City officials have unveiled an ambitious zoning plan that would transform a blighted area around the Mount Vernon West train station into a mix of modern residences and retail stores, but left unanswered for now what would become of the low-income people who live there.
More than 100 people crowded into Mount Vernon City Council chambers on Feb. 10 with opinions divided between those who are eager to see the dilapidated area developed and those who worry that gentrification will force out the current residents.
The 46-acre site is in the southwest section of the city, bordering Yonkers and the Bronx River Parkway on the west and the central business district to the east. Metro-North”™s train station anchors the site, and it is the station that planners think can spur real estate development.
The idea has been kicking around for 10 years, said Tarrytown land-use attorney Steven Silverberg, who represents the city council. Formal planning began two years ago, and last month Cleary Consultants of Northport released the draft environmental impact statement that was the subject of the hearing.
The plan uses transit-oriented development ”“ a zoning concept that surrounds transit hubs with mixed-use residential and commercial buildings ”“ to create a district that enables pedestrians to use public transportation more easily.
“The train station is one of our biggest assets,” said Marcus Griffith, city council president. “People can get on the train, go to the greatest city in the world, work and then come back and live in Mount Vernon. This is a big deal.”
“What bothers me,” said a woman who has lived in the city for 30 years, “when you”™re rezoning and building high rises, who can afford to live there?”
The area around the train station is peppered with vacant and underused buildings. Light industrial companies that once thrived along MacQuesten Parkway have left and there is little hope of getting new ones, said Dwayne Brown, president of the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce.
The proposed transit-oriented district has already attracted interest by a major developer.
MacQuesten Development LLC of Pelham is working on financing for a $70 million, residential and retail building next to the train station, according to Joe Apicella, managing director of development.
MacQuesten wants to erect a 20-story building with 205 housing units and 4,626 square feet of retail space. The company already owns a 0.75-acre site and is cleaning it up, including removal of contaminated soil and underground storage tanks.
“This will be the most spectacular building the city has ever seen,” he said in a telephone interview. “This is an extraordinary site, literally at the foot of the train station. ”¦We”™re making the backdoor of Mount Vernon the front door.”
He said MacQuesten could break ground later this year, if the proposed zoning is adopted, and put up the building in 18 to 24 months.
Silverberg described the current land use as incoherent. The goal is to attract high quality development. Older, dilapidated buildings would be replaced by modern mixed-use buildings and taller buildings would be allowed near the train station, he said. The city would improve the infrastructure and generally clean up the area and the train station would be renovated. Property owners would be encouraged to fix up their properties.
The project site has 247 parcels and five zoning categories for industry, commercial business, neighborhood business and residences. They would be replaced by one special zoning category that incorporates the existing uses.
Cleary”™s DEIS report projects that 3,153 residential units worth $757 million could be built, increasing the population by about 8,000. It foresees $76 million in new retail activity, with an estimated 263,700 square feet of commercial space worth $40 million.
New retailers could create as many as 677 permanent jobs, according to the report, and contractors could add another 3,641 temporary construction jobs. Metro-North could add nearly 1,500 riders during the morning and evening peak hours.
Development could generate $38 million in real estate taxes and $3.5 million in sales taxes annually, according to the report.
The city would have to spend more money on services and improvements, for an estimated 16 police officers and 13 firefighters; better water, sewer and storm water lines; and road repairs.
Developers could be required to pay for some of the infrastructure work, Silverberg said, and new tax revenue would probably cover the costs. The school district, for instance, might have to educate 394 new students, at a cost of $4.9 million a year. But real estate taxes would increase by an estimated $24.3 million, yielding a $19.4 million surplus, he said.
“There”™s a lot of blight there,” Brown of the chamber of commerce said in a telephone interview. “This is a good step in the right direction.”
He commented at the public hearing that storefronts on Mount Vernon Avenue, in the center of the proposed rezoning district, present the city poorly. “At 10 a.m. it looks like 10 p.m. The gates are all down.”
But Thomas Keller, who lives in the northeast section of the city near the high school, doesn”™t want to see the “Manhattanization of Mount Vernon.” He said the city should work at attracting more jobs, not more people. Light industry and warehousing would not require extra city services, he said, and the jobs pay higher wages than retail.
Another resident urged the council to make sure that contractors hire more minority workers.
Rey Hollingsworth Falu, a real estate broker, said, “Let”™s not just enrich developers. Let”™s enrich the community.”
The public hearing was not meant to answer questions, but to register concerns about the proposed project. The hearing was adjourned until Feb. 24 for more comments. Then there will be a 10-day comment period.
Consultants will review the comments, revise the environmental impact report and turn the report over to city council for its review.
If all goes well, Silverberg said, council members could vote on a new zoning law by early summer.
The study can be found at: http://cmvny.com/2016/01/11/mount-vernon-west-dgeis-available-for-review/ Click on Mount Vernon West DGEIS.
