STATEMENT OF GREENBURGH PAUL FEINER ON THE RIDGE HILL PROJECT (The Yonkers City Council is scheduled to vote on the project on
Tuesday)
Like all Greenburgh residents I support Yonkers' efforts to promote
economic development, and would support Ridge Hill, if its traffic
impacts were mitigated. Council President Chuck Lesnick's vigorous
efforts over the past few months to find a solution to Ridge Hill's
traffic impacts should be applauded. That being said, Chuck and the
rest of the City Council need to condition any vote they take on Ridge
Hill on the implementation of the traffic mitigations that have been
discussed, including, Direct Access connecting Ridge Hill to the Sprain
Brook Parkway and density reduction. It has been estimated that
reducing Ridge Hill's retail component by 500,000 square feet could
reduce daily traffic generations by about 20,000 trips - i.e., or
one-half of the estimated volume - and still leave the Forest City
Ratner with one of the largest retail projects to built in Westchester
in decades.
Yonkers, and Chuck specifically, cannot simply leave
traffic mitigation open-ended. The traffic problem is too important to
residents of both Yonkers and Greenburgh. The local roadway network in
our communities is already overburdened and unsafe. Adding substantial
traffic without mitigation would only make the problem worse.
If the Council approves the Ridge Hill project without simultaneously
mandating concrete traffic mitigation, unfortunately, I believe that a
critical opportunity to mitigate these impacts will be lost forever. We
share the same roads as our Yonkers neighbors and hope to work with them
to move Ridge Hill forward in a timely fashion, while preserving the
quality of life in our communities
Paul Feiner
Greenburgh Town Supervisor