Yeshiva Ohr Hameir at 141 Furnace Woods Road in the Town of Cortlandt is proposing creation of a new building for classrooms and dormitory space, the renovation of staff housing, and an expansion of the existing sanctuary building. The project would set the stage for increasing its enrollment from the current limit of 225 students to 300 to 320 students.
Attorneys David Steinmetz and Vincent Pedone of the White Plains-based law firm Zarin & Steinmetz told the Cortland Planning Board that in addition to seeking to amend its site plan and special permit the Yeshiva is asking for a wetlands permit since the sanctuary building would be extended into the current wetlands buffer.
“All of this is being done to improve the functionality and aesthetics of the Yeshiva campus,” the attorneys said. “In connection with these improvements, the Yeshiva will be connecting to the municipal sewer system. Currently, the Yeshiva is served by a challenged, decades-old septic system. The Yeshiva is working with the town to create a sewer infrastructure that will serve the Yeshiva and approximately 135 other parcels.”
In the past the approximately 37.68-acre property had been operated as a dude ranch. The site now contains a sanctuary building, classrooms, offices, a cafeteria, library, and student and staff housing, as well as sports courts and parking areas. The site is in an area that’s zoned residential and has a number of single-family homes. The rear of the property borders Westchester County’s Blue Mountain Reservation.
The county’s Planning Board reviewed the application and noted that the proposed three-story classroom and dormitory building would be 48,228 square feet and would be constructed north of the existing sanctuary building. An existing classroom building would be converted to staff housing. Areas used for parking would be turned into three formal parking lots with a total of 42 spaces.
“The proposed development involves disturbance within a wetland buffer area,” County Planning Board Chairman Bernard Thombs wrote in a letter to the Cortland Planning Board. “The County Planning Board consistently recommends that construction and alteration of land within regulated wetlands and stream/wetland buffers should be avoided. This recommendation extends to the siting of stormwater management facilities. However, we note that the disturbance would be in relation to the extension of an existing building that exists within the buffer area. We recommend that the town and the applicant work to ensure that sufficient measures are included within the landscaping plan to mitigate the disturbance to the wetland buffer.”
Thombs called for the use of green building technology in the project including the use of solar cells on building rooftops to generate electricity and having electric vehicle charging stations in the proposed parking areas.
