A citizens group has formed to oppose an assisted living facility in Pleasantville.
Developers are not backing down.
United Homeowners of Pleasantville opposes plans by Benchmark Senior Living, a Wellesley, Mass.-based for-profit provider of senior care. Benchmark proposes turning a 3.5-acre parcel behind the United Methodist Church at the intersection of Bedford and Maple Hill roads into a 24,000-square-foot, 87-unit assisted living facility.
Benchmark is in contract with the church to buy the property, contingent on receiving approvals from the village of Pleasantville. The company filed an application with the village to create a floating zone that would allow assisted living on parcels larger than three acres. The Pleasantville Board of Trustees voted itself lead agency in February and is considering the proposal.
United Homeowners of Pleasantville, mostly neighbors of the property, fears the facility will be out of character with the neighborhood and the village.
An online United Homeowners petition has garnered 56 signatures and the group has circulated a flyer throughout the village. Bill Stoller, a member, thinks it is wrong to put such a project in a residential neighborhood.
“This area has been zoned for single-family homes since the 1950s,” Stoller said. “An assisted living facility is simply out of place. These types of developments go in downtown or in a commercial area. Not a residential area. There is nothing like this on that side of the village. It”™s big and inappropriate.”
The members of United Homeowners of Pleasantville have previously opposed other attempts by United Methodist Church to sell its property to developers, but Stoller said they would have no objection if the plan shifted to residences.
“Benchmark isn”™t residential,” Stoller said. “It”™s an institutional facility with elderly people in their mid-80s. Many of them are in wheelchairs that need help.”
The group also has concerns about the potential traffic impact with staff arriving around the clock, and fears it will be a drain on police and the ambulance corps.
Proponents of Benchmark feel it will bring much needed property tax revenue to a village struggling to stay within the tax cap. But Stoller does not think this project is the way to raise revenue.
“You”™ll save a few hundred dollars, but change the nature of the village forever,” Stoller said. “As the process continues, people will see this is not within the character of Pleasantville.”
In response to initial complaints from residents and the New York state Department of Transportation, Benchmark changed the entrance point, using Bedford Road instead of Maple Hill Road. The Maple Hill Road entrance involved vehicles cutting through the church lot and was met with criticism.
David Steinmetz of Zarin and Steinmetz, the White Plains law firm representing Benchmark, said he and Benchmark representatives met with 40 residents to discuss their concerns before submitting an application.
“I don”™t know anything about this organization,” Steinmetz said. “It seems like they oppose any attempt at development specifically at the Methodist Church.”
Steinmetz and village officials contend the opposition flyer contains inaccuracies and the village issued an open letter to address some of the claims.
The flyer states if the village grants Benchmark a floating zone, the move would allow senior facilities anywhere in Pleasantville. The village said the floating zone would require a minimum three-acre site along a state or county road for a facility to be built.
“Nobody should be misguided by any information contained in the flyer,” Steinmetz said. “The application is going to be reviewed and judged based on the empirical data presented by Benchmark and the facts surrounding the application.”
Opponents also question Benchmark”™s financial dealings.
“Benchmark has a clear desire to create value for its financiers,” Steinmetz said. “It”™s going to run a quality first rate appropriate facility.”
Mayor Peter Scherer said the village asked Benchmark to provide more information about the visual impact and landscaping.
“There is no decision imminent,” Scherer said. “There is still a lot of work to be done before any proposed acceptance of this. The neighbors are simply exercising their right to free speech.”
Scherer said the village board will hold a work session with the planning board to discuss the Benchmark application. “We take that responsibility seriously,” he said.
Trustee Mindy Berard said the situation becomes difficult when a group circulates alleged misinformation.
“Everybody should be playing with the same set of facts,” Berard said. “Everybody has a right to speak out, but speak out factually. I wish people would be more responsible.”
Berard said developments like Benchmark are one of the only ways to increase the tax base.
“These are important fiduciary responsibilities we have here for the village,” Berard said. “I am looking forward to the process.”
I would like to clear up some misinformation in this article.
First that “the members of United Homeowners of Pleasantville have previously opposed other attempts by United Methodist Church to sell its property to developers…” There was exactly ONE previous proposal to develop the church’s wooded lot that the group opposed, and in fact was the proposal that led to the formation of the group in 2007. It was a local developer’s proposal to build as many as 40 units of cluster housing, each 3 stories above parking. A formal proposal was never submitted to the Village, likely for lack of funding due to the nationwide financial meltdown.
There have been several other proposals for the church woods, some of which were prior to the group’s formation. including one from a local contractor who wanted to build a half-dozen single family houses on the site.
So attorney Steinmetz’s claim that “It seems like they oppose any attempt at development specifically at the Methodist Church†is without factual basis.