White Plains CitizeNetReporter - French American School of New York Announces Unprecedented Neighborhood Support

WPCNR CITY LIMITS. From the French American School of New York. (EDITED) September 19, 2012: Two hours before the start of tonight's public hearing on the French American School of New York central campus project at city hall, the announced it has gained an unprecedented groundswell of support for the project. "FASNY has really gotten a lot of support from many quarters that development proposals typically don’t get.," said the school spokesperson, Geoff Thompson. According to a news release just in, more than 3,800 individuals have signed petitions supporting the project. Students from the school gathered signatures over the summer at locations throughout the city and their list currently totals 2,226 individuals, while FASNY’s online petition currently has nearly 1,600 signatures at www.greenstogreen.org/petition. In addition, many residents from within the Gedney neighborhood and from across White Plains have written letters and emails to the city leaders supporting the plan for the campus and conservancy. The news release (EDITED):

ENVIRONMENTALIST SUPPORT A major boost for the school came last week when 16 leading environmental groups and leaders from White Plains and across Westchester and the Hudson Valley wrote a letter to Mayor Thomas Roach and the six members of City Council strongly supporting the plan for both the school campus and the Greens to Green Conservancy. The Mayor and Council are conducting the environmental review. In a rare show of unified environmentalist support for a development plan, the letter was signed by many of the top organizations in the region including Scenic Hudson, the Westchester Land Trust, the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, and the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, as well as environmental educators including the Green Schools Coalition of Westchester and the Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation. The letter (copy available) stated that the FASNY proposal presented “a unique chance for city leaders to leave a legacy of a healthy, livable White Plains for future generations to enjoy.” BUSINESS SUPPORT The county’s two leading business membership organizations, the Business Council of Westchester and the Westchester County Association, both of which have a large number of members in White Plains, each gave solid support to the plan. The Business Council in its letter to the Mayor and the Council said the school will “create economic development for both the city and Westchester County” including generating more than $14 million in economic benefits to businesses in White Plains and $22 million more for businesses throughout Westchester County. It will also generate 530 construction jobs and 317 in support businesses. The County Association has cited the importance of the adding to the diverse educational opportunities found in and around White Plains and the value of the school in attracting international companies. In addition to the support of the two organizations, a number of major corporate employers in White Plains have submitted letters of support for the project including Dannon, The Ritz-Carlton Westchester, and Pernod Ricard. The public hearing will open tonight at City Hall and is scheduled to continue for a second night on October 17. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) prepared by FASNY includes some 1,500 pages and is thought to be the most comprehensive study of its kind ever undertaken on a development proposal in city history. The FASNY plan proposes a unified campus for its students who now attend classes at former parochial schools in three different Westchester communities. In January 2011 the school purchased the 129-acre defunct Ridgeway Country Club in White Plains. Its plan calls for the school campus to be created on 45 acres of the property fronting on Ridgeway, and for the creation of a publicly accessible nature conservancy to be protected by a permanent conservation easement on the 84-acre balance of the property. The Greens to Green Conservancy would return two thirds of the former golf course to a more natural state that would be used as part of the school’s educational program and be open to the public for passive uses such as walking and nature study.

Note: A complete video of the Public Hearing is now available at the city website: www.cityofwhiteplains.com. View it by clicking on View Common Council meetings, and selecting the FASNY Public Hearing in column on the right


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