Tarrytown Nears Public Pool Agreement with Hudson Harbor Developer

A public pool, long ago promised in Tarrytown’s contract with Hudson Harbor and eagerly anticipated by citizens for years, will finally be coming to the riverfront Pierson Park, though it may look different than many had hoped for.

Several years of closed-door negotiations between developer National RE/sources and the Tarrytown Board have yielded a letter of intent signed off on by Trustees.

The Board in special, closed, session on Nov. 20 unanimously approved plans for Village Administrator Mike Blau to draft a lengthy letter of intent including many fees and offerings from the developer, along with revised plans for National RE/sources to build a six-lane outdoor pool for the village with an adjacent building housing locker rooms, workout space, and the recreation offices whose current building in Pierson Park it will replace. 

The pool could come as soon as summer 2015. 

National RE/sources also long ago agreed to include 12 affordable units of housing in their riverfront development. They instead got approval to move these affordable units off-site from the sprawling Hudson Harbor complex that is now almost halfway complete. They had hoped to mix the dozen affordable units in with more regular units at the empty lot, formerly Village Hall, on top of Wildey Street. 

The rough sketch is still being hammered out before the Planning Board, with a proposed height that’s decreased through the meetings from about 55 feet down to about 20-25. The number of housing units has been reduced from 38 down to only 12, at only two-stories high. 

Residents in attendance at the latest PB meeting expressed an interest in seeing a picture of the place so they can envision what they’re dealing with for a neighbor. 

What is down to only the dozen affordable units as required and no more is meant to be filled by lottery by early 2016, Blau told the Hudson Independent, for “village employees, volunteer fire and ambulance corps members, senior citizens and young adults.”

There's a "tight timeline," for the developer to get their site plan approvals for this, said Mayor Drew Fixell, otherwise the site would revert to the village.

The letter of intent further outlines what looks like a great win for the village on many counts: $2.75 million to be paid to the village by the developer for back fees from the previous agreement; over a million for the village to use for unspecified recreational purposes; over a million toward a previous tax agreement; half of the back taxes on the DPW building, which was built by Hudson Harbor for the village and will soon be transferred over officially to the village. 

Mark Fry, a longtime building owner and resident on Main Street, who now lives in Sleepy Hollow and came to the latest Board meeting representing the Tarrytown Lakes Committee, said that he would also like to better envision what the new pool plans look like. The Board informed him he’d have to file a FOIL request to see the letter of intent and how exactly it's changed from the original agreement.

Fry recounted a decade of agreements with Wilson Park developer Toll Brothers, building big homes atop Tarrytown, with a similar long list of offerings promised, followed by years, said Fry, of the developer “kicking and squirming and trying not to do those things.”

Fry remembered the early agreement for a covered, four-season pool facility when he was closely following the proceedings about 10 years ago. He described that kind of pool to Patch as something sports teams and this community, especially kids who live downtown, really need. 

An outdoor pool, on the other hand, "is nice but not the same thing," Fry said.

Fixell noted that the discretionary recreational funds provided could be considered for covering the pool or the tennis/basketball courts, perhaps with a seasonal bubble, or even building a gym. All to be determined in time. 

Fixell also reminded citizens wanting for swimming options (such as those finding themselves unable now to use EF School facilities) that the JCC plans to build an indoor pool in their upcoming complex at the former GM training site.  

The letter of intent contains nothing about how the proposed outdoor pool would charge fees or who would be able to use it; this would be determined by the village later as well.

In the meantime, Fry asked of the Board that the public be involved in this process and be allowed to weigh in before any agreements are finalized. For the record, he also praised elected officials for their long and involved efforts on what is, overall, "a much better deal."

Fixell responded that while the negotiations have been private, the “actual act to finalize and formalize the final agreement will be public.” 

Citizens will have a chance to comment on what will be a listed agenda item likely sometime in January.