen Oder, who currently own the Tavern Building.

In an August 4 letter, which Committee Chair Jonathon Mark read aloud, Oder stated that if the committee did not recommend in favor of the deal, he would proceed with plans to build a smaller retail space on land he already owns, a plan which might include tearing down the Tavern Building to create retail space.

A non-binding draft of a proposed agreement between Oder and the Land Use Committee spares the Tavern but allows it to be reconfigured as both retail space and living spaces, and/or as a restaurant. It also sells the Village property next to 2-4 Weaver St. to Oder, but specifies the limits of new construction on what would then be a larger piece of property.

The property would be sold for $150,000.

The proposed deal would allow construction of 11 residential units, one of which would be a "Fair and Affordable" unit. It does not specify the size of the individual units or how many people could live in each one. As many as four residential units would be allowed in the Tavern Building.

New construction would be spaced at least 20 feet from the Tavern Building, and an upper floor would be set back. New construction would be built on a deck that would cover an existing parking structure, but the overall height would be less than 46 feet. The highest roof peak of new construction would not exceed the highest roof peak of the Tavern building.

There is considerable disagreement about the size of the proposed construction—both how big it should be and what parts should be considered "gross buildable area." The Village proposed 31,800 square feet of gross buildable area, excluding parking, hallways and other similar areas. The Heathcote Five Corners Coalition asserts the new construction would exceed 55,400 square feet. The two use different methods to reach their conclusions.

The Committee met for public discussion of the agreement. Most of the public speakers either recommended against approving the agreement until after August, when many Scarsdale residents return from vacations, or disapproving the agreement altogether.

In several previous meetings, four since last April, people have expressed concern about increased traffic, both automotive and pedestrian.

One pointed out that the proposed project is 75 percent larger than it was when it was originally presented to the Board of Trustees, who requested the committee review the project.

Martin Kaufman, who is Vice President of the Heathcote Five Corners coalition, pointed out several deficiencies with the proposed construction, most stemming from a provision that the living units would not be age restricted. By implication, those units would house families, and the children would be at risk in the traffic at Five Corners. He also pointed out that renters or lease holders would pay less taxes for their children to attend Scarsdale schools.

Lena Crandall, who represented Friends of Scarsdale Parks but is also a member of the Five Corners Coalition, worried about the character of the Village

"I'm worried we'll have something massive and ugly," she said, "something more urban."

"This is an inflection point," in the permitting process, Kaufman said. "These terms set a framework for village staff to work from. It's worth waiting until the community is around and has had an opportunity to address you."

Dr. Esther Robbins, who lives on Weaver Street, also urged waiting.

But Committee Chair Marks then read Oder's letter. He summed his reasons for supporting the deal that he and the rest of the committee had worked out with Oder.

By selling Village property to Oder, Marks said, the Village could assert some control over the construction and ease traffic concerns. If the deal is not made, Oder could tear down the Tavern Building and build an entirely retail establishment over which the Village would have little say, beyond the existing codes.

If the Planning Committee approves the plan, it will be forwarded to the Planning Board for approval.

"I am prepared to move the process along," Marks said.

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