How to Bring the Irvington 2018 Master Plan to Life.
This post addresses the November 7, 2023 referendum on a $18.2M project (with interest $32.5M) for a new Village Hall in the center of our historic village, and suggests ways that together we can find a better solution for Irvington.
It is intended to complement and follow a piece on why I am voting NO and encouraging others to send this back to the drawing board.
Remember, VOTING DAY IS TUESDAY NOV 7TH. Whichever side turns out the most voters wins. There is also early voting starting Oct 28th at the Hastings Library and other locations in Greenburgh. Times and locations listed here.
To sum up the prior argument, this project raises questions about a lack of public input and participation, offers a large cost for almost no new resident benefits, and has other issues. But the biggest concern with this Bond centers on this being a wrong choice that will crowd out and complicate any hope of bringing the 2018 Master Plan to life.
It is disappointing that the first large capital project proposed since the 2018 Updated Comprehensive Master Plan is completely disconnected and at odds with 2018's bold vision for village revitalization.
To the credit of Mayor Smith and scores of village residents who spent months in committee work writing that 2018 Plan, we actually had a roadmap. Why is it completely abandoned here?
For those not familiar, the core of the 2018 Comprehensive Plan as written (with a lot of citizen involvement) was to revitalize our historic Waterfront and Main Street, with some bold moves, among them:
— Relocating the Astor Street DPW facility off some of the most valuable real estate in the Rivertowns;
— Relocating the Fire Station off the narrow Main Street… As confirmed by Larry Schopfer and by talking to a senior New York City firefighter, if starting the village today one would NEVER place the fire station in the middle of Main Street as they did in 1900 customarily…
The state-of-the-art approach to improve response times is a larger site with direct access to main thoroughfares, lots of parking for the firefighters, and with easy egress. (On Main Street, the Ladder Truck needs to make a K-Turn and block Main Street to exit or return to the firehouse.)
This would improve response times, as a lot has changed in the Village since 1965 and the majority of our homes now sit up higher, off Cyrus Field Road, Mountain Road, Taxter Road, upper Riverview Road, by the Ardsley Country Club, and the like.
— Mixed-use development along the more walkable Astor and River Road corridors along our stunning riverfront. This would be “mixed-use”, with attractive 3-story buildings, including street-level retail, restaurants and bars on the ground floor, affordable apartment housing above, and extensive parking lots underneath the apartments on the ground level, dug into the hill behind.
That will raise short term land sale revenue AND long term tax revenue, while bringing more density of residential consumers to our struggling local storefronts. It will add attractive apartments in walking distance of the train, with coffee shops and stores downstairs, in a true “Jane Jacobs” recipe for thriving neighborhoods.
This would leverage our massive commuter parking lot as an asset on weekend and evening hours, and to attract train-commuter shoppers … how great if a thriving scene was laid out along a flat walking zone from the Train Station?
By contrast, this $32.5M project just ignores all that and asks us to lock up a massive stretch of valuable Main Street real estate, and give up on relocating the Firehouse (and potentially EMS). And probably lose our chance on DPW off Astor Street as well.
Any budgeting process always has choices and trade-offs, as funds and attention are limited. Do not let vague references to “compliance issues” be used to shut down democratic give & take. We are not under a court order, nor a lawsuit, and the town has given no examples of serious injuries from the vague list of issues being used to push the Bond Project. These buildings have been operating for decades as is, without disasters. There are many legitimate needs in the village. We have time for a better design, and time for public listening sessions and debate on the right plan.
It has been said these relocation issues have festered for many years so how can we finally solve them? I hear from so many people closer to the process that we have given up too easily.
Here are my top suggestions and a few others to consider, on how to relocate things.
IDEA #1: Create a new first responders complex out of the unused corner of Memorial Park plus the existing Station Road Park.
There are several acres of unused land at the corner of Broadway and Station Road, where Station Road Park sits and the “hidden and unused part” of Memorial Park adjoins.
Parts of it are hilly and given the trees hard to see or access for pedestrians between Station Road Park and the Tennis Courts at Memorial. The Parks administrator has wanted to build a large dog park there behind the Courts, where almost no one could ever find or access it.
A better use would be to use it for a new Fire Station as it can have its own access road straight onto Broadway, a couple blocks from Main Street. There is room to invite the EMS organization to move into a taxpayer supported space alongside the Fire Department, and even for some functions of DPW if needed, or even a new Parks & Rec office adjoining an actual park.
You could build into the slope and get extensive space, eleveating the building above the water level that often pools below in the playground. You could even add a social space on the rooftop, level with the higher ground where the top of the park sits. Now that we have upgraded Matthiessen Park, and with a lot of water drainage issues in the current playground which was closed for several years, it’s not as popular a spot for younger kids. My kids used to play there as toddlers, but it seems much less used after the closure and reopening.
To make up for this, you could easily build a new playground on Memorial Park less than 100 yards away… There are plenty of unused grassy zones on various sections near the two baseball fields and the tennis courts. Truly, these spots would be nicer, newer and sunnier. And little siblings of baseball players could come along and play while their big siblings and parents watched games in earshot.
Here is a Satellite map to see it. It’s a giant space that the town owns, right on Broadway. There is a single home adjacent by the bridge on Station Road, and that one homeowner can remain. They may not love this proposal, but if they did not want to stay, the town could offer to buy out their home generously at a premium, thanks to the millions of dollars in land value and future taxes the Main Street land would generate from the relocation. We cannot be a town that allows any one objector to stop a necessary project. (And there is already a town sewer shed on the site next to the residence today.)
As a last bonus for relocation, the new Mayor and new Trustees should modify the absurd current practice to sound a loud alarm siren to call Fire Department volunteers. The rules only say two methods are required to contact volunteers. For a few dollars per volunteer per month, let us add pagers for every volunteer, on top of texts and phone calls. Everyone in the historic center of town will sleep better, and the new Mayor will be more popular than ever.
The Station Road site will have room for more parking for fire volunteers, better egress by controlling the traffic light there, and faster response times to most parts of Irvington. For goodness sake, it even is NAMED for a Fire Station! (Ok, a little humor is due.)
I have asked a few friends of legal expertise in the village to see if there is a parkland designation and where it’s bounds are. If not, it’s free and clear for village use. If yes, the village owns it but we would have to ask Albany to pass a bill to allow the land to be repurposed, with town support.
IDEA #2. Cost-share with Dobbs Ferry: Many small villages reduce cost by sharing buildings or services with neighboring towns.
Dobbs Ferry is also considering to rebuild THEIR firehouse. Let’s split the cost in half.
Could we find and jointly purchase with Dobbs a large parcel near the border with Dobbs, in the vicinity of Mercy University?
Assistant Chief Tarricone said thoughtfully at the Open House that the Irvington and Dobbs Fire volunteers work closely together already, and explored happily sharing a building, but the issue was they could not yet find a good location. To be clear, we’d keep separate Fire Corps, just share a building and probably certain equipment for cost savings.
IDEA #3. Relocate the Astor Street DPW in part to land at the end of the Commuter Parking Lot (past the old Cosmopolitan Building) and swap parking with the MTA.
The Housing Committee is studying this excellent idea, and even the Trustees are only beginning to hear about the progress being made, with Pace University studying architecture and feasibility.
Designs are being drawn for an 80 apartment complex with parking and retail components to be built running along River Road. It can start alongside the Burham Library building, covering over the library parking lot all the way to the end of River Street (near Red Barn Bakery).
See the satellite photo at the top of this post for an aerial view of the space. It can have street-level restaurants and coffee houses or stores, with garage entrances to a covered parking lot built back into the hill.
The DPW migration is being eased as the DPW is migrating already to smaller trucks which are easier to park and store. Once complete, we could relocate the salt and other materials to the very end of the giant commuter parking lot.
Governor Hochul would have to agree to one small piece… trading 11 MTA employee and truck parking spots at the end of the lot for 11 spots in the commuter lot. Irvington would have to mobilize help from Senator Stewart-Cousins and other friends to get her office’s attention. But this could be a big win for the Governor as it could show how to build attrative affordable housing in a relatively affluent suburb the right way, as she’s been stymied in spending the funds for affordable housing by NIMBY-ism.
So here are three good ideas, and I am sure there are others. Can we really not find something? Even Larry Shopfer admitted they had not before considered breaking up the DPW needs into a couple smaller sites, for salt storage, truck & plow storage, and other space needs.
I can understand and respect if citizens do decide to vote for the Bond. But I strongly believe we can do better. I hope this detailed post raises awareness at the least.
Consider all the things that residents might choose to invest in, that would really improve the resident’s quality of life, that are NOT included in the $18.2M Bond. A better plan would bring new housing and businesses paying taxes (already gaining momentum with Marker Ridge and the Maxon/Carafiello developments restarting to bring millions in annual revenue). Consider tbese ideas:
— A swimming pool for residents (and only residents) just like Dobbs Ferry residents chose; this was part of the original vision for Scenic Hudson, but deleted from that project;
— A real dog park gathering place in a town with a Bulldog mascot! As a gathering place near a playground, for families, near the waterfront.
— Conservation for our Irvington Woods which are sick and unhealthy, due to invasive species and overgrazing by deer, and not yet addressed;
— Solving the horrific traffic issues for students and parents at the High School and Middle School campus that were not resolved by the massive school bond recently completed. An inexpensive solution would be to eminent domain unused land adjacent to widen the bottom of Heritage Road to 3 or 4 lanes;
— Or other solutions for affordable housing, traffic congestion, parking, foot traffic for our struggling small retail businesses, social justice efforts for our thankfully more diverse community, or more.
We have a strategic plan that could make for a beautiful upgrade to Irvington, while keeping all the historic charm and intimacy we love. Why give up so easily? Let’s keep fighting for a future that is worth investing towards.
I am organizing an informal group to raise awareness on this project, and hopefully a better and hopefully less expensive in the long-run alternative that could come after. I’ve named it “Taxpayers for Irvington’s Future” and I invite anyone interested to reach out to me to get involved.
Please ask your neighbors to study up, raise attention, and get out the vote. Share this with friends and neighbors as much as you are willing.
For those who wish to get involved, or offer a comment or suggestion for this post, please reach out to Jeff.Glueck@gmail.com.
— Jeff Glueck
