Mount Kisco will purchase more than six acres from the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester for $600,000. It is a deal that will give the village its newest recreational space.
The contract was unanimously approved Monday night by the village board of trustees and has support from the group's board. The deal also calls for subdividing its northern land into five new residential lots that would be sold off and generate property taxes. Currently the club is tax exempt.
The money to buy the site will come from the village's open space reserve fund, which in turn is funded by rental revenue from properties that Mount Kisco owns, according to Mayor Michael Cindrich. It will not be collected through higher taxes or bonding.
The mayor, who described the deal as complex, noted that the deal is meant to preserve green space.
“There's very few parcels left,” he said, adding that the deal will preserve the integrity of the residential areas and provide another recreational opportunity.
Brian Skanes, the club's executive director, said, "we're excited about it."
The club's land totals almost 12 acres, according to Skanes, so the sale would involve parting with the majority of it.
Cindrich, who said he had been working on the proposal for more than a year, noted that he was approached by the Boys & Girls Club about a recreational concept. Under the deal, the club will still have use of the property, which includes a field on the northern side and a wooded camping area.
Village Attorney Whitney Singleton noted there had been proposals for the site that would have meant a significant amount of development and traffic, but that this one would minimize traffic and it is more compatible for the club and neighbors.
There have been several proposals for the site, Skanes stated, going back to the 1980s when there was an idea for the club to leave its current property and relocate within Mount Kisco.
The site borders some residents on Laurel Drive to the north, along with the Woodcrest condominium complex and the Glassbury Court homes to the east. There is also an access road that goes from Woodcrest to the site being acquired.
Under the site's existing zoning, allowed uses could be institutional or dense residential, said Cindrich, who noted that a past idea involved creating a parking lot.
The deal will close after various approvals are granted by the village board and the planning board.
The Boys & Girls Club's land straddles seven tax parcels and includes four different types of zones, and it will need to be rezoned and subdivided.
The club's northern land intended for five lots would be rezoned to allow for low-density single-family homes, which would have frontage on Laurel Drive or Grove Street.
The village's intention is to use the new land to construct and athletic field, for some municipal usage and to have another portion with an undesignated use, Cindrich explained.
The village board will need to approve the rezoning while the planning board has to approve the subdivision.
At the board meeting, Phyllis Ruppert, a Woodcreat resident, asked whether or not the access road, which would allow for a corridor from Route 172 to Route 117, would be opened up and result in a shortcut for traffic. Cindrich replied that the road would dead end to a parking area. Ruppert was appreciative after the response was given.
Trustee Jean Farber, who lives in Glassbury Court, remarked that the deal makes "the most sense” and is the least "abrasive" to neighbors.
Trustee Anthony Markus spoke positively about generating property rental income for the village, the method of adding to the open space fund.
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