Reproduced with permission of The Journal News.
By JOSEPH AX
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: January 13, 2004)
GREENBURGH — Residents who spoke at a sometimes contentious public hearing last night overwhelmingly urged the Town Board to keep the entire 8-acre site that currently houses the library and the old town hall, rather than selling the old town hall to one of two developers of senior housing.
The few who favored one development or the other largely supported Sunrise at Greenburgh, an assisted-living facility for senior citizens, over the Commons at Greenburgh, which features affordable senior housing.
The seven-member library board made an impassioned plea to the Town Board to preserve the Tarrytown Road site for a major expansion it says is desperately needed at the undersized facility. If it becomes necessary to sell the old town hall for financial reasons, however, library board members reluctantly said they would prefer Sunrise, saying it would create less traffic at the site.
Supervisor Paul Feiner endured catcalls when he expressed his belief that an eventual sale of the old town hall is the most financially sound option, and fellow board members Steve Bass and Eddie Mae Barnes said they wanted to delay any decision on the old town hall until they know more details of the library expansion.
"The community wants us to look at using the whole space," Bass said. "We need to take the time to do that. I don't see any reason to rush."
The sale of the property would bring the town at least $2.6 million, while the taxes generated could equal hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. But most of the approximately 75 residents in attendance at the new Town Hall appeared willing to forsake that revenue if it provides the library with additional space to expand.
"The current facility is entirely inadequate," said library board Vice Chairwoman Ginger Grant. "Frankly, we want the whole site."
While the library board and the architect it has hired to develop plans for the expansion, Todd Harvey, have yet to provide drawings or cost estimates, the board argued for a 30,000-square-foot addition that would more than double the size of the existing facility. That figure would meet the accepted standard of one square foot per resident, or 48,000 in this case, Grant said. Officials said conceptual drawings from Harvey would likely be available within a week.
Resident Madeleine O'Shea said the Town Board must first determine whether either development would serve to impede the library project.
"This whole concept of sell, and sell quickly, is backwards," she said. "The library is first. Then, if need be, sell the old town hall property."
Only one resident spoke in favor of the Commons project. A handful of others said they preferred Sunrise, criticizing the Commons for its request for a tax break, its size, its status as affordable housing and what some said is a lack of adequate parking.
The Commons comes from Elmsford-based Wilder Balter Partners and calls for a five-story building with a penthouse, 95 units, 58 parking spaces and 112,000 total square feet. "Affordable senior housing" is defined as housing for individuals 55 years of age and older whose incomes are at or below 60 percent of the area's median income. The firm has offered $2.6 million for the land and has asked for a tax break that would reduce its bill to $99,000.
Sunrise, designed by Minneapolis-based Sunrise Development, features a three-story building with 82 units, 40 parking spaces and 65,000 square feet. Sunrise has offered $2.8 million, and the town's tax assessor has estimated its bill at between $250,000 and $300,000 annually.
Another public hearing will be held at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Town Hall.
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