White Plains CitizeNetReporter - Scarsdale Moves Seniors Home in Saxon Woods Along

WPCNR Daily Mirror. By John F. Bailey. April 24, 2002 12:30 PM: EDT: REALM, Incorporated, the builder of senior care homes, which plans a 115-Unit Nursing Home or Senior Care facility for the property adjacent to the Ethical Culture Society of Westchester property off Saxon Woods Road, had their Final Environmental Impact Statement accepted by the Scarsdale Planning Board Wednesday evening, without comment.

SITE OF PROPOSED REALM SENIOR/NURSING COMPLEX: Shown as it looked in January of this year, the site of the REALM three-story, L-shaped complex for senior living needs to acquire access to the site by widening the bridge shown in the foreground of the driveway leading in from two-lane Saxon Woods Road.
Photo by WPCNR

Elizabeth Marrinan, Village Planner of Scarsdale set May 13, as the last date for interested parties to present comment to the Scarsdale Planning Board, pending an anticipated public hearing on the site plan and special permit authorization in June.

ACCEPTS WITHOUT COMMENT: The Scarsdale Planning Board in Scarsdale Town did not notifiy White Plains they were considering the Final Environmental Impact Statement for acceptance, Wednesday evening, according to Planning Commissioner Susan Habel. The Board is shown, minutes after their unanimous acceptance of the FEIS.
Photo by WPCNR

Architect pleased, optimistic.

Frank S. Fish, the architect of the project, of Buckhurst Fish & Jacquemart, Inc., told WPCNR he was very pleased about the Planning Board’s acceptance of the FEIS, and said he expected a public hearing on the project before the Planning Board in June.

Fish said he had last spoken with the White Plains Planning Department’s Rod Johnson, Deputy Commissioner of Planning January 28, and had not spoken with Susan Habel, Planning Commissioner since a recent meeting they had attended.

Habel concerned.

Habel was surprised to learn about that the Scarsdale Planning Board was taking up the FEIS because, she said, they were supposed to notify the White Plains Planning Department when the matter was to be taken up once more.

Fish said he would be delivering the copies of the FEIS to the Scarsdale Planning Board by the end of this week, and expected that the Scarsdale Board would forward the FEIS to the White Plains Planning Department. He was hopeful of beginning construction in September.

Fish was guardedly optimistic about the friendly acceptance by the Plannning Board. He said that White Plains had sued to be the lead agency on the project, but were denied, with the Department of Environmental Conservation ruling that the Scarsdale Planning Board was to be the lead agency.

Scarsdale-White Plains Border War.

Fish said he was not worried that White Plains would sue to prevent the project. He said that there already is a road into the property off of Saxon Woods Road, and it simply has to be widened to provide access to the site.

“They lost before,” he said, referring to the DEC decision. Fish did not offer an explanation of why they could not access the site from Scarsdale. "There's already a road there," he added, meaning the driveway leading into the property from Saxon Woods Road.

Graessle's Finest Hour

The REALM project Draft Environmental Impact Statement was severely criticized by former Planning Commissioner Michael Graessle last August in a rare reversal of roles. Graessle presented a stinging indictment of the REALM DEIS noting inconsistencies and a lack of definition of the facility, whether it was a senior care home, or a nursing home, which has to be licensed by the state Health Department.

Graessle added that White Plains would have to issue fourteen licenses and permits for construction of any road into the property, and provide water and sewer service.

The road into the property targeted for the facility is in White Plains, while the majority of the property is in Scarsdale.

Scarsdale Planning Board using consultants to guide them through the Environmentally Sensitive site process.

The Scarsdale Planning Board does not have extensive experience in handling environmentally sensitive sites. A consultant has been guiding them through the labyrinth.

Mike Healy, a consultant reviewing the FEIS for the Village of Scarsdale, and speaking for the engineer firm, too, said the FEIS had answered most of the questions raised by the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, and he felt it was in order for the Planning Board to accept.

The Planning Board voted unanimously to accept the FEIS.


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