|
"Fact vs. Fiction"
09.28.2007
The Town Board published a recent Newsletter, which contained disparaging comments concerning Dover Knolls, and a series of gross misstatements and inaccuracies concerning the Project. Although we truly wish the circumstances were different, we feel compelled to answer.
Fiction
The Town Board is being pressured to "simply approve the Benjamin Development Companies' application."
Fact
No one is asking the Town Board to "approve" the Dover Knolls project without a full and proper review. The Town Board's recent mailing confirms, however, that it has already rejected the proposed project even before any of the environmental studies or public reviews have begun.
Fiction
The Town Board is "eager to approve an application that meets the requirements of the Dover Knolls site's zoning."
Fact
The Town Board is simply using the zoning as an excuse for it's inaction. The Board has already rejected two separate proposals submitted by Dover Knolls, in November 2004 and November 2005, which fully complied with the Dover Zoning Code. The Town Board needs to allow the environmental review process to begin in earnest so that the best project (and zoning) for the site can be determined.
Fiction
"The current proposed conceptual plan contains too much residential development and not enough commercial development.
Fact
The planned project now contemplates 312,600 square feet of commercial and non-residential space. Dover Knolls is committed to build as much retail space as the market can support. The economic experts that the Town Board requested that Dover Knolls hire have told the Town Board that the site can support about 150,000 square feet of retail at first. The experts said that more could be added when the initial phases of residential housing are complete. Too much retail will only sit vacant and underutilized.
Fiction
The Town Board hired Looney Ricks Kiss (LRK) to "move the project forward . . . as a way to expedite a resolution, not delay it."
Fact
The hiring of LRK will do nothing to advance the Project. It was nothing more than a cheap election stunt. The Project does not need another planner. The Town already has two independent planning consultants paid for by the Benjamins, not to mention the Benjamins' own planning consultants. Dover Knolls representatives have been requesting that the Town Board meet with them for the last six months to discuss resolving the outstanding issues. The Town Board's only response was to hire LRK without any advance notice or discussion with the Benjamins.
Fiction
"The Town Board has not rejected the application, the developer chose to withdraw the application."
Fact
Over the past four years, the Town Board has rejected three different concept development plans submitted in good faith, by Dover Knolls. Various proposals were specifically requested by the Town Board, yet rejected without any study or analysis. When a developer spends $16 million, and four years later the Project is not even in the review process, this is how projects die. The Benjamins withdrew their current application when the Town rejected its third proposal after Dover Knolls spent five months meeting with the Town Board, thinking that they had reached an agreement, only to have it, once again, summarily rejected by a cursory letter from the Town's Attorney.
Fiction
"The proposed plan to construct nearly 1,400 households appears to be based on a predetermined residential unit count rather than an understanding of the site, the needs of the Town, and likely market conditions."
Fact
The cost of rebuilding the infrastructure on the site will total $150 million. Dover Knolls has provided the Town Board with extensive expert data showing that 1400 units are needed to afford the enormous infrastructure costs on the site, build a true diversity of housing, including first time affordable housing, and to build the public amenities on the site such as a school mitigation, enhanced golf course, new community center, new public recreational facilities and other uses to be determined during the public review process. If the number of planned residential units is inaccurate or unnecessary, it can be reduced during the environmental review process.
Fiction
The Town Board cannot move forward on the Project until the residential development is reduced "in biological corridors, steep slopes and in areas that are not walkable to the train station."
Fact
Dover Knolls paid for the Town's biological consultant over three years ago, and agreed to preserve over 60% of the site as a "biological corridor." Dover Knolls also agreed to reduce much of the planned development on the site's steepest slopes specifically in response to the Town Board's previous requests, as well as cluster the residential areas to create neighborhoods and further preserve open space. Over 70% of the residential housing is within a ten minute walk of the train station. For some reason, the Town Board is unwilling to let the environmental review process proceed so that these issues can be truly studied, and the public participate in such review.
Fiction
"Isn't any project, even a bad one, better than no project?" "Dover Knolls only cares about "maximizing it's bottom line."
Fact
These are actual quotes from the Town Board's recent Newsletter. No prudent or viable developer or individual would spend hundreds of millions of dollars investing in one of the most challenging and risky sites in the Hudson River Valley - how many former Psychiatric Centers have been successfully redeveloped in the Hudson Valley? - when its so called public partner makes such statements. The Town Board must decide whether it wants to work together with Dover Knolls in good faith and be a true partner, or continue to distrust and disparage Dover Knolls on every occasion while the site sits vacant for another decade, and the Dover community loses the enormous potential jobs and taxes this project will generate.
Back to Top | Proceed to Main Site »
|
