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Dover Site Has Much to Prove
01.03.2006
A private developer and Dover officials need to thrash out some differences regarding the sprawling lands and vacant buildings that were once home to the state-run Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center.
There are some substantial matters that must be settled before the project can go forward.
Benjamin Companies, a Long Island firm, wants to redevelop the site, in part, by creating a ''golf-course community'' on the property and building homes nearby. The golfing community, targeted for seniors, would be west of Route 22. The developers also intend to buy an adjacent farm to provide more space for the housing.
The town has some concerns about that idea. And it is understandably hammering away at the timing of another aspect of this plan -- the renovation of dozens of the old psychiatric buildings on the site, converting them into a ''walkable village.''
The town, and many residents, want to see the village center to be located just east of Route 22 and built at the same time as the golfing community. There are good reasons why. The developer must do everything possible to allay concerns that more lands will be carved up for rows of homes while ambitious ideas for the old buildings never materialize. Job-producing businesses for the old buildings are essential to the project. Eastern Dutchess needs that more than the construction of new homes or the loss of more farms.
Benjamin representatives shrug off the matter to sheer economics, saying the capital raised for new homes and golf course ultimately will pay for the building renovations. There is some validity to this argument. But communities have been burned before by developers who don't, or who are unable, to follow through on full proposals.
There are more than 80 buildings on the former psychiatric center campus. Some will have to come down. But a cluster of them could become a fine mix of uses, perhaps senior housing, retail, health-care facilities and an outlet mall. The Dover town board shouldn't sign off on the first phase of this project unless some headway is being made toward this end.
Some residents are also disappointed that Benjamin scuttled the idea of doubling a nine-hole golf course already on the site. But the developers had good reason for scaling back that plan. The property contains a fair amount of wetlands and areas designated for environmental conservation; expanding the golf course and using more pesticides could be dangerous to the area's watershed.
The town and developers must make good-faith efforts to work through their differences. Getting this old state site on the tax rolls makes a lot of sense. Already, the developers are paying about $96,000 in municipal, school and county taxes, based on the value of the land. They are expected to sink hundreds of millions of dollars into the project using a multiphase approach. Moreover, the developers have a good track record of restoring old state centers in other places. That said, the developers need to get a firm grasp of the town's main point: The quicker they're able to convert some of the old buildings into a thriving community, the better this project will look in the eyes of the community.
WHAT'S NEXT
Harlem Valley development
The Dover Town Board will hold a special meeting to discuss the redevelopment of the former Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center. That meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. March 15 at the Dover Town Hall.
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