To the Editor,
On Saturday, April 17, over 50 people from the river towns and beyond came together to attack invasive species threatening Tarrytown’s RiverWalk greenway, working for over 5 hours to enhance the park’s beauty. Joining the volunteers was Westover Landscape’s crew, working hard to remove old protective barriers and tags, trim back grasses and load up the Village truck with biomass that was hauled off site.
Thanks goes to Greg Goldberg of Goldberg Hardware, together with Joe Cotter and Paul Janos from National Re/Sources, who donated 50 trowels and 50 pairs of gloves which are invaluable for RiverWalk work. And to the students, families, Hudson Harbor residents, Westover crew, Tarrytown staff and everyone who joined in community spirit to maintain our beautiful public RiverWalk park: THANK YOU!
Look for our next Invasive Strike Force workday coming in May. Walkers, runners, fishermen, we ask for your help and your input.
Friends of the RiverWalk:, Pat Jones
Joyce Lannert, Robert Welsch
To the Editor:
I am a Senior Citizen and Veteran of the Korean War (101st Signal Bn. NYNG) and an almost lifetime resident of Westchester County. My wife and I were both educated in Yonkers and gradually moved North and East, but recently moved into Lookout South at Hudson Harbor, Tarrytown, New York.
I cite the foregoing only to inform you of how much we have revered the banks of the Hudson River and how pleased we are to have returned after a 17 year hiatus in Armonk.
Your newspaper is not only a “breath of fresh air” but an important source of information about our new community that is certainly not found in depth in “The Journal News.”
Joseph A. Gottlieb
Tarrytown
To the Editor:
With an Article 78 decision pending, the Village of Tarrytown government faces critical decisions in the weeks and months to come, regarding the proposed development of a massive Honda dealership on Broadway and Walter Street.
The proposed project would require significant changes to the Village zoning laws, the granting of significant variances which cannot be substantiated – as the proposal would not comply with present code for size, height, coverage, setbacks, floor area ratio, density, parking and fire codes, as well as the sale of a village street (lower Sheldon Ave.) to Tarrytown Honda. What is proposed is a 2-story building almost 3 times the size of the current structure. With an additional 15 work bays, think of the additional traffic that will be incurred on our residential streets. Coupled with the expansion of the Tappan Zee Bridge, the traffic impact will be felt by all residents.
New facts have come to surface since the Planning Board approved the site plan. One of the properties recommended for sale by the village is the parcel located on the northeastern side of Walter Street shown on the site plan. The approved site plan includes this parcel as part of the approval. The Village does not own this parcel as thought by the applicant and the Planning Board. This property is owned by the State of New York and was acquired on behalf of The People of the State of New York. This action took place on May 20, 1954 during the construction of the New York State Thruway System. It is our understanding that this property was acquired to provide a right-turn lane from Walter Street on to Broadway/Route 9, which should be constructed now to alleviate current traffic problems at this area.
As the approved site plan resolution requires the sale of this property and this property is part of this approval, the approval by the Planning Board should be rescinded as the Village, the Planning Board and applicant cannot sell/buy a property they do not own.
Throughout the recent Planning Board process, the Board continuously stated that “this dealership has many problems now and this expansion will improve the existing unsatisfactory conditions.” This expansion will not remedy existing unsatisfactory conditions which are the result of:
1. Tarrytown Honda’s violation on a daily basis of the prior conditions of the Planning Board with regard to traffic flow and patterns, parking and the use of NYS Thruway property for parking.
2. The change of zoning in March 2009 by the Tarrytown Board of Trustees to allow the sale of used cars (prohibited in 2009 by the existing ordinance) without notice to the existing neighbors. This change of zoning significantly increased traffic and safety issues in our residential neighborhood and was approved by the Board of Trustees without properly assessing the potential impacts to our neighborhood.
What was intended to be a small, new car dealership was allowed to greatly expand into a massive used car dealership to the detriment of the health and safety of our community.
We are standing together to keep the integrity of our community intact. Our resolve is to reduce the size of the proposed Honda development and to keep the zoning of immediate surrounding areas residential and not commercial. Beautifying the Honda dealership and the property is very important but it should be a fair size for BOTH the dealership AND the neighborhood.
Sincerely,
Marissa Feind
Pennybridge Neighborhood Association