There will be another public hearing on Tuesday, May 24, about the adoption of the final environmental impact statement, FEIS, for the proposed development plan at the United Hospital site in the village of Port Chester.
The 15-acre site, located at 99 High St. just off of Boston Post Road, was bought by a Greenwich, Connecticut-based investment firm called Starwood Capital Group for $28 million in 2006, one year after United Hospital closed its doors.
Starwood has proposed a mixed-use development that would include 730 residential units, 230 of which would be affordable housing units, 307,000 square feet of office and retail space, and a 138-room hotel in place of the now abandoned hospital.
In addition to the preliminary FEIS, Starwood also submitted a proposal in late April for an amendment to Port Chester’s zoning code that would allow for a development almost twice the size of what is currently allotted—changing the density from just over 500,000 square feet to one that is over 900,000 square feet. The village Board of Trustees has not rendered a decision yet about the zoning amendment, either.
Focusing at the moment on the FEIS, Port Chester Mayor Dennis Pilla, a Democrat, said Starwood has included information in its impact statement that elaborates on aspects of the project that the public has questioned, and provides suggested mitigations for traffic, which was a concern of both Port Chester and city of Rye residents.
In order to address their own concerns about the project, Rye hired a traffic consultant, Philip Grealy from Maser Consulting P.A., to review the documents provided by Starwood and determine what the impact would be on the roadways shared by both communities.
“We’re looking through [the FEIS] now and we’re meeting with the Department of Transportation on [May 20] to go over what’s been submitted,” Grealy said. “We think there’s some shortcomings in what’s proposed.”
He said that the city of Rye’s primary concern is the Exit 11 ramp from Interstate 287, which leads onto Boston Post Road, citing issues like the traffic volume at that intersection and the ability of trucks to turn off the ramp. Another area of concern Grealy mentioned is the exit ramp from Interstate 95 south to Boston Post Road, where he said the majority of local traffic passes through.
“If there’s an issue at those intersections, drivers will divert to other local routes which is a problem too,” Grealy added.
In regard to his own concerns about traffic mitigation, Pilla said that he “won’t be satisfied unless our experts are satisfied,” but he remains optimistic about the proposal.
“The proposal is consistent with our master plan, which is a product of the residents of Port Chester, so I think [the Starwood project] is a step in the right direction,” Pilla said.
Pilla also said that while there is technically no obligation to hold a public hearing about the adoption of the FEIS, he feels that it is very important to exceed the minimal legal requirements and get ample public input on this $300 million project before the Port Chester Board of Trustees accepts the document.
“We’re making a 100-year decision, so it’s important that this decision is not made in a vacuum,” Pilla said. “I consider this a recurring theme for how I’d like to operate [the village of Port Chester].”
The May 24 public hearing will begin at 7 p.m. in the Port Chester Village Court, located at 350 Main St.
