The nonprofit set to take over management of Playland has again changed its improvement plan for the county-owned park, reducing the size of a proposed athletic field house on the site.
Sustainable Playland Inc., the Rye-based group whose 10-year management deal has yet to be finalized by the county legislature, announced Wednesday it had modified its 80-page improvement plan originally filed with county government last September.
The amendments to the plan include the addition of 100 more parking spaces than originally called for and a 12,000-square-foot reduction to the proposed athletic field down to 82,500 square feet. The size of the field house was a point of contention for neighbors in the coastal neighborhoods near Playland and some local government officials who felt the field house should be subjected to Rye City zoning laws, although traditionally developments on county-owned land are subject only to Westchester land use approvals.
The field house, to be operated by a new company called Playland Sports L.L.C., will also encroach less on the existing parking lot sparing 615 parking spaces but still reducing the current total of 3,199 by roughly 300 spaces. Sustainable, in a written statement from spokesman Geoff Thompson, said that the reduction of the field house came from the scrapping of outdoor field space and the removal of indoor office areas and “other ancillary areas” from the building design.
“Playland Sports emphasized that 82,500 square feet is the minimum size required for the Field House to be economically viable,” Thompson said. The size of the athletic areas couldn”™t be further reduced, he said, because their sizes are set to league regulations. The reduced number of spaces had been a concern of residents who felt the loss of parking would mean increased traffic in the adjoining neighborhoods (on-street parking isn”™t permitted in the neighborhoods near the park).
Community critics do not seem to be appeased by the reduction of the field house. City resident Deirdre Curran, in an editorial on the blog Patch, said that the evolution of the plan was the result of the vocal opposition.
“Apparently, they”™re listening – just not quite hard enough,” Curran said.
A website, http://nofieldzone.org, offers for sale “No Field Zone” magnets. The management deal with SPI has been approved by Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino, but still requires approval by the Board of Legislators.
