BREAKING NEWS
GM ices Lighthouse partnership
By BRYAN F. YURCAN

A development agreement between General Motors and Roseland Properties LLc of Short Hills, N.J. to develop the 100-acre site of a former GM plant in Sleepy Hollow was terminated December 13.

In a letter to Sleepy Hollow Mayor Philip Zegarelli, GM advised the village of the decision, without getting into specifics.

Roseland was to develop a mixed-use project at the site, called Lighthouse Landing, and had spent nearly five years performing environmental impact and site plan reviews with the village.

In 2006, Roseland/GM submitted a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), which proposed 1,250 residential units, 132,000 square feet of retail space, and 35,000 square feet of office space.

The village’s findings statement of the FEIS further reduced the number of residential units to 1,177 “without justification”, according to the document.

However, in August the neighboring village of Tarrytown filed a lawsuit that seeks to reduce the size of the project in order to mitigate the traffic impact on Tarrytown. Tarrytown would like to see the number of residential units cut in half, according to that lawsuit.

Just last month, GM also filed a notice of claim, often the precursor of a lawsuit, against the village as well, arguing the size of the project is smaller than it needs to be, according to the court documents.

GM said the village further reducing the size of the residential units was “arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion” and done solely “to appease a segment of the community who opposed the project.”

In letter to GM responding their terminating the development agreement with Roseland, Zegarelli asked that the “litigation commences by GM against the village should be either withdrawn without prejudice or put on indefinite hold as the village and GM jointly seek to work to address our mutual needs and concerns.”

After six years of hard work and an exhaustive environmental review, we are deeply disappointed to announce today that we have withdrawn our plan for the redevelopment of the 98-acre GM property in the Village of Sleepy Hollow.

A written statement issued by Roseland read: “The terms imposed by the Village during the final stage of the environmental review process scaled back the project to the point where it became economically unviable for our company.

Our plan for Lighthouse Landing was appropriate for the site and would have transformed a former industrial property into a vibrant and vital riverfront community. Lighthouse Landing would have provided much-needed economic benefits to the Village and School District for many generations to come. Now that opportunity is gone. This is a tremendous loss for the Village and the Tarrytown School District in particular.” 

 

	Reader Comments     Please add your Comments
	Westchester TalkBack Name: Email Address: Add your Question or Comment: Issue important to you:   create form