If you have even the slightest interest in the Echo Bay Development Plan as Proposed by Forest City/Ratner you are going to want to plan on being at City Hall on the night of July 23rd.
You can view the two plans on the City web site but the way they broke up the documents is a bit cumbersome:
Echo Bay Center Waterfront Redevelopment DEIS & FEIS
To make things a bit more manageable I created a single PDF document, suitable for reading on a mobile device (so you can curl up with your iPad for a little late night reading)
FEIS Echo Bay Forest City (June 2013)
DEIS Echo Bay Forest City (March 2013)
For those interested in some historical context, you might be interested to read the 2008 Scoping Document for the Forest City/Ratner proposal based on the original RFP.
New Rochelle Echo Bay Scoping Document 2008
The Save Our Armory Committee and the United Veterans is holding a meeting on July 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the American Legion Hall Post 8 located at 112 North Avenue to present a new proposal for the Armory and Echo Bay. The meet will include updated on litigation with the City, County and State regarding the Armory site.
Here are some of the details on what will take place on July 23rd.
At its meeting Tuesday, the City Council scheduled a public hearing on the FEIS for July 23. That’s a Tuesday, and it’ll be a busy one. Also on the bill for the evening are three other related public hearings: two regarding zoning amendments that Forest City is seeking and another centered on amending the city’s urban renewal plan.
To review, that’s four Echo Bay-related public hearings on July 23 at City Hall in New Rochelle.
CITY OF NEW ROCHELLE DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT
SPECIAL PLANNING BOARD AGENDA
PUBLIC MEETING / HEARING
Tuesday July 23, 2013
7:30 PM, Room B-1
90 Beaufort Place
Public Comment Allowed
ITEM # 1 — PUBLIC HEARING
1.1 A Public Hearing before the Planning Board regarding the proposed amendments to the Main/Echo Urban Renewal Plan.
I don’t know why people ate
I don’t know why people ate so blind. This development is about pushing Agenda 21 forward–nothing else. It’s goal, as the County spokesman indicated, is to create an environment where “people live, work and play.” In another words, adequate parking is not needed because the goal is to discourage automobile travel. The plan is to create a self-sustained community where people do not have to travel beyond its boundaries to exist. If people want to travel, it is assumes they will use mass transit. As such, greenhouse gases will be reduced. In short, it is modeled by ICLEI which is why it qualifies for government grants and why we need Forest City to build it. Forest City is a recognized sustainable developer.
The benefit for NR is that Bramson receives a feather in his cap. His GreeNR plan, which is the local Agenda 21, moves forward. It becomes a success. It becomes a success because it doesn’t matter if GreeNR leads to tax reductions for the long term NR residents. There is nothing in GreeNR that focuses in on revenue and tax relief. GreeNR is about building self-contained communities within communities where people “live, work and play.”
The reason that retail is not being built on Echo Bay is because that does not involve the reduction of green house gases, and it does not meet ICLEI guidelines for sustainable development and therefore does not qualify for government grants.
This project is moving forward because it is Bramson’s crown jewel. He wins, nobody else. This is what is coming to the County if he gets elected CE. He decides what is best foe Westchester, not the people. He knows better. He is smarter. We are stupid. Bramson knows best.
Excellent Point
John,
As much as Noam believes that live, work & play is viable in New Rochelle, he fails to comprehend that the economic base to generate meaningful local jobs does not exist. New Rochelle is a bedroom community. Echo Bay is approximately 0.8 miles from the train station. How many people does he think will be willing to walk or bike ride that distance year round ? By the way Noam lives 1.4 miles from City Hall and Jared Rice lives 0.3 miles from City Hall. Next time you see them ask them how often they walk to City Council meetings.
So basically, the mayor has
So basically, the mayor has closed tonight’s CTBH by saying everyone who opposes the project has misinterpreted the facts and that the project substantially benefits NR, the people are just too stupid to see that. As such, he will be voting in favor of the project because a bunch of people are in favor of it but they were all too busy to attend the meeting. In short, the mayor will do what he wants despite what the people of the city have asked for. He is much smarter than everyone else and we must respect that. Can I get an amen?
I thought the mayor was going
I thought the mayor was going to get his skinny a$$ kicked during the meeting. Doesn’t seem to be much support for Echo Bay. Now we will find out the “real” reason why the mayor has a 5-2 majority on council. This plan will go through despite the public opposition. With any luck, it will also derail the mayor’s chances of becoming CE. The people of Westchester want a leader who will listen, not one with political aspirations for higher office.