FASNY: School Responds to Protest

To the Editor:

For more than four years the plan to create our School and the publicly-accessible Greens to Green open space Conservancy at the former Ridgeway Country Club has undergone the most intensive and exhaustive study and review of any development in White Plains history. The City’s elected officials, commissioners and departments, an array of expert consultants for both the School and the City, School staff, students and families and many White Plains residents have invested hundreds, if not thousands, of hours in this extended approval process. The multiple public hearings have been closed and the thorough environmental studies dealing with every aspect of the plan have been officially adopted as SEQRA Findings by a 6 to 1 vote of the Common Council in December 2013. The School project is clearly better as a result of the input and careful planning that has transpired. Currently, all involved are awaiting the final Site Plan and Special Permit vote by the Common Council.

Despite this lengthy and costly review, some area neighbors remain adamantly opposed to the School, as they have been from the start. Unsatisfied with the extensive revisions and improvements, traffic control measures, mandatory busing, reductions in the number of students, and the numerous other mitigation measures -- many of which have resulted from their public input -- they continue to try to defeat the planned School and Conservancy. Their attempt to legally challenge the approval process was dismissed by the New York State Supreme Court. Yet they continue to protest and oppose, often loudly.

It is worth noting that many of the neighbors and residents from across White Plains strongly support the School and Conservancy plan. Our supporters welcome 78 acres of public open space, with over 3 miles of walking trails and biking lanes, open daily from dawn to dusk, and at no cost to taxpayers. They also realize that FASNY will add to the educational, economic and environmental welfare of White Plains.

All of us at the French-American School of New York are eager to become active members of the White Plains community, as we have been in the other communities in Westchester County where we have had campuses throughout our 35-year history.