A lawsuit filed by the city of Rye seeking to overturn Westchester County’s authority over capital projects slated at Playland was thrown out by a state judge this week.
The suit, filed by the city in August 2016, sought to overturn the county’s status as lead agency under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, SEQR, which would have given Rye a greater say in the approval of millions of dollars in improvements slated to take place at the park this year. The historic amusement park is located within the city.
“We gave it our best shot, but we didn’t prevail,” said Rye Mayor Joe Sack, a Republican. “One thing that has not changed is that the residents of Rye bear 100 percent of the quality of life impacts at Playland.”
Sack added that the city will not appeal the judge’s decision due to cost and time constraints.
While the city has consistently argued that projects at the park—which abuts Rye’s residential neighborhoods—should fall under the scrutiny of the City Council, a state judge ruled in favor of the county, which owns Playland as a part of the county parks system.
According to a decision by Judge Gretchen Walsh, among other things, the city failed to show reasonable evidence that its neighborhoods would be adversely impacted by the projects.
In a statement, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, a Republican, championed the decision to dismiss the suit.
“This ruling means the county can get back to the business of saving Playland,” he said. “We are pleased with this ruling as it enables Standard Amusements, in collaboration with the county, to move forward on our plans to upgrade the grounds in support of our mission.”
As per an agreement struck in May between the county and the management company Standard Amusements—the new operators of the nearly 100-year-old amusement park—the park is set to undergo $60 million in capital improvements, the cost of which will be split between the two parties.
Under the terms of the deal, Standard would manage the park for 30 years and also pay the county a fee that rises annually by 2 percent.
The agreement punctuated years of failed negotiations between the Astorino administration and prospective organizations or companies interested in managing the amusement park; most notably a previous deal brokered between Astorino and local nonprofit Sustainable Playland Inc., which dissolved in the wake of potential litigation from Rye and growing public outcry over the size and scope of the plans, and in particular a sports bubble that was slated for Playland’s main parking lot.
According to Dan Branda, a spokesman for the county executive, an engineer’s consortium to arrive at a construction schedule was held on March 1, but said the specifics of the schedule are “too premature” to discuss.
