Sustainable Playland Inc. won”™t opt out of its 10-year deal to manage Playland even after the county missed a deadline to finalize the agreement, a spokesman for the group said.
In fact, the group is ready to move forward after months of uncertainty around a lawsuit that sought to block the contract, which envisions transforming the county-owned park from a seasonal amusement park to a year-round destination with restaurants on the boardwalk, a miniature water park and athletic fields. A state Supreme Court judge dismissed the suit last month, ruling the deal did not violate the county”™s charter.
Geoff Thompson, a spokesman for Rye-based Sustainable, said the group remained optimistic it would be given the keys to Playland in time for its 2014 opening in the spring.
“Having a lawsuit kind of hanging over the overall plan, that is a deterrent to investment for obvious reasons,” Thompson said. “That was an obstacle that was sort of always in the room.”
Robert P. Astorino, the Republican county executive, signed a deal with Rye-based Sustainable in late July 2013 but the agreement sat in limbo in board legislative committees while its legality was challenged in court and its benefit became a debate point in county elections.
Board Chairman Ken Jenkins, a Yonkers Democrat, sued and said the signing of the deal was illegal under county law, which says that any long-term lease needs the formal approval of the Board of Legislators. The deal did get the approval of the county”™s Board of Acquisition and Contract, a three-member group that had both Astorino and Jenkins as members (Jenkins voted no).
Supreme Court Judge Barbara Zambelli ruled the management deal wasn”™t technically a lease and so didn”™t bypass the legislature”™s authority, a view Jenkins disagreed with.
“I will ask Judge Zambelli to review her decision, since the County Charter does not permit the county”™s Board of Acquisition and Contract to enter into any agreements that exceed five years without approval from the Board of Legislators,” he said. Jenkins also asserted that Playland fell under specific control of the board since the dissolution of a Playland Commission in 1980.
The board”™s leadership is expected to change in 2014 after a coalition of seven Republicans and two Democrats announced it would band together in a Jan. 6 reorganization vote. Michael Kaplowitz, a Somers Democrat and member of the coalition, is expected to be the next board chairman. He told the Business Journal that although there are still issues to be worked out with the agreement, he supported Sustainable”™s management deal. The contract would be a priority in the new legislative session, according to Kaplowitz.
“That is probably job No. 1 to come to terms,” he said.
Jim Maisano, Republican of New Rochelle, is expected to be voted in by the coalition as the board”™s new vice chairman. He said the new leadership will bring a vote on the contract soon, regardless of the outcome.
“It”™s not going to sit in committee forever,” Maisano said. “We are going to take a vote on that for sure, I don”™t know what that vote will be.”
Despite Sustainable”™s commitment to move forward and the new county board leadership”™s pledge to bring the deal to vote, there remain several hurdles to clear. The board must approve the group”™s proposed improvements before it can become the management company.
There have been questions from some legislators about the need for Sustainable to manage the park at all. The group plans to enlist a different company to manage the amusement park area and a planned mini-water park ”“ Central Amusements International L.L.C., the company that runs Luna Park and the Cyclone on Coney Island.
At a recent board subcommittee meeting, some Democratic legislators asked why Sustainable should be awarded the contract if Central Amusements would be the group overseeing the day-to-day management operations.
Residents and government officials in Rye, where Playland sits, have also raised concerns about several aspects of the group”™s 80-page improvement plan filed with the county in September. Specifically, residents have expressed concern with an $11.7 million new field zone, including a 95,000-square-foot indoor field house with two 100-by-200 feet soccer/lacrosse fields, six volleyball courts and four 15-by-75 feet batting cages. Some critics say the field house, to be operated by Playland Sports L.L.C., would be large and out of character for the neighborhood. Rye City officials argue the house should be subject to local zoning laws, although traditionally developments on county-owned land are subject only to Westchester land use approvals. Thompson said the field house would be of minimal impact to Playland”™s residential neighbors.
“The building is a big building, there”™s no question about that,” he said. “But it”™s not going to obstruct anyone”™s view unless their view is already blocked by county maintenance buildings.” Thompson said that the field house could be constructed in six months from permit approval.
Parking is also a concern for neighbors and some legislators. Sustainable wants to reduce the amount of spaces at Playland from 3,199 to 2,351. A parking analysis conducted by Armonk-based John Meyer Consulting said that there are currently only five or six days in the entire summer season when the amount of parking spaces are an issue. A reduction would not be a problem at any other point of the year, the analysis said. Some legislators have said the reduction of spaces will turn away potential visitors while some Rye residents have complained the reduced amount of spaces will mean increased traffic on neighboring streets and visitors illegally parking in nearby neighborhoods. The adjoining streets don”™t allow on-street parking.
“That”™s never been permitted and we would never propose that and I”™m sure the city of Rye would never allow it,” Thompson said. “People are worried about it but there”™s no possibility that will ever happen.”
As part of the deal, Sustainable would invest $34 million in the park. Its plan calls for the addition of 21 new rides and the removal of 17 old ones from the amusement park zone. The plan also calls for the removal of the miniature golf course, $640,000 to be invested in an upgrade of the ice casino, the construction of a 7,500-square-foot water playground, and a new beach zone complete with restaurants and a new bathhouse.
