WITH PERMISSION TO POST, BELOW IS ROBERT ARMANINI’S 2/9/12 LETTER TO THE GAZETTE ON THE HARMON RE-ZONING. IT’S NOT ABOUT COMMERCIAL AND IT WILL HAVE SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS ON OUR VILLAGE:
To the editor: From day one, Harmon rezoning was sold to the public as the way to create a lively ‘downtown’. Many were hooked once they heard ‘shopping and restaurants’. And who wouldn’t be—this is what the people of Croton want. I’ve publically said it before that I hear this all the time. And, I will say it again: The people of Croton get excited about shops and restaurants.
But the devil is in the details and the details aren’t so exciting. In fact, they are quite a downer. Some of what the details reveal, is the following:
The Village Board has been telling us that the likely anticipated level of new development in Harmon will be 56,000 square feet -- 46,000 square feet of rental housing and approximately 10,000 square feet of commercial space. This information comes directly from their reports.
There is also a 2009 study from the RBA GROUP which dissects these numbers even further. This study is also part of the village’s Environmental Assessment Form and it states that approximately 6,200 square feet of the total commercial space would be for retail shops and restaurants.
6,200 square feet out of a total of 56,000 square feet likely to be developed. That’s a ratio of 9:1 of residential to dining/ retail use. Or, if one prefers, 6,200 square feet represents 11% of the total likely development the Village Board and their consultants expect will occur. 11%...a dismal number and a terrible rate of return for Croton.
One can call Harmon rezoning anything they’d like, but this is NOT commercial redevelopment. This is rezoning ‘to expand the range of available housing options in the village’ (from the County’s reply to Croton) and, to facilitate the construction of density housing in buildings that would be massively out of scale in relation to the surrounding community.
The Village Board is now moving towards drafting a ‘determination of significance.’ We can expect their answer to be what is called a ‘negative declaration’, meaning the rezoning will cause ‘no significant impact’ on issues ranging from the environment, to traffic, to land use.
We are heading towards a Harmon which will be transformed from being primarily a commercial area to one of high density, multi-family housing. The 9:1 ratio the village has laid out for us ensures that.
If this isn’t significant, frankly, I don’t know what is.
Robert Armanini, Croton-on-Hudson
But the devil is in the details and the details aren’t so exciting. In fact, they are quite a downer. Some of what the details reveal, is the following:
The Village Board has been telling us that the likely anticipated level of new development in Harmon will be 56,000 square feet -- 46,000 square feet of rental housing and approximately 10,000 square feet of commercial space. This information comes directly from their reports.
There is also a 2009 study from the RBA GROUP which dissects these numbers even further. This study is also part of the village’s Environmental Assessment Form and it states that approximately 6,200 square feet of the total commercial space would be for retail shops and restaurants.
6,200 square feet out of a total of 56,000 square feet likely to be developed. That’s a ratio of 9:1 of residential to dining/ retail use. Or, if one prefers, 6,200 square feet represents 11% of the total likely development the Village Board and their consultants expect will occur. 11%...a dismal number and a terrible rate of return for Croton.
One can call Harmon rezoning anything they’d like, but this is NOT commercial redevelopment. This is rezoning ‘to expand the range of available housing options in the village’ (from the County’s reply to Croton) and, to facilitate the construction of density housing in buildings that would be massively out of scale in relation to the surrounding community.
The Village Board is now moving towards drafting a ‘determination of significance.’ We can expect their answer to be what is called a ‘negative declaration’, meaning the rezoning will cause ‘no significant impact’ on issues ranging from the environment, to traffic, to land use.
We are heading towards a Harmon which will be transformed from being primarily a commercial area to one of high density, multi-family housing. The 9:1 ratio the village has laid out for us ensures that.
If this isn’t significant, frankly, I don’t know what is.
Robert Armanini, Croton-on-Hudson
And there it is. So why are they trying to do it anyway?
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What a damn shame. Thanks Rob.
ReplyDeleteA friend and I were just talking about how tired a lot of us are from dealing with these same people after years and years of the garbage station and millennium pipeline. We're just plain tired from it all. How nice to see new fresh faces stepping up: Armanini, Schuyler, Calcutti, Moran (though she was around for the garbage station too when they tried to make a legally dangerous deal). So thank you to you all. I hope to feel less emotionally spent when the public hearing rolls around.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same. It's hard to feel motivated when it it ALWAYS something with these people.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rob, for writing the check so to speak with actual money behind it, not empty words.
ReplyDeleteIt's 2015 and all of it is true. The first building under the new law which has gotten us into trouble with HUD, is a deli with six apartments, lol!
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