Mark your calendar. Tuesday, July 1st. That’s the date for the long anticipated public hearing on the controversial plan to expand the Lake Osceola Overlay District (LOOD) to make way for a 242-unit mixed use development on the 50-acre Navajo Fields site off Route 6.
The public hearing is your opportunity to be heard on this important issue. What’s your vision for Yorktown’s future?
Created in 2021 to revitalize the Jefferson Valley hamlet, the LOOD gives developers a significant density bonus in exchange for their making town infrastructure improvements.
For Navajo Fields, that means in exchange for the developer constructing, at his expense, a sewer trunk line extending from his site to East Main Street (Route 6N) to the existing sewer manhole on Hill Boulevard, the Town Board would override the site’s existing two-acre single family zoning (about 15 houses) and allow the developer to construct: 242 housing units; a 5,500 square-foot clubhouse; 4,700 square feet of commercial space; 23,000 square feet of indoor athletic facilities; and four acres of outdoor commercial athletic fields.
Will the Navajo Fields development revitalize the Jefferson Valley hamlet?
Who will pay for the improvements that will be needed to mitigate the added traffic from Navajo Fields?
Will the sewer line “clean up” Lake Osceola?
The lack of sewers is generally considered the obstacle to the hamlet’s revitalization, a goal of the Comprehensive Plan. But ─ will sewers make a significant difference in the hamlet’s future?
According to the 2021 study that formed the basis for the adoption of the LOOD, there are only three undeveloped sites in the district suitable for any significant development: One, the former beach, abuts the lake; the other two at the eastern end of the district have wetlands. But the study only looked at sites’ square footage and never evaluated the extent to which their environmental constraints limited their actual development potential. The study also ruled out any significant new development, or redevelopment, on the north side of the East Main Street because of the steep slope.
And although Michael Grace, the developer’s attorney, repeatedly emphasized, in multiple presentations to the Town Board and Planning Board, that the sewer line was the key to revitalizing the hamlet, in an April 4, 2025 letter to the Town Board he wrote: the “potential for actual development [in the LOOD] is negligible at best… as the lots are either small or heavily encumbered by wetlands, wetland buffers and steep slopes.”
So, if sewers aren’t likely to have any appreciable impact on revitalizing the hamlet, where’s the value of the developer’s offer to construct a sewer line?
As traffic along East Main Street is already a problem, the question Town Board members need answers to is how will the developer address the negative impact of the additional traffic generated by the Navajo Fields development? What traffic mitigation measures are the developer proposing ─ and who will pay for them?
In his submission, the developer proposes to address the increased traffic with potential new turning lanes on Route 6N and at Navajo Street and Route 6 and potential new traffic lights or upgrades to existing lights at multiple intersections ─ but he makes no commitment to pay for all the improvements. And he proposes that any possible traffic calming measures along East Main Street in the heart of the hamlet be paid for by a “private/public partnership.”
So, who will end up paying for these needed traffic improvements: the developer or Yorktown taxpayers?
The developer states, without providing any documentation, that constructing a sewer line along East Main Street will “clean up the lake.” While it’s true that sewers would undoubtedly help the lake ─ if some of the existing properties that abut the lake hook up to sewers ─ there’s no indication of how many potential hook ups there might be, especially as the developer acknowledges that “residents along the proposed sewer will not be required to connect to the sewer district.” Also, there’s no information on what sewers will cost property owners once they’re in a new town sewer district and will have to pay the district’s ongoing operation and maintenance costs whether or not they actually hook up to the sewer line.
And, there are no plans to bring sewers to the houses north of East Main Steet whose septic fields seep into the lake.
And, the developer has provided no information about how his project will address the drainage and flooding issues that are contributing to the lake’s problems.
So, if only a limited number of existing properties hook up to the sewer line, and the developer has no plans to address the drainage and flooding problems, how will Navao Fields have any significant impact on cleaning up the lake?
The decision whether or not to expand the LOOD to include the Navajo Fields site is the first ─ and most critical ─ step in the overlay process. After closing the public hearing, the Town Board will vote on the application. Three board members will decide the future of Jefferson Valley.
So, make your voice heard. What’s YOUR vision for Yorktown? Who do you think benefits more from adding Navajo Fields to the LOOD: Yorktown residents or the developer?
Susan Siegel serves on the Yorktown Town Board.
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