With real estate prices climbing upward in the Hudson Valley, Eagle Bay ”” a 264 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartment complex planned for the town of Stony Point”™s waterfront ”” will not languish long on the marketplace.
The path to winning final approval has been tedious and the stakes are high both for developer Eli Hershkowitz and the town. Rockland”™s northernmost municipality is home to the Stony Point Battlefield State Historic Site and State Park, which overlooks the cove where the residential units are planned. Both the park and historic site are under the auspices of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission.
The property”™s original owner, Wayne Corts, initiated plans to build a 200-unit project called The Breakers where the marina now stands. Corts eventually sold his property to Hershkowitz in 2017 for $6.7 million.
After several years of appearing before the Stony Point Planning Board, Eagle Bay received its Final Environmental Impact Statement in 2020. The project”™s number of units and 725-plus parking spaces for condo residents has caused significant pushback from residents who live near the parcel since Corts first proposed his own smaller-scale development plan in 2014 and raised multiple questions from governing federal and state agencies.
Most of the parcel”™s 39 acres are underwater, leaving 17 buildable acres on shore. Because Stony Point”™s town law permitted underwater land to be counted, it originally allowed for 290 buildable units; that was pared back to 264 to be constructed in four separate buildings, with nearly all units offering a full or partial view of the water.
Eagle Bay”™s builder is proposing a separate commercial complex for the property, suitable for a restaurant or small businesses, as well as a public fishing pier that would extend 200 feet into the Hudson River and a promenade along the riverfront that would be open to the public, to be maintained in perpetuity by the development”™s owner. Eagle Bay”™s plans also call for 100 boat slips on site.
During recent public hearings, Stony Point”™s planners have heard from a number of public agencies, including Army Corps of Engineers, New York State Department of Conservation, state Historic Preservation Office, Palisades Interstate Park Commission (which has authority over the historic battlefield site), as well as environmentalists from Scenic Hudson and SPACE (Stony Point Action Committee for the Environment). All concerned have a vested interest in the project being built right. The Rockland County Planning Department has also given Stony Point”™s planning board its opinions and recommendations for the property.
One significant issue vexing Eagle Bay”™s final approval is its proximity to the CSX railroad tracks, which carries hundreds of carloads of Bakken crude oil and natural gas along the west side of the Hudson and is in close proximity to the waterfront project.
That also concerns local residents, who fear an accident would jeopardize them as well as their new neighbors, since the two main roads leading in and out of the former marina are not conducive to an emergency. The builder has done a traffic study and is prepared to install two traffic lights to help mitigate any issues, but many are concerned that another weather event such as Superstorm Sandy ”” which ravaged Stony Point”™s coastline in 2012 ”” could occur again.
Eagle Bay”™s residential units are to be built a minimum of 9 feet above the flood plain since that devastating hurricane hit, but environmentalists weighing in question if turning the waterfront into upscale housing is the appropriate answer for the site, considering its size and location in relation to the battlefield.
At the May 27 meeting between the town”™s planning board and Amy Mele, the applicant”™s attorney, it was disclosed that the fishing pier proposed by Eagle Bay had to be reduced from 8 feet wide to 4 feet in accordance with Army Corps of Engineers”™ recommendations. That will make it difficult to allow anyone to fish from it and allow walkers to enjoy it at the same time, seemingly defeating its intended purpose.
In addition, CSX has not given any approval for the alterations the planning board said is necessary to make the site accessible to fire trucks. Hershkowitz”™s engineer, David Zigler of Atzl, Nash & Zigler, told planners CSX will not consider issuing a permit to do remediation work at its Hunter Place overpass until Eagle Bay receives final site plan approval.
The Stony Point Planning Board will continue the public hearing on June 27 beginning at 7 p.m.
