The Yorktown Planning Board has approved Toll Brothers’ proposal for a 118-unit senior citizens development on Catherine Street. The age-restricted townhomes for seniors age 55 and up would be built on a 48.05-acre section of a subdivided 50.51-acre lot. The remaining parcel and the historic Field Home building that’s situated on it would be donated to the Town of Yorktown for preservation and reuse. Constructed between 1887 and 1924, the Field Home originally provided shelter for elderly and infirm women and is currently occupied by the Field Hall Foundation.
Approximately 14.3 acres of the total land area would be placed under a conservation easement, preserving it as open space.
The development would have a clubhouse, pool, and sports courts, along with new roads and a stormwater management system. It is estimated that the development would generate almost $1.3 million in annual property taxes, with nearly $900,000 of that total allocated to the Yorktown Central School District.
Toll Brothers agreed to give Yorktown $150,000 to fix the Hunterbrook upper field as a replacement for a practice field on Catherine Street. The developer will also pay a $472,000 fee to Yorktown’s park trust, as well as $170,500 to the local sewer district and $55,000 to the Mohegan Volunteer Ambulance Corp.
The proposal had been under review by Yorktown for more than four years.
“The Town Board conducted a thorough review of this project to ensure it was appropriate, and the public had ample input since the proposal was originally presented,” said Supervisor Ed Lachterman. “These townhomes will provide our older residents with local options as they downsize from single-family homes.”
Attorneys David J. Cooper and Jaclyn V. Cohen of the White Plains-based law firm Zarin & Steinmetz had told the Yorktown Planning Board that the three-bedroom townhouses would range in area from approximately 2,500 square feet to 3,000 square feet. The townhouses would be situated along a new roadway in groups of three or four units. There would be two access points to the development along Catherine Street.
Toll also plans to make improvements to Catherine Street, including construction of a 6-inch rolled asphalt curb on Catherine Street along the project site’s frontage to a point near the intersection of Old Crompond Road. A traffic study concluded that the project would not have a significant impact on the road network in the area.
At one point during the review process, Richard Hyman, chairman of the Westchester County Planning Board, urged Yorktown not to limit the project to just seniors.
“There is a critical need for all types of housing that has been documented in the County’s Housing Needs Assessment, and taking into account the site’s existing zoning we recommend the town consider an approach where the majority of the proposed development is not restricted to seniors,” Hyman said. “While it is true that the availability of housing for seniors is an ongoing concern, there is no prohibition on seniors living in developments that are not age-restricted. In fact, since the proposed development would be entirely comprised of three-bedroom townhouses, it suggests that permitting families to occupy a portion of these units would be appropriate, since multi-bedroom housing is often sought by families in Northern Westchester.”
