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WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. February 12, 2015:
Marie and Ron Rhodes, two active opponents of the French American School of New York proposal to build a 5 Building Campus on the former Ridgeway Country Club which will be taken up some day by the Common Council maybe this year after almost 4 years of study and hearings by the Council and study and “tweaking” by city consultants have written a final report which they submitted to the Mayor and Common Council, February 5. WPCNR has received this report and will be putting out portions of it in the coming days.
Here is the Rhodes’ “Big Picture Concerns on the FASNY Project” urging the Council to reject the project:
Our Big Picture concerns on the FASNY project
February 5, 2015
Dear Mayor and Common Council,
As background for your upcoming (?) FASNY vote we prepared this report for you.
We have spent our business careers providing CEO’s due diligence on business plans, products and companies. . .so we felt an obligation to provide the same type of evaluation of FASNY’s plan to you and our other elected City Leaders.
We know you want what is best for White Plains going forward. . .so we went back and gathered together all the information we could find on FASNY for you. . .all of the details are in our attached report. In summary we ask you to reject FASNY as not being the right fit for the City and the citizens you serve. And we also ask you to. . .
√ protect WP School Children many of whom are minority. . .from FASNY’s Traffic and North Street Entrance. . .the same concerns as communicated to you by our WP Board of Education.
√ protect Hathaway Lane from Closure. . .from an outside private developer who wants to take over a City street without offering any Public benefits.
√ protect our current Fire and Emergency Response Times. . .the citizens you serve are interested in programs that reduce current Fire and Emergency Response Times. . .not ones that increase Response Times to residents by Closing Hathaway Lane to satisfy the wishes of a private outside developer.
√ protect residents and neighborhoods from FASNY Traffic. . .where FASNY’s 950 students and 250 staff will bring over 2,000 Vehicle Trips each day into the Southend residential areas of the City.
√ protect our Environment and Open Space. . .from an outside developer who wants to build a 53-acre regional school complex on current Open Space grassland. . .FASNY is not giving Open Space to the City.
√ protect our Neighborhoods from FASNY’s 10-year Construction. . .which will bring Noise, Pollution and Construction Vehicles. . .while damaging the Health, Safety and Welfare of residents.
√ protect our current Zoning and Rule of Law. . . FASNY’s regional school campus does not fit within the R1-30 Zoning, our Comprehensive Plan and other WP laws as written. . .and also does not fit with Character of the neighborhood while compromising the Health, Safety and Welfare of the community.
√ protect our homes from additional Water Problems. . .if FASNY is allowed to build foundations that disrupt underground streams and construct their 53-acre campus over Open Space grassland where rainwater is currently absorbed.
√ protect our Property Values from further declines. . .FASNY’s 10-year Construction along with the size of their 53-acre massive school campus and the impact of increased FASNY Traffic. . .according to real estate professionals will result in permanent reductions in Property Values.
√ protect us from misguided Mitigation. . .especially with Traffic attempts that do nothing to reduce the number of FASNY vehicles coming into the Southend of the City, recommending the North Street Entrance and even thinking about the Closure of Hathaway Lane. . .all of which do not help residents.
√ protect our historic and award winning neighborhood from destruction. . .if our Comprehensive Plan, Zoning and other WP Laws in place protect our property, homes and City streets. . .why aren’t our elected officials supporting residents by saying “if you like your neighborhood. . .you can keep your neighborhood”?
X there are no benefits with this FASNY project. . .compared to the alternative of 60 new residential houses that would be allowable under the current R1-30 Zoning. . .would provide additional property tax revenue. . .and bring in significantly less Traffic than FASNY.
Our list of FASNY negatives is significant and the citizens you serve are asking for your protection which is your fiduciary responsibility. Throughout this 4 year FASNY review process the focus of discussions has usually been on one FASNY negative at a time, for example Traffic. . .and rightfully so. Here in our list of Big Picture concerns you see all of the FASNY negatives together in one place. . . and find there are no benefits for FASNY building their school campus on the old golf course. This is really a dramatic indictment of FASNY’s project.
And you should keep in mind that all of the concerns and negatives we mentioned about this FASNY project. . .were first uncovered by your WP residents. . .not City staff. . .which should be a cause for concern to all Council members as you move forward and consider future proposals.
We have been encouraged by a recent quote we read in the Journal News regarding the study for redeveloping the train station area. . .”we want a project that’s resident-driven and city-driven rather than developer-driven.” (Mayor Tom Roach, January 16, 2015)
The only thing resident-driven on the FASNY project has been the opposition! Please vote “no” on FASNY.
Thank you for your support,
We report. . .you decide. Your Truth Police, Team Rhodes
Marie and Ron Rhodes