Given a green light by a state judge’s ruling Tuesday, the village of Sleepy Hollow is ready to move ahead with a developer of Lighthouse Landing, a mixed-use riverfront project at the former General Motors automotive assembly plant site that has been stalled by a legal challenge by the neighboring village of Tarrytown.
Tarrytown officials last year asked a state Supreme Court judge to annul the Sleepy Hollow village board’s approval of the project, claiming their municipal neighbor did not take a “hard look” at the project’s impact on traffic and parking and did not thoroughly review alternative development proposals.
Acting Supreme Court Justice James W. Hubert, citing in detail the project’s “lengthy and contentious” planning approval process, ruled that Sleepy Hollow officials had complied with requirements of the State Environmental Quality Review Act and rejected Tarrytown’s contentions.
The Sleepy Hollow board of trustees in May 2011 approved a special permit and concept plan for Lighthouse Landing, an estimated $800 million project on a 96-acre property off Beekman Avenue vacated by the automaker in 1996. The project, scaled back from General Motors Co.’s initial proposal in 2003, calls for construction of 1,177 residential units, 35,000 square feet of office space, 135,000 square feet of commercial space and a 140-room hotel.
Sleepy Hollow Mayor Kenneth G. Wray in an announcement of the court decision said it “will allow the village to enter a new and exciting chapter in its history.” The project, he said, will create 1,000 jobs, build new infrastructure serving the entire village and bring numerous new businesses to the area.
