Eastchester REVIEW Planning Board delays vote on Marbledale Road hotel FLYING HIGH! THE
September 23, 2016 | Vol. 4, Number 39 | www.eastchesterreview.com
By COREY STOCKTON Staff Writer
Eastchester quarterback Mark Cacciola hurdles over a Peekskill defender on Saturday, Sept. 17. Cacciola rushed for 231 yards and a touchdown in Eastchester’s 38-6 win over the Red Devils. For story, see page 24. Photo/Mike Smith
County BOL looks to renovate Playland pool By JAMES PERO Staff Writer Amidst waning support from Westchester County legislators, Rye Playland’s historic swimming pool will likely undergo renovation rather than removal. According to county Legislator Catherine Parker, a Rye Democrat, just how the county will choose to renovate the pool will be decided in the coming weeks. “We don’t want to demolish
the pool, but we have some details to figure out if we’re going to rehabilitate it,” Parker said. According to county Legislator Jim Maisano, a New Rochelle Republican, legislators will pursue a compromise between replacing the pool completely and removing the pool, providing critical renovations to its infrastructure. “There’s not 12 votes to rebuild the pool, and there’s not 12 votes to knock it down,” Maisano said. “Can we explore a way
to save the pool for another couple decades?” The newest proposal, according to a recent county Budget and Appropriations Committee meeting, would provide a number of critical renovations to the 90-year-old pool, including the installation of new filters and relining work that could cost $2.5 million alone. According to Parker, though the renovations to the pool were initially projected to cost close to $10 million, newer
projections expect the cost to be far less. While prior estimates showed a cost differential between renovation and removal of about $6 million, new estimates from the county Department of Public Works show a lower differential of about $3 million. A new estimated cost for renovations, given by the Department of Public Works’ Scott Donnelly during Monday’s POOL continued on page 22
The Tuckahoe Planning Board has postponed its decision on the site plan for the Marriott Hotel proposed on the property of the former quarry on Marbledale Road. On the motion of Commissioner Melba Caliano, the Planning Board delayed its decision for 60 days, explaining that the site is expected to undergo more testing. Bilwin Development Affiliates LLC has planned to build a five-story Marriott Springhill Suites hotel on 109 Marbledale Road since June 2014, but the project was delayed when contaminants were found on the site. The 3.5-acre parcel encompasses the center portion of a 6.6-acre plot which was a marble quarry until about 1958, becoming an industrial dumping ground for about 20 years. The developer then entered into the state Brownfield Cleanup Program, a volunteer program to remediate a contaminated site under the supervision of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, DEC. According to the DEC, HydroEnvironmental Solutions will conduct more tests to better determine what kind of materials will be disturbed by excavation, and to establish a baseline for groundwater conditions. The
samplings are expected to help the DEC design air and ground monitoring plans. The Planning Board will vote on the site plan following the tests. David Simpson, a spokesman for Bilwin Development, told the Review, “We understand that the Planning Board is under a lot of pressure to get this right. We want them to get it right, too.” The board met on Sept. 15— joined by its consultants, an attorney for Bilwin and about 150 residents—to discuss the proposed site plan for 109 Marbledale Road for the first time since the DEC released its Decision Document in July, specifying how to remediate the contaminated property. The DEC released its plan to decontaminate the property in July, based on site testing performed by HydroEnvironmental Solutions, an environmental firm hired by the developer. It includes removing contaminated soil from the site, replacing it with clean soil, and capping the earth with a concrete slab. But the plan has drawn criticism from hundreds of area residents. During the Planning Board meeting, more than 20 people spoke in opposition to the hotel or the remediation of the site. For months, opponents have contested the plans to dig in a HOTEL continued on page 5
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