The Farrell Estates DEIS has the potential to destroy the Gedney Farms neighborhood as we know it by not following NYS SEQR regulations on Parcel B and this DEIS is not being communicated properly to WP residents, especially Seniors

WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. April 2, 2025

Dear Elected Officials,

We are Marie and Ron Rhodes of 22 Robinhood Road and we are asking our elected officials to get involved and “pause” the Farrell Estates DEIS until residents get answers.

And give your fellow City residents a “Second Opinion” as to its content and whether excluding neighborhood residents from the planning process is an acceptable strategy.  As 45-years residents of WP we believe that our elected officials have a responsibility to ensure that residents are protected and have proper input into building activities taking place next to their own house.

If our elected officials are not protecting residents, who will?

Right now, we see 2 major problems with this Farrell Estates project.  First, it violates NYS SEQR regulations for Parcel B where we live.  

And second, the City’s Communications to residents and Senior Citizens, like ourselves, on this project have been poor to nonexistent.

SEQR regulations say that impacted residents should be involved early on in a project.  Yet this DEIS has been developed by the outside Developer and City Staff without the involvement of neighborhood residents who know the old golf course area best.  The Farrell Estates DEIS has not changed significantly from Farrell’s initial plan. . .so ours and other resident comments to date have been basically ignored.

And at the recent March 18^th meeting the Planning Board asked “zero” questions of the Developer despite all of the Farrell planned Water and Traffic changes on top of 100-year Open Space.  Even more troubling is that the Planning Board did say at the meeting that all resident questions will be answered in the FEIS.  To us this is unacceptable and all resident questions should be addressed right now and not passed along.

 We recall a Common Council meeting back in 2013 for FASNY’s DEIS where some Council members told residents “Don’t worry about issues not being answered in the DEIS that they will be addressed in the FEIS”.  And guess what, those issues were never addressed and look what happened to the FASNY project.  So, sorry to ask. . .is our City Administration just trying to “rubberstamp” this massive Farrell Development plan and process?

As Senior Citizens we feel that we have been discriminated by our City’s own review process.  First, by excluding us and fellow neighborhood Seniors from the planning process while extensive backroom discussions between the Developer and City Staff have taken place.  And then with no Communications or feedback after. . .when nearby residents are the ones being impacted by all the backroom decisions.

For example, we were never provided any answers to last year’s Scoping Document questions even though we submitted original questions.  And with the DEIS online submission there was no Summary of the plan in non-technical terms for residents to understand what is going on.  Also forcing Seniors like ourselves to go online to review Construction diagrams and site drawings is just not right.

 For example, try going to the online Tree section using our address to figure how many Trees by our house the Developer wants to remove.  We tried unsuccessfully.  And it would be nice for someone from the Developer or City Staff to knock on our door and tell us what they are “planning to do” by our house.  Isn’t this important information for us to have?

We like the idea of new houses on the old golf course property.  However, the City’s Communication process to residents needs to be improved.  We would suggest before telling residents what is good for our neighborhood. . .maybe ask and involve us in the process first.

You already know that Gedney Farms is a 100-year-old historic neighborhood.  And that it is an environmentally sensitive site where Water issues have always been a concern.  The old golf course property is 130 acres in total with each Parcel really a separate WP entity surrounded by Public streets and Private residences.  For our own SEQR compliance analysis we are just going to consider Parcel B where we live.

Parcel B is about 14 acres with 26 surrounding neighborhood resident houses similar to ours.  Parcel B is also the smallest and narrowest Parcel surrounded by 100-year-old houses with sloping land on both sides for drainage onto to the old golf course and with Heatherbloom Road bordering on the North and Gedney Esplanade on the South.

The Developer is changing the existing Water drainage system.  And this Water Drainage issue is not being explained properly and clearly in the DEIS.  We would recommend a forum where residents can ask questions directly to a Water expert who is a non-Farrell consultant.  This should be done before the FEIS.

NYS SEQR regulations are focused on preventing the impairment of “Community Character” and “Quality of Life”.  So, we will review SEQR’s main areas and how the Farrell Estates project will impact our own Parcel B:

. . .Adverse changes to the environment:

            Reducing current 100% Open and Green space by almost 70%.

Building new houses over existing Wetlands on the Northern part of B which is lower than the rest of Parcel B (the Developer will say that the North end of B is not Wetlands, however for the past 45 years after rainfalls all we see are reappearing lakes). . .and building the majority of new houses without basements is a warning sign of water issues.

Building an unneeded cut-thru street on the middle of B which will be “25% wider” than current neighborhood roads where a cul-de-sac would be a better fit.

Destruction of current mature Trees to make way for the new thru-street.

New houses will back up right next to existing residences because the setbacks are small.

New luxury-style-stock houses do not fit with surrounding current historical homes where each house is different and unique.

Construction timing and phases are unknown for a project in a residential area.

Additional Traffic, Construction and Delivery vehicles will hurt residents who walk, jog or bicycle on current quiet neighborhood streets.

Construction vehicle parking on B for work on other Parcels is a major concern.

. . .Substantial change in the use of land:

            Building over almost 70% of current Open and Green Space.

Potential Water runoffs to surrounding residences and neighborhoods due to too many houses being built.

New cut-thru street will change Community Character and Quality of Life with increased car Noise and Pollution.

Removing over 1,000 mature trees that absorb rainwater and remove contaminates from the soil from all the Parcels is not good and also changes the Character of the neighborhood (as we mentioned before we can’t tell what Trees are being removed from the side of our house so for Parcel B Tree removal is anyone’s guess).

            Elimination of Flora and Fauna also destroys neighborhood Character.

Developer and City Staff believe there are no Wetlands on B. . .yet are planning a new rainwater pond for the South end of B.

            Guarantees are need for potential Water mitigation for resident properties.

Also, current residents need Protection if Developer slows or stops Construction in our quiet residential neighborhood.

. . .Hazard to human health:

More residents are working from home now after Covid. . .so constant Construction work with Noise and Dust is a major health hazard.

More Water runoff could bring potential pollution and mold contamination to nearby residences. . .particularly for residents with allergies.

More Traffic with car Noise and Pollution from the new cut-thru street on B.

Multi-year Construction in our residential neighborhood will bring Noise, Dust and Pollution from truck staging, travel and site work. . .and in the process more stress to residents.

Our experience is that Construction projects usually take longer than planned and that their drivers and workers park wherever they want.

 

. . .Reduction in wildlife habitat:

Wildlife in the last 15 years has actually increased here with the absence of pesticide use from the old golf course.

There is a new “corridor” of Wildlife travel thru B since the old golf course closed. . .for red foxes, coyotes, woodchucks, blackbirds, Eastern bluebirds, woodpeckers, geese, hawks and more.  And on March 24^th a whitetail deer was spotted crossing Heatherbloom right where the City Staff wants to build their new “highway”.

Farrell Estates will eliminate almost 70% of current space available now for Wildlife.

Many of the SEQR impairments mentioned for Parcel B also apply to other Parcels, in particular Water and Traffic concerns.  And all of them have not been communicated clearly to nearby residents.

With regard to Water. . .as we mentioned the old golf course property has had Water issues for 100 years.  Now with Farrell Estates building on top of 70% of this property. . .where is all the future Rainwater going to flow to? 

 Farrell Consultants have a stormwater management system that in the future will be maintained by their Home Owners Association (HOA).  Does our City want a private HOA dealing with Water issues that may impact homeowners in the nearby Gedney, Club Ridge and Wyndham Close areas?  We would say no.  So, these Water issues have to be discussed and communicated in detail to residents “now” in the DEIS.  And not “rubberstamped” and passed along to the FEIS.

We were originally delighted when we learned that new houses would be built on the old golf course property where we have lived for the past 45 years.

 We envisioned homes that would easily fit into our beautiful neighborhood with new neighbors who could also enjoy the personality of our way of life with quiet pedestrian walking and bicycle friendly activities.

We understand the Developer Farrell chose Gedney Farms because he was also impressed with our neighborhood Character.  However. instead of trying to fit his new houses into our neighborhood we are shocked with the Farrell and City Staff’s DEIS on how they will be making our Character and Way of Life worse. particularly on Parcel B with the issues we outlined above.

Our big picture view now from the DEIS of the Farrell Estates project is that by squeezing so many new homes in a Levittown-type style. . .the Developer will enjoy substantial Profits while the City, School and County will get incremental Property Taxes.  What do residents like ourselves get? 

From the submitted DEIS we believe surrounding Parcel B residents will suffer an impairment of Neighborhood Character and Quality of Life with the possible decline of Property Values. 

 New houses are being built over Wetlands, an unneeded major cut-thru new road down the middle of B and the setback of new homes very close to existing resident properties are major concerns.  

In addition, the Noise and Pollution from Construction and the parking of work vehicles in a current quiet residential area will a detriment for years.  We believe all of the above are violations of NYS SEQR regulations.

We understand that in any large building project that there must be a balance between the number of new houses and the deterioration of existing Community Character.  In our opinion the Farrell Estates and City Staff’s DEIS goes overboard on the diminish side in Quality of Life for neighborhood residents like ourselves.

We believe the best solution for Parcel B would be building “fewer” houses, in particular the ones being planned over Wetlands on the Northern end.  And “rearranging” the remaining new properties so they are setback farther from existing resident houses.  Also, a cul-de-sac with narrower width roads would be a better fit than the planned cut-thru street which would be a Traffic disaster. 

We need our elected officials to pause and get involved in this Farrell Estates plan to protect existing resident Quality of Life and Property Values.  The major issues of Water, Traffic and Open Space can be mitigated with a reduction in planned new houses being asked for.  And it must be done “now” with resident involvement in the DEIS as SEQR requires without unsolved issues being pushed forward to the FEIS.

Thank you for taking action.  We like new houses. . .just not so many that cause Water, Traffic and Open Space issues to become so overwhelming.

Marie and Ron Rhodes