On Monday, September 22, 2008 the Related Company will present the Town Board with their proposed amendment to the Special Permit and preliminary for the Tuxedo Reserve Development. The extensive amendment contains a new Preliminary Plan, a greatly revised Special Permit and a new document called the "Smart Code", which strives to amend various planning and design standards, bulk standards, architectural design guidelines, landscape guidelines and performance standards for the various development areas in the Project as previously agreed upon in the original Special Permit. In Short, almost everything about the project has changed.
The Applicant’s proposed Smart Code presents cause for great concern. This Smart Code would lay out a predetermined set of standards, (based on those used for Northridge - phase 1 of the development) and therefore eliminate the need the Boards to spend time considering these standards for each phase of the project. This attempt on the Applicants part to create a blanket set of standards for every phase of the development is potentially very dangerous. The proposed development is extremely large and covers all different types of terrain. Each phase will face its own set of challenges based on the area in which it will be constructed. It is next to impossible to set standards that can be successfully applied to all the different areas of this project.
The amended plan also seeks to increase the amount of retail space within the development from 3000 square feet to 30,000 square feet. This proposed change is in direct opposition to efforts to improve the Tuxedo Downtown area. The previous Town Board worked hard to make Downtown improvements a cornerstone of the Tuxedo Reserve development and now it looks as though the Applicant is seeking to reverse this with a new Town Board.
Of particular interest to residents of the Village is a section of the amended plan in which Tuxedo Reserve states that they are negotiating a potential land swap with PIPC for land located directly adjacent to South Gate Road. Should they receive that land, the applicant intends to move several of the “allowed developments” to that parcel in an effort to improve the overall layout of their plan. This is unfortunate because in their new Comprehensive Plan the Town of Tuxedo has indicated their desire to create a permanent road in this location, thus allowing residents from Maple Brook and Eagle Valley more direct access to Town Center. Such a road, combined with the Applicant’s request to increase housing in this location, would dramatically increase the amount traffic on South Gate Rd and therefore have a direct effect on the South Gate entrance to the Village. This increased traffic from the development would also have a serious impact on the communities in Eagle Valley. There is already a planned exit located off of Routte 72, which will provide a more direct route for residents in these communities to Town Center. An additional exit on South Gate Road will direct unnecessary traffic through residential areas and bring with it a plethora of issues such as pedestrian safety, speeding and wear and tear on the Roads. In addition both the Village of Tuxedo Park and the Tuxedo Club have legal agreements with Applicant which state that no permanent road will exist in this area. Should the exchange of land of take place and the Town subsequently allow the permanent road to be constructed, the applicant would be in direct violation of these agreements.
Attendance at this initial meeting is vital for residents of the Village and the Town alike because the Applicant’s presentation will provide a basic education in terms of how they now hopes to develop this land. TPFYI STRONGLY URGES ALL RESIDENTS TO ATTEND this meeting and inform themselves. No matter what happens, Tuxedo Reserve is going to drastically alter life in both the Town of Tuxedo and the Village of Tuxedo Park.
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