File - Village of Rye Brook

Chris;
Will you kindly distribute this to:
Planning Board, Mr. G. Zuckerman, Chairman
CC: Village Board, Mr. Paul Rosenberg, Mayor
CC: Mr. Michael Izzo, Village Engineer
May 30, 2014
Dear Mr Zuckerman,
When the KFC ‘Woodlands’ project was first addressed by you (I believe it was in 2006/7) Doral Greens
made our concerns known to you and many were addressed by you at that time and subsequently the
Village Board approved it. I do remember everyone agreed to eliminate the guardhouse and the gates
that were proposed for the complex’s entryway.
We are not sure that when KFC sold the plans to Toll Brothers the obligations undertaken by them were
assumed by Toll Brothers or clearly described in any plans or other paper work.
We understand Toll Brothers now has an application before you regarding the street lighting for their
‘Enclave’ development on Anderson Hill Road and King Street. We are not aware of the details but are
writing to insure that the agreements that were reached when you approved the plan will be maintained.
Because everyone had agreed that the entranceway into the Enclave should be directly across from the
Doral Greens entryway for safety purposes (and that change was made) we insisted that a streetlight be
provided by the builders, and maintained thereafter by the HOA, to illuminate the better portion of
Anderson Hill Road between the two entrances. At that time I even visited Sullivan Architect’s office and
received assurances that the light to be provided would not disturb any homes on either side of Anderson
Hill Road and yet would be sufficient to clearly illuminate the two driveway entrances and help avoid any
possible accidents. I believe I also saw a site plan that called for a utility pole, presently a few feet deeper
in that entrance area, to be moved closer to Anderson Hill Road upon which to attach the streetlight
fixture.
The second item, that may not be reflected in the notes of your deliberations then, was a promise that the
developers would remedy any complaint from Doral Greens about the sufficiency of the plantings on the
buffer to be built and planted then whose purpose was to shield the back of the homes in the ‘Woodlands’
from the homes across the way in Doral Greens.
Therefore, we ask you, when granting any approval for any lighting changes within the Enclave, you
maintain their obligation to provide, erect and maintain a street light over Anderson Hill Road and our
respective entrances. If it cannot be found I ask you to consider this letter as a formal request that it now
be inserted as a condition and this be noted on the final site plan approved for this property.
Thank you for your considerations,
Nicholas A. Lyras, President,
Doral Greens Homeowners Association, Inc.
To:
Gary Zuckerman, Chairman, and the
Planning Board of the Village of Rye Brook
Date:
May 6, 2013
Subject:
Kingswood –
Application to Amend the Approved Site Plan
As requested, we reviewed application materials and plans submitted by
Toll Land V Limited Partnership, property owner, for approval to amend
the approved amended site plan to change the roadway lighting plan for the
development located at the south west corner of the intersection of
Anderson Hill Road and King Street, in the H-1 Hotel District and the
Scenic Road Overlay District (SROD), Section 129.35, Block 1, Lots 14.1
to 14.31 on the Town of Rye Tax Map.
Property Description
The property, currently under construction, is approximately 15.44 acres
with 12.73 acres located in Rye Brook and 2.71 acres located in the Town
of Greenwich, C.T. The Rye Brook portion of the site consists of uplands,
wet meadows and wooded fresh water wetlands. To the west, the site is
adjacent to the Blind Brook Golf Club and to the south to single family
homes in the R-20 District. It is also within the Z-1 Instrument Approach
and Z-4 Outer Turning Westchester County Airport Overlay Zones.
Project Description
The Applicant proposes to amend the approved site plan to change the
roadway lighting plan within the development. The amendment would
replace the approved standard pole mounted light fixtures to four-foot high
bollard-mounted light fixtures.
The Board of Trustees, who has jurisdiction over the application, referred
the application to the Planning Board for a report and recommendation on
April 22, 2014.
Review
We reviewed the following plans, applications, and supporting material submitted by the
Applicant:
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2.
3.
4.
5.
Building Permit Checklist
Site Plan Application
Exterior Building Permit Application
Short Environmental Assessment Form
Letter to the Rye Brook Building Inspector from Toll Brothers, Inc.,
Fishkill, N.Y., dated March 13, 2014
6. Sheet 1 of 2, “Kingswood Lighting Plan,” prepared by ESE Consultants,
Inc., Fishkill, N.Y., dated 2/18/14
7. Sheet 1 of 2, “Photometric Lighting Plan,” prepared by ESE Consultants,
Inc., Fishkill, N.Y., dated 2/18/14
Please note that our review of this application is limited to planning, and visual impact
issues.
Comments
We understand the Applicant is concerned regarding that the approved lighting plan
would provide too much light in the development. While over-lighting the development
is not recommended to minimize the visual impacts of night-lighting, a good exterior
lighting plan should balance the desire to minimize exterior lighting with the necessity to
provide safe conditions for pedestrian and vehicles during night time hours. The
Applicant should provide the photometrics for the approved lighting plan for review and
comparison to any revisions they propose.
Short bollard-type light fixtures that direct light downward to light the ground are
acceptable light fixtures to provide minimized lighting for pedestrian paths, short lengths
of private driveways, or small parking areas where they are useful for pedestrians
negotiating paths in dark areas. However, they are, in our opinion, not an acceptable
alternative to pole-mounted light fixtures for roadways within a development that have
multiple access points for vehicles, intersections, and may be used by both pedestrians
and vehicles at night. In addition, such lighting does not provide enough ambient eye
level light to illuminate persons that may not wish to be seen, possibly compromising the
personal safety of residents at night.
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We recommend that the Applicant consider use of pole-mounted light fixtures in a revised
lighting plan, if reduction of light levels is required.
We look forward to discussion with the Planning Board.
Marilyn Timpone-Mohamed, ASLA, AICP
Senior Associate/Planning/Environment
cc:
Honorable Mayor and the Village Board of Trustees
Christopher Bradbury, Village Administrator
Michal Nowak, Village Engineer/Superintendent of Public Works
Edward F. Beane, Esq., Village Attorney
Casey M. Devlin, P.E., for the Applicant
C:\Users\Marilyn\Desktop\538.651.Kingswood.Site Plan Amendment.PB memo.mtm.doc
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David Burke
Subject:
FW: Kingswood Site Plan Amendment, Rye Brook
-----Original Message----From: Casey Devlin [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2014 12:15 PM
To: Marilyn Timpone Mohamed
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Kingswood Site Plan Amendment, Rye Brook
Hi Marilyn,
Upon review of your letter, I would request that we be removed from tomorrow nights' Planning Board agenda to work on
the suggested alternate plan utilizing pole-mounted lights. I hope to have a revised plan sent to you by the end of next
week for consideration. I think once we have this Plan, we can have a more productive meeting with the Board. Thank
you,
-----Original Message----From: Marilyn Timpone Mohamed [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2014 3:07 PM
To: Casey Devlin
Cc: Marilyn Timpone Mohamed
Subject: Kingswood Site Plan Amendment, Rye Brook
Mr. Devlin:
Our memorandum to the Planning Board regarding your application is attached.
Marilyn Timpone-Mohamed
Frederick P. Clark Associates
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