Emailthe Town Board using this link: townclerk@northcastleny.com. Tell them to uphold the Landmarks Preservation Committee's decision and protect our Historic District.
Write to the North Castle Town Board and send it to Town Hall, 15 Bedford Road, Armonk, NY 10504 or fax it to 273 - 4176
Call the Town Supervisor at 273-3001. ________________________________________________________________________
Dear Neighbor,
Welcome to the first issue of The Open Space Advocate Newsletter, a new online newsletter focusing on open space issues in North Castle. This newsletter will keep you up to date on developments in our town and provide you with fast easy ways to voice your opinions to our town decision makers. Sincerely,
Where will it be? Antares Real Estate, the developer of the Cider Mill property, plans to build a 54,000 square foot commercial and residential development called Armonk Square on three acres in the heart of downtown Armonk. The site will border Main Street where the old Sheep Shack, Wisteria, and Holmes & Kennedy buildings are currently located. The property extends back from Main Street to St. Stephen's cemetery and borders Maple Avenue on the north side (close to Beascakes and Cocobolo) and the Bedford Road Historic District (opposite Town Hall) on the south side. Armonk Square will consist of five 2-story buildings with approximately 26,000 SF of commercial space, consisting of retail stores, offices, a bank, and a restaurant, and approximately 21,000 SF of residential space consisting of 21 second story apartments. There will be 115 parking spaces. When complete, 91% of the three acre site will be buildings or pavement.
Access to Armonk Square. Cars will access Armonk Square using two entrances: one from Maple Avenue and one from Bedford Road using a road to be built directly through the Bedford Road Historic District. This Historic District is a town landmark that has been listed on The National and State Registers of Historic Places and The Westchester County Historic Sites Inventory for more than twenty years. It is our town's only historic district. The North Castle Historic Society, the Landmarks Preservation Committee, and many residents are strongly opposed to the impact that the proposed road will have on the Bedford Road Historic District. The Landmarks Preservation Committee, appointed by the Town Board to protect the Bedford Road Historic District, has denied its approval of the Armonk Square project. Read more below...
What does 54,000 SF look like? Compare this proposed development to the existing buildings that will be next to it. Hickory & Tweed is 6,600 SF and Olive Branch Plaza, where Tazza Cafe and La Scala are located, is 4,200 SF. Armonk Square will contain five buildings: two buildings of each approximately 13, 200 SF and three buildings each of approximately 10,500 SF.
Final approval not given yet. The Planning Board has not yet issued its final approval of Armonk Square. In addition to Planning Board approval, the project must be approved by the town's Landmarks Preservation Committee (LPC) because of its proximity to the Bedford Road Historic District. Because of the negative impact that the proposed development will have on the Historic District, the LPC has denied its approval of Armonk Square. Antares Real Estate is appealing the LPC's decision to the Town Board, asking the Town Board to overturn the LPC's decision and allow the project to proceed in its current form. The Town Board will decide this issue at a public hearing on February 28th at 7:30 pm in the American Legion Hall located at 35 Bedford Road in Armonk next to Town Hall. It is very important that each one of us comes to this meeting and voices our opinion. _______________________________________________________________________
Landmarks Preservation Committee Denies Approval to Armonk Square
What is the LPC? The Landmarks Preservation Committee is a group of residents appointed by the Town Board to protect the Bedford Road Historic District. The members of the LPC volunteer many hours of their time and expertise serving the town. After very careful review of the Armonk Square plans, the LPC denied its approval of Armonk Square because of the negative impact the project will have on the Bedford Road Historic District.
Where is the Bedford Road Historic District?
The Bedford Road Historic District consists of seven contiguous properties: St. Stephen's Church and Cemetery and six 19th century village homes. The small scale and simple architecture of the buildings in the Bedford Road Historic District create a charming streetscape that is a window into Armonk's past. The key to the Historic District is that all the property in the district is connected. The road proposed by Antares will sever the Historic District in two.
What is land banked parking? A mixed use development as dense as Armonk Square is required by the Town Code to have 173 parking spaces. However, because 173 parking spaces cannot fit on the site, the Planning Board has given the developer a 25% waiver which is also authorized by the Town Code. This means that Antares is only required to build 130 parking spaces. Of these 130 spaces, the Planning Board is allowing Antares to "land bank" 15 parking spaces along the road proposed to go through the Historic District. This means that Antares may build Armonk Square without building the 15 parking spaces. If after Armonk Square is built, the Planning Board determines that more parking is needed, Antares will be required to build the 15 land banked parking spaces at that time. Many have raised the question of whether land banking merely puts off addressing the parking issue until a later date, a date at which the development is already built.
Is a road through the Historic District our only choice? No. Because there is a direct relationship between the size of Armonk Square and the number of required parking spaces, reducing the size of the project will reduce the number of required parking spaces and the need to land bank spaces. Likewise, a smaller development could allow the Maple Avenue entrance to be the only access road necessary, or, a secondary access from Main Street could be explored as was proposed by the previous owner of this property. A smaller project will allow the property to be developed and the Historic District to remain intact.
On January 16th, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation issued a letter to the developer stating their opinion "that the inclusion of the access road (Armonk Square Road) would have a substantial negative impact upon the setting of the National Register listed historic district." Based upon their review of the Armonk Square plans, the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation recommended "that the proposed Armonk Square Road be removed from the project and that vehicular access to the development avoid any property that is included in the adjacent historic district." This recommendation by New York State's top agency responsible for the state's preservation program should guide the Town Board in deciding the issue before them on February 28th.
The Open Space Advocate Newsletter is written by Kerri A. Kazak, an attorney and open space advocate. Ms. Kazak formerly served as co-chair of the North Castle Open Space Committee. She is co-founder of the North Castle Land Trust, a chapter of the Westchester Land Trust. Ms. Kazak is also co-founder and co-chair of the Citizens' Campaign to Save Seven Springs. This newsletter is an independent publication with no affiliation with the North Castle town government or any other community groups or organizations.
