YORKTOWN, N.Y. — There wasn’t an empty seat in Town Hall on Tuesday (July 1) as residents packed the board room — with many standing along the walls — to weigh in on a proposal to add a parcel of land to the Lake Osceola Planned Design District Overlay Zone. The amendment would update the town’s zoning map by including the 49.6-acre property at 3000 Navajo St.
Ahead of the public hearing, Councilman Sergio Esposito, the Town Board liaison to the Planning Board, said it was important to clarify the hearing’s purpose.
“Tonight’s meeting is about adding this property into the overlay,” he explained to the room. “It is not about an approval for the exact development plan. That is going to come if this happens, if this goes through.”
He added that, “if this part is successful,” then the board will reconvene and “discuss the actual project itself, so today is more focused on the overlay district and expanding the line and adding this property into that ... I just want to make sure that we are in full understanding that any kind of disapproval or approval, or anything like that, doesn’t guarantee any project — not in my mind anyway.”
The applicant, Creative Living, has requested to add a 49.6-acre property, located at 3000 Navajo St., to the Lake Osceola Planned Design District Overlay Zone. The proposal calls for redeveloping the site into a mixed-use commercial recreation and multifamily residential development, including a 23,000-square-foot athletic facility, a 5,500-square-foot clubhouse and 242 multifamily housing units.
During the public hearing — which lasted more than three hours of the 4.5-hour meeting on July 1 — residents spoke for and against the proposed addition to the overlay zone. Local baseball coaches and business owners supported the amendment, citing potential benefits for young athletes and small businesses. Others in favor noted that it would enable them to hook up to sewers.
Opponents, including residents from the Jefferson Village complex, expressed concerns about traffic and congestion and said it could delay emergency response times for police, fire and EMS.
Councilwoman Susan Siegel was the only Town Board member to publicly state her position, voicing opposition to adding the parcel to the overlay district. Supervisor Ed Lachterman and the other board members did not express a position during the meeting on Tuesday night.
Joanne Sillik, an often-vocal Jefferson Village resident, said to the board, “I am asking you not to move the property into the overlay.”
She cited a fire at the complex that shook its residents earlier this year and noted the fast response time of firefighters, police and ambulances. But Sillik said in the future, if the parcel is added to the overlay and the development is created as proposed, “this timeframe would not be possible” in a similar emergency situation.
Sillik is worried about the safety of community members and the town’s changing character. She told the board that “the people of Yorktown have spoken,” before delivering 1,775 signed petitions — across political party lines — “against the Navajo project” to Town Clerk Diana Quast.
“Will this board disregard the advice from your own planning and conservation boards? These boards were put in place for that very reason, to advise you. Will this board disregard the will of the people? Make no mistake; this overlay vote will be remembered come November,” Sillik said, acknowledging the upcoming election this fall.
Supervisor Ed Lachterman, who won a special election in April 2024 to fill the vacancy left by the late Supervisor Tom Diana, will be on the ballot in November for a full term. Jann Mirchandani will challenge Lachterman for the second time. Town Board members Luciana Haughwout and Sergio Esposito are also running for reelection. Michael Hickins and Ilan Gilbert, a former town supervisor, will challenge the Republican incumbents for their seats.
“Think hard before casting your vote, you have to live with yourselves,” Sillik said. “Do you want to be the board whose vote destroyed Yorktown for generations to come?”
Later in the meeting, Sillik acknowledged that some aspects of the proposal could benefit the town, but said the congestion that could come with multifamily housing is a dealbreaker for her.
“Why not have the sewers, why not have the sports complex without 242 units?” she asked the board. “Is that the only way you can do it?”
Another longtime Yorktown community member said she has “great respect” and “support” for the project because “we understand the value of community and importance of contributing to its growth.”
The mother and small-business owner added that she believes “this project isn’t about expanding our business, it’s about creating opportunities for all of us. It’s about job creation, supporting our youth, continuing to support good family values — it’s about creating spaces that will improve our community.”
She submitted about 600 signed petitions to the Town Clerk in favor of adding the parcel into the overlay zone.
Similarly, Mavericks Baseball coaches Michael Sabatello and C.J. Riefenhauser, a former MLB pitcher from Mahopac, spoke of the benefit the athletic facilities could have for their young athletes, many of whom sat in the audience donning their team gear.
“There is nothing like that in this area,” Riefenhauser said. “I think the opportunity to have kids in sports all year round in a facility that is in our backyard is one of a kind ... this is going to be a positive effect on the community.”
Lynn Rendine, a 36-year Yorktown resident, said she hadn’t planned to speak during the hearing but felt compelled to share her thoughts.
“I am pro-sewers. I think this area needs to be cleaned up because I live near there,” she said, adding that although her child is grown and “did not have the advantage to have this here,” referring to the athletic facility, she sees value in the proposal.
“Do I think we need this in Yorktown and in this area of the county to bring in — definitely I do,” she said, but noted she opposes the proposed location.
She said there would be too much traffic and it would negatively impact the town’s residents. “The people who live here now need to be protected. That’s an enormous amount of cars.”
The public hearing was closed, but the board moved to leave open a 28-day written comment period.
