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Andrew
J. Spano, Westchester County
Executive
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Jerry Mulligan, AICP, Commissioner
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Winter 2007 Newsletter www.westchestergov.com/planning
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 Westchester Awarded $2 million
for Recreational Pathways and Open Space
Westchester County has been awarded three grants totaling $2.08
million towards the development and improvement of pedestrian and bicycle
path ways in Harrison, Rye and Hastings and an extension of RiverWalk in Ossining. The first grant for $1.58 million will expand
nearly four miles of bicycle pathways and pedestrian sidewalks connecting Playland Park
with downtown Rye and Harrison
running along Theodore Fremd
Avenue and Halstead Avenue. The second grant of
$148,000 will improve access to the South County Trailway in Hastings,
from Ravensdale Road
and Jackson Avenue north
along Rte. 9A at the former location of the Mt. Hope
train station of the old Putnam Division Railroad. A parking lot will be
constructed at this site as well. The South County Trailway is a paved 8 -
mile bicycle and pedestrian path running from Yonkers, north to Rte. 100 in Eastview,
where it connects with the North County Trailway. The third grant of $350,000
will assist with the acquisition of an easement on the Ossining
property of the Dominican Sisters of Hope Mariandale Conference Center to
accommodate a segment of RiverWalk. RiverWalk is a planned 46-mile,
multi-faceted pathway paralleling the Hudson River.
It will link village centers, historic sites, parks and rivers with
connecting trails, esplanades and boardwalks.
Click here for more information on the County's Trail
program.
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 Construction Starts on
64 Senior Apartments in
Sleepy Hollow
An underutilized parking lot on Valley
Street in Sleepy Hollow will soon be the site for 64 one-bedroom senior
apartments, many with Hudson River views Groundbreaking ceremonies were held
on Nov. 1 for the nine - story building that will include a terrace, covered
parking, community room with kitchen and an on - site superintendent. The new
apartments will house senior citizens with incomes at or below 30 percent to
50 per cent of the area median income which is between $20,250 and $38,600.
Rents will range from $493 to $855 per month including heating costs. The
apartments must remain affordable for 40 years. Financing for the $12.7
million development includes $1.8 million in land acquisition and
infrastructure costs from Westchester
County along with New York State
providing $9.6 million in housing tax credits and a $1.3 million Housing
Trust Fund loan. The Village of Sleepy Hollow sold the land to Westchester County
which then conveyed the land to the developer Mountco Construction and
Development for the purpose of building affordable housing. Additional
financing was made by JP Morgan Chase and Mountco. Occupancy scheduled for
Fall of 2008. The groundbreaking ceremony included County Executive Andy
Spano, County Legislator Lois Bronz and Sleepy Hollow Mayor Philip Zegarelli.
County Executive Spano said at the groundbreaking, “This new apartment
building will provide deserving seniors with new housing and strengthen
downtown Sleepy Hollow in many positive ways.”
For additional information on this development
please contact Marilyn Dogas at the Community Housing Management Corporation
at (914) 592-5434.
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Click here for more LSW
Program guidelines.
Click here for LSW Program
fact sheet and application.
Information
on the program is also available by contacting Tyneshia Royal
at (914)
995-2413 or tka1@westchestergov.com.
Information about
childhood
lead poisoning and its prevention may be obtained from the
county Health
Department at (914) 813-5000.
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 First Ever Comprehensive Watershed Program Planned for Croton Bay
The
villages of Croton and Ossining, the towns of Cortlandt, New Castle and
Ossining and the Westchester County Department of Planning, have completed
the first comprehensive watershed program for a watershed along the
Westchester portion of the Hudson River. The Indian Brook-Croton Gorge
Watershed area covers over 5.3 square miles, its waters sustain and feed
important habitats along the Croton River and fragile estuarine ecosystems in the Hudson River. The plan calls for improved stormwater
management, protection of existing wildlife habitats, restoration of existing
wetlands and groundwater drinking sources, promotion of sustainable
development, increased public education and outreach and intermunicipal
cooperation. Specific proposals include creating a household hazardous waste
collection program, establishing a program to address illicit discharge
connections and restoring eroded streambanks. Additionally, there are plans
to create educational programs for highway workers and property owners to
ensure proper septic system maintenance, and working with citizens on protecting
open space. The study was funded by the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation. Work in 2007 will focus on implementation.
Click
here for additional information on the Watershed Program.
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 Ossining’s Riverfront
Engel Park
Is A “Cool” Place to Play
The children of Ossining will have a “cool”
place to play this summer thanks to the efforts of the Town of Ossining and the
Westchester County Planning Departments’ Design Section. The improvements to
the Louis H.
Engel Memorial
Park, located along the Hudson River,
include a cushioned spray pool colored blue-green to look like a swirling
sandy beach. A child- sized schooner offering fun water cannons with dumping buckets,
and a new train replica with slides, spinners, swings and a modern-looking
climbing structure. Next on the horizon is a restoration of the park’s Hudson River shoreline with plantings of native shrubs
and grasses. The restored marshland will be administered by a wetland
specialist. Funding for this co-operative project includes $150,000 from the
Town of Ossining and $95,000 from a federal
Community Development Block Grant administered by Westchester County.
Click
here for additional information on Engel Park.
Click here to learn more about Westchester County’s
park design efforts.
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The Westchester County Department of Planning
newsletter is published quarterly to briefly report
on
planning initiatives of interest to county residents, government officials and
businesses. Links are
provided to obtain additional
information.
If you do not wish to receive the newsletter, please click here.
