On Wednesday, October 3, 2007 the Town of Tuxedo Planning Board conducted a special workshop with their consultants and representatives from Tuxedo Reserve. This workshop was designed to help the Board get a better understanding of several waivers being requested by the developer for Phase One of the project, Northridge. 

When presenting their preliminary site plan for approval, several sets of standards will have to be met by the developer before they can move forward with the project.  These include, but are not limited to: street specification standards, storm drainage standards, street lighting standards, and those standards agreed upon in the applicant’s Special Permit as well as many other developmental standards laid out in the Town Code. 

The site where Northridge will be located (just south of Town Center) poses a great many topographical challenges for the developer.  Some of these challenges make it impossible for the plan to meet certain standards.  Before the Town can grant preliminary approval to this phase of the development, these challenges must be addressed.  Therefore, the Town of Tuxedo hired a group of consultants, who spent a great deal of time researching other developments with similar topographical issues in the surrounding area and putting together a list of modified standards for the developer.  These modified standards were carefully reviewed and agreed upon by the Town Engineer 

In reviewing the applicant’s most recent site plan it became clear that there are several areas where these modified standards have not been met.  The developer has requested a total of 102 waivers from various Town Boards in an effort to bring the site plan up to standard.  36 of these waivers are before the Planning Board.  The Planning Board’s job, along with their consultants, is to analyze where the plan breaks from the standards and then decide if the proposed variances meet safety standards well enough for a waiver to be granted.

The purpose of Wednesday night’s meeting was for the Planning Board to go through all the waiver requests before them with their consultants and make sure that they fully comprehend what is being sought with each request.  Representatives from Tuxedo Reserve were also present to answer any and all questions. The waiver requests range in issues from street grade at intersections to curves in the road as well as street lighting and storm drainage.

There remain a few items that the developer needs to clarify to the Board and their consultants before they can cast their vote on the waivers.  The vote could take place as soon as the next regularly scheduled Planning Board meeting, which is Tuesday, October 9.

 

back to top