WESTCHESTER & FAIRFIELD COUNTY
BUSINESS JOURNALS
NOVEMBER 27, 2017 | VOL. 53, No. 48
9 | "IM CONCERNED" YOUR ONLY SOURCE FOR REGIONAL BUSINESS NEWS
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Report tells municipalities to prepare for transit-oriented future BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH rdeffenbaugh@westfairinc.com
T Death of a philanthropist shakes nonprofits Restaurant owner and hospitality entrepreneur Louie Lanza, shown here in Peekskill, has inherited a family foundation and legacy of giving from his mother, Patricia. Photo by Bill Heltzel. BY BILL HELTZEL bheltzel@westfairinc.com
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he death of Patricia Lanza in 2014 left many in the Westchester philanthropic world bereaved by the loss of a beloved friend and stunned by the discovery of just how dependent they had become on her generosity. Lanza gave away millions of dollars, especially to groups that
helped children and to church missions. But after her death, donations from the Lanza Family Foundation declined dramatically. The foundation will soon increase its contributions, said her son, Louie Lanza, though not at the same level and not necessarily to the same charities. Now, the foundation will focus on “the list.” “You’re not on the list when you don’t live up to your end of the bargain,” Lanza said. In her last year or two, he said,
his mother realized that some organizations had not produced the expected results and some people had taken advantage of her. They talked about a few organizations she wanted the foundation to continue supporting. Patricia Lanza was born in Salt Lake City, the child of a military family that moved around a lot. She met Frank Lanza in San Francisco, where she worked as an executive secretary for the FBI. They raised three sons, Anthony, Louis and James. Frank Lanza often traveled for work, so she ran the household. The family referred to her as “the hammer.” She was highly organized, paid attention to details and held high expectations. She was a student of the » LANZA, page 8
he New York metropolitan region is “struggling under the weight of its own success,” and the best answer to its rising home prices and heavy traffic is to build housing units, and plenty of them, in mixed-use developments near train stations. That’s the recommendation of the Regional Plan Association in a report released Nov. 14 titled “Untapped Potential.” The research and advocacy group makes a number of recommendations that it said could help add more than 250,000 housing units over the next 20 years at train stations throughout New York City’s suburbs, particularly by targeting unnecessary parking lots at the stations. Tom Wright, president of the Regional Plan Association, characterized the region as a victim of its own success in a statement released with the report. He said “now is the time to consider our suburban planning holistically — and fully commit to a transit-oriented development strategy throughout the region.” The focus on transit-oriented development is unlikely to surprise anyone who follows the real estate markets in Westchester and Fairfield counties. Municipal leaders in both counties have focused in recent years on drawing mixeduse apartment buildings to the streets surrounding train stations. It’s a type of development that, the report states, helps create compact, environmentally friendly neighbor-
hoods with increased job opportunities. And if local officials and developers ensure the new housing units target people at all income levels, the RPA report said, transit-oriented development can provide desirable living options for people of all incomes. It offers a comprehensive look at how some municipalities in the region are more open to multifamily development around their transit centers than others. The report found that more than 60 percent of municipalities close to regional rail stations in the Hudson Valley, New Jersey, Connecticut and Long Island have zoning codes that limit multifamily housing, and more than 25 percent allow only single-family development. In Westchester, the cities of White Plains, New Rochelle and Yonkers and the villages of Ossining, Mamaroneck and Port Chester received the RPA’s top score for zoning that allowed transit-oriented multifamily development. Meanwhile, towns such as Bedford (Katonah station) and Lewisboro (Goldens Bridge station) and the village of Irvington (Ardsley-onHudson station) received a score of zero for having no multifamily zoning within a half-mile of the Metro-North stops. In Fairfield County, towns such as Fairfield and Danbury and the cities of Stamford and Bridgeport received top scores, while towns such as Westport (Green’s Farms station) and Ridgefield (Branchville station) received scores of zero. The report acknowledges that » TRANSIT, page 8