FASNY plan moves forward with city council vote
The White Plains Common Council has paved the way for the French-American School of New York to apply for a special permit to create a campus on the grounds of the former Ridgeway Country Club.
The council voted Dec. 19 to adopt a final environmental findings statement for the proposed $70 million project. The council voted 6-1, with Councilwoman Milagros Lecuona opposing.
The project still requires site plan approval and a special permit.
The council”™s action ends the State Environmental Quality Review Act process, which opens the door for the formal permit application. The vote was a critical step forward, according to Mischa Zabotin, chairman of FASNY”™s board of trustees.
“But there”™s still a lot of work to be done,” Zabotin said. “Throughout the process, we”™ve been respectful of the issues raised and we look forward to the final vote hopefully by the spring.”
FASNY”™s plan is to consolidate its Larchmont, Mamaroneck and Scarsdale schools into one prekindergarten through 12th grade campus while preserving 83 acres of open space at 400 Ridgeway.
Adopting the findings “requires much on the applicant”™s part,” said White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach. FASNY must now provide “practical and measurable” strategies on how to address each of the changes recommended by the council.
One modification is decreasing the student body by 20 percent from 1,200 to 950 and capping it at that number for six years. But that reduction doesn”™t guarantee there will be fewer traffic problems, Lecuona said. If the school decides to gradually increase enrollment, there”™s no evidence to show this won”™t add traffic impacts, she said.
“It took the German School several years to prove the increase of students will not add traffic problems,” said Lecuona, who mentioned that The German School of New York in White Plains is smaller so its traffic impact is less drastic than if FASNY were to decide to increase its enrollment on the 129-acre site.
The German School of New York, which is on the other side of North Street, has 370 students from pre-K through 12th grade and is just over a half-mile away from FASNY”™s proposed campus.
The modifications to FASNY”™s proposal would require it to monitor and facilitate traffic within the campus and cap the total number of daily vehicular trips into and out of the school property at around 530. Councilman Benjamin Boykin suggested installing cameras and trip detectors on neighboring streets to monitor traffic in real time.
To address the traffic impact, FASNY plans to make busing mandatory for 75 percent of the students. Some council members said this can”™t be enforced because of unknown factors such as what districts provide buses and the number of buses available to drop off and pick up students.
Homeowners surrounding the property have raised concerns about the burden of bringing a school into their neighborhood.
“The proposal seems to have moved forward without serious objections,” said Andrew Swanson, a 13-year resident on Club Pointe Drive, which intersects North Street. “We”™re concerned about the additional traffic on North Street.”
UPDATE: An earlier version of this article appeared online Dec. 20 under the heading “FASNY environmental findings approved.”