Bigger better, GM says - Westfair Communications

The village of Sleepy Hollow is facing another potential lawsuit regarding the proposed Lighthouse Landing project, this one from the owners of the property where the project would be built.

General Motors Corp., which operated a plant on the planned development site until 1996, filed a notice of claim Nov. 30 in Westchester County Court that the village”™s findings related to the project”™s local impact are “arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion.”

GM argues that the size of the project is smaller than it needs to be, according to the court documents.

This follows on the heels of an August lawsuit filed by the neighboring village of Tarrytown that seeks to reduce the size of the project in order to mitigate the traffic impact on Tarrytown. Tarrytown would like to see the number of residential units cut in half, according to that lawsuit.

According to the document, village zoning laws permits 1,870 residential units and 400,000 square feet of commercial space.

GM and the developer of the site, Roseland Properties L.L.C. of Short Hills, N.J., in 2003 Â proposed a mixed-use waterfront project consisting of 1,562 residential units, 185,000 square feet of retail space, 95,000 square feet of office space and a150-room hotel.

In 2006, Roseland-GM submitted a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) that proposed 1,250 residential units, 132,000 square feet of retail space, and 35,000 square feet of office space.

The village”™s findings statement of the FEIS further reduced the number of residential units to 1,177 “without justification”, according to the document.

GM argues that the findings statement further reduced the density, “solely to appease a segment of the community who opposed the project.”

However, Sleepy Hollow mayor Phil Zegarelli said the village board, which is the lead agency for the project, has spent more than five years reviewing it to determine what size and density would be best for the village.

“The village took a long, hard look at the project to determine what is best for the village,” he said. “We are entitled to do that. We wouldn”™t be doing our homework if we did otherwise.”

Further, Zegarelli believes that the two lawsuits, stemming from opposing points of view on the proper size of the project, prove that the village got the size of the project just right.

“I”™m utilizing the Goldilocks defense, that the size may be just right,” he said.

As it currently stands, in addition to parkland and a water esplanade, Lighthouse Landing calls for 1,177 housing units, about 132,000 square feet of retail space and 35,000 square feet of office space on the 100-acre former GM site. Initial plans to build a new Metro-North train station have since been scrapped.

Zegarelli said neither lawsuit would likely delay or halt the project. The village must now issue a special permit to build on the site to Roseland, which the mayor said could happen in the next few weeks.

“Then, the ball is in Roseland”™s court,” he said.

A call to Roseland Properties was not immediately returned.

Regarding the two lawsuits, Zegarelli said, “I”™m not going to fret over either one. I don”™t like being sued, but I think we did our homework and we studied this thing nearly to death.”