The White Plains Common Council on April 4 voted to impose a six-month moratorium on approvals for development plans on properties in two zoning districts, including the Ridgeway Country Club property, which is to be the new home for the French American School of New York.
Although the French American School has yet to officially submit plans to the city, it has revealed its intentions to develop a portion of the 128.6-acre Ridgeway Country Club so that it can consolidate its leased campus buildings in Scarsdale, Larchmont and Mamaroneck. Those preliminary plans have elicited strong opposition from local neighborhood groups that have expressed concerns about potential traffic and environmental impacts.
The French American School bought the property in January for $11 million.
In response to the Common Council”™s vote to impose a moratorium that will last until October, the school released a statement terming it “unfair” and “unnecessary.”
“Our application for creating a low-density park-like campus on the Ridgeway property, which we plan to submit to the city next month, will unquestionably reflect those objectives,” the French American School stated. “Our plan, which conforms to the vision and goals of the city”™s Comprehensive Plan, will preserve over 60 acres of permanent and publicly accessible open space for the city. It will also concentrate development of the site to one section of the property with less than (5) percent of the site covered with impervious surfaces.”
The school later stated, “We believe that the moratorium is unfairly targeted at a limited number of properties, including our Ridgeway property. We also believe that the moratorium is unnecessary from a technical and regulatory perspective and will generate unnecessary legal exposure for the city, procedural confusion and additional financial costs for the city.”
Mayor Thomas Roach said he favors the moratorium, which he said covers other sections of the city with significant open space, including the Fenway, Westchester Hills and Maple Moor golf courses. “Basically it gives a six-month period for the city to study and review its land-use regulations, to make sure that they are in conformance with the goals of the city”™s Comprehensive Plan,” the mayor said.
He added that the moratorium permits applications to be filed on properties in the affected districts, but bars any city approvals on those plans.
While saying he has not formulated an opinion as yet on the preliminary plans floated by the French American School at several open houses, he said, “I have concerns about the impact on the neighborhood.”
Representatives of the French American School of New York could not be reached for comment at press time.
According to a fact sheet on the project on the school”™s website, the development plan calls for retrofitting the existing buildings on the site, as well as adding new buildings totaling approximately 100,000 additional square feet.
In addition, the school states, “Our plan will restore the natural conditions of the property, improve the existing drainage conditions and stop the use of irrigation and pesticides. We are exploring possibly uncovering the underground streams if they exist, creating natural storm-water retention ponds, and using rain gardens and other green management measures to bring the site back to a more natural look and feel.”
Have County buy Ridgeway GC, continue its use as a golf course and sell Maple Moor GC rezoned for corporate park.County and White Plains get added tax revenue and jobs.
This is a no cost to County and White Plains and in fact could show a profit inthe Maple Moor property is muchmore valuable than Ridgeway GC.
FASNY doth protest too much! Other significant properties affected are Fenway Golf Club, Westchester Hills and portions of the Hutchinson River Parkway. The City’s Comprehensive Plan states: “The Plan’s goal for the golf courses is for their preservation as golf courses.†Furthermore, the Ridgeway Country Club was grandfathered in, permitting it to operate in what is otherwise zoned for residential use only. A newly built 100,000 sq. ft. “campus” (approx. the footprint of the White Plains Bloomingdale’s) does not fall under that heading.
The school acquired the property for $8.5 million PLUS a $2.5 bonus contingent on obtaining all the needed permits to realize their “dream,” which of course is a nightmare for those living in the vicinity! The “low density” campus is anything but, considering they plan on shuttling 1,200 students + a staff of several hundred through a bucolic neighborhood on a daily basis.
Who gets what;White Plains gets jobs,tax revenue from the rezoned to corporate Maple Moor GC property and keeps Ridgeway as a county golf course.County ends up with same amount of golf courses and increased tax revenues from new corporate park along with construction and permanent office jobs and a windfall profit on the more valuable Maple Moor as compared to the purchase price of Ridgeway.