Land Swap at Angle Fly Moves Forward

SOMERS, N.Y. - The long-awaited dream of an Angle Fly Preserve “land swap” is now a reality.

Calling it “good news,” Somers Supervisor Rob Scorrano announced last week that the state attorney general has signed off on the conservation modification agreement between the town, county, and the Department of Environmental Conservation.

The paperwork was filed with the county clerk on Friday and the town is now just waiting for the official recording information to be released.

The original easement allowed for the development of athletic fields at Angle Fly, a move that would otherwise be prohibited on protected open land.

The entrance to the 654-acre preserve maintained by the Somers Land Trust, is on Route 139 (Primrose Street). Bordered by Routes 35 and 100, its northeastern edge bumps up against Reis Park and its southwestern portion by county-owned Lasdon Park, Arboretum & Veterans Memorial.

The “swap” will result in the changing the designation of a 14.240-acre parcel of land within the preserve from “Athletic Field Area” to an “Open Space Recreation Area” and an 11.092-acre parcel, located in Reis Park, from “Open Space Recreation Area” to “Athletic Field Area.”

According to the DEC, the “swap” does not alter the purposes of, or affect the perpetual nature of, the easement. It also complies with all policies, regulations, and laws.

It will “benefit” conservation efforts because it reduces the number of acres available for the development of athletic fields from 14 to 11, “thus conserving natural habitat on three additional acres.”

That results in “a larger contiguous area of undisturbed lands” and “shifts development from an area of well-established habitat to an area with a history of site disturbance whose natural habitat is not yet established,” DEC staff concluded last year after reviewing the request.

Councilmen Tom Garrity and Richard Clinchy both noted that the proposal has been kicking around for nearly 15 years, long before Scorrano took office.

Praising the supervisor for his efforts, Garrity told Scorrano: “We appreciate you sticking to it. It’s going to be a great win.”

The agreement’s approval is just step one.

“Things aren’t going to happen overnight; you need a big plan,” Garrity said.

The town will put together a committee to help it figure out how to “really maximize that space,” Scorrano promised, referring to the Reis Park parcel.

“All input will be greatly appreciated,” he added.

INVASIVES TARGETED

Somers resident Pat MacGregor passionately urged the town to do a better job of dealing with invasive plants such as ailanthus, a tree native to China; Japanese knotweed, a relative of bamboo; mile-a-minute, a vine which overtakes and suffocates trees; and Japanese barberry, which was introduced here as an ornamental plant and is now prohibited in New York.

“I could list 100 various things, all of which are overtaking our environment. This is going to drastically jeopardize not only your property (values) but the very air you breathe, the water you drink, and the health of our community,” she said during the public comment portion of the meeting.

“Studies show this is probably the coolest year you will see going forward. There will not be enough trees to support the air we breathe,” MacGregor added, raising the specter of global warming. 

A member of the Somers Land Trust, she emphasized Thursday that she was addressing the Town Board strictly as an “individual.” Her husband, Bob, is the organization’s vice president.

Another invasive, running bamboo, has been found lurking behind Bailey Park, just across the road from the Town House, and in Koegel Park off Route 118 (Tomahawk Street),” MacGregor claimed.

The state prohibits running bamboo, yellow grove bamboo, and golden bamboo.

“They’re over 30 feet tall. They’re out of control. We don’t live in the Orient,” she said, noting that the town banned the woody plant, a member of the grass family, in 2019.

“When the town itself can’t take care of its own property, then how is it going to get private property owners to cooperate?” she asked.

MacGregor also warned about the inevitable arrival in Somers of the dreaded Spotted Lantern Fly, which spread to southern Westchester this year after first being detected in Pennsylvania in 2014.

According to MacGregor, the pest’s favorite chow is grapes, hops, and apples.

“So, if you like your beer, your wine, your cider and your apples, your fall treats, then you will do it, you will pay attention to all of these things” she advised.

“There are a lot of apple orchards in the area and they’re very concerned. It’s their livelihood,” she told The Somers Record later.

Beech leaf disease, the emerald ash borer, and the woolly adelgid (killer of hemlock trees) are also big threats, said MacGregor, predicting that “40 percent” of trees located on “town property” will be dead within five years.

She urged the town to hire a full-time staffer to identify and deal with invasive species and pests.

“At this point, because you’ve known this was going on I have to say it’s willful neglect. I suggest the town hire someone with the skills, and the knowledge, and the time to do this,” MacGregor said, claiming that trees in Bailey Park are suffering from lack of proper care.

While agreeing that invasives are a “legitimate issue,” Clinchy thought the problem wasn’t neglect on the town’s part, but a simple lack of knowledge.

The average person has “no idea” about the danger of invasives so educating the public would be “appropriate,” he said.

FATE OF THE REYNOLDS HOUSE

Angle Fly is owned by the town, county, and state. The SLT acts as its stewards, overseeing things that are done there and contributing through educational programs, fundraising, and projects, such as hiking trails, a bridge, and compostable toilets.

The talk about land swaps and invasives provided MacGregor with a handy segue Thursday into fate of the former Reynolds Homestead at Angle Fly.

Together with a native species garden, rebuilt poultry barn, and pond, it makes for an attractive entrance to the preserve.

But that wasn’t always the case. The 19th-century farmhouse was deteriorating for years.

Owned by the town, it has recently undergone extensive renovations, including a new roof, siding, windows, septic system, well, and foundation. It’s also been wired and plumbed.

Now the question is, what’s it ultimately going to be used for?

MacGregor argues that the plan always was to use it for a residence, not necessarily as a caretaker’s cottage but a place that the town could rent out, perhaps to an employee.

There are a number of decaying structures – the remnants of a defunct housing project – at the preserve that have attracted vandals and trespassing teens for decades.

Having someone live on site has helped ease similar problems at Koegel Park, a former 68-acre estate on Tomahawk Street, it’s been pointed out in the past.

MacGregor berated the Town Board for appearing to backtrack on the plan without fully involving the SLT in the decision-making process.

Scorrano disagreed with that assessment.

“I think that there’s been communications and discussions about what the Reynolds House is going to be, and it’s still going to be an educational place for the youth,” he told MacGregor Thursday.

“I got people to dredge the pond (and) companies (and organizations) to donate money to do the plants, the poultry barn, and the house. Now what am I going to tell people who ask me: ‘When is someone going to move into that house?” she demanded to know, telling the Town Board that she fears her “personal integrity” could be “jeopardized.”

“I would guarantee that all the companies and all the people that donated funds and time and labor to make that into a residence, would never, ever have done it if it was anything other than a residence,” MacGregor added.

“Well, if those people have a problem, you have them call me,” Scorrano responded, explaining later that he thought he could put their minds at ease.

MacGregor said she had helped the SLT raise a lot of money to improve the Reynolds site. Scorrano said the town itself has so far sunk close to $200,000 of its own into the house project.

Speaking to a reporter on Monday, MacGregor likened the SLT’s building of a bridge at Angle Fly to a “barn raising.”

“The Reynolds House had the same feel-good aspect to it. People were contributing their time, money, and efforts to build a home for someone. When you take that out of the equation, where’s the community?” she asked Monday, adding: “This was the house that the town, the people, built.”

Scorrano was equally passionate about the town’s vision for the building.

While the SLT’s efforts to protect Angle Fly and other nature preserves in town are very much appreciated, using the Reynolds house for a private residence doesn’t make economic sense, and, besides, the town is in “dire” need of public meeting spaces, he said.

“We have an opportunity to make something special in that house, something in which future generations can take pride,” Scorrano explained Monday. “It’s a town-owned building and residents should be able to experience and enjoy that property. It could be a place for education, where youth learn about the environment.”

“That’s a plus, not a negative,” he asserted.

STATE POLICE PROJECT

The Town Board Thursday held a public hearing on a proposal to amend local zoning codes to allow municipal facilities in residential (R-10, R-40, R-80, and R-120), Business-Historic Preservation (B-HP), Neighborhood Shopping (NS), and Corporate Research Office (CRO) districts.

Municipal facilities were previously “permitted principal uses” only in Office Light Industry (OLI) and Planned Hamlet districts.

According to David Smith, the town’s planning consultant, the issue “came to a head” several months ago when the town was considering the relocation of the state police headquarters to a piece of property that happens to be in a residential zone.

The proposal was circulated to county planners and the town’s Planning Board, which, after meeting in August, raised concerns about the potential for certain types of facilities, such as a Department of Public Works garage, in residential neighborhoods.

After conferring with Town Attorney Roland Baroni, Smith changed the proposed code’s wording to exclude DPW, as well as refuse and recycling, facilities.

Smith noted that municipal uses such as fire stations already are located in residential areas.

“They will continue to be permitted,” he said.

The vote to change the code was unanimous. No member of the public spoke.

The board also passed a resolution Thursday authorizing the issuance of $350,000 in bonds to pay for the cost of planning “and other preliminary expenses” such as legal fees in connection with the construction of new state police barracks on a 2.5-acre parcel, located at 297 Route 100. (The current barracks are located at 295 Route 100.)

Asked Councilman Anthony Cirieco: “So, the big picture is the plan to keep the state police in town?”

“Correct,” responded Scorrano, noting that the town has been talking about the situation for more than a dozen years

“We’re moving the ball forward,” he added.

Baroni explained that whatever the town borrows under the bond “gets folded into the other (construction) bond that the state pays the debt service on.”

“So this should not cost the town,” he said.

The resolution passed unanimously.

COMMUNITY SHOPPING

The board also held a public hearing Thursday on a proposal to allow private and/or public recreational facilities and veterinary offices in Community Shopping (CS) districts.

The request for the change had been made by Urstadt Biddle, the Greenwich, Ct.-based real estate investment trust that owned Somers Commons, Towne Centre at Somers, and Heritage 202.

Councilman Tom Garrity asked if the town would have to go back to square one because of the fact that Urstadt Biddle has since been acquired by, and merged with, Regency Centers Corp. in an all-stock transaction valued at $1.4 billion.

Baroni said it didn’t, but it should at least “have the consent of the new owner.”

Ellie Biddle, Urstadt Biddle’s assistant vice president, now works for Regency.

She chimed in online during the hearing: “I’m with Regency and we totally support this.”

According to Smith the “genesis” of the proposed change was Wings Over Water’s request to take over the pool at the New York Sports Club at Somers Commons.

Wings Over Water runs swimming schools in Brewster in Putnam County and in Fairfield, Conn.

The property owners feel they need “flexibility” in order to market their retail spaces.

Having lost HomeGoods, one of its anchor stores at Somers Commons, Urstadt Biddle proposed building an apartment complex there. That didn’t fly, however. Fortunately, the national chain Tractor Supply stepped into the breach. Its grand opening is next month.

Smith pointed out that recreation facilities are already allowed in the Planned Hamlet, which is right next door.

He cited as examples of those uses as swimming, racquet sports, bowling, golf, skating, and soccer.

New York Sports Club International, which had filed for Chapter 11 in 2020, notified members on Tuesday, Sept. 12 that it was permanently shuttering its Somers location by the end of the month.

It cited the “challenging” state of commercial real estate for its inability to “secure an amicable lease agreement.”

Members are being given the chance to opt-in at their current terms and rates. The nearest NYSC facilities are in Carmel and Croton on Hudson in Westchester, and Garnerville in Rockland County.

The Baldwin Place location had 1,800 members. Employees were given the option to transfer to other NYSC locations.

As a “token of appreciation” for staying with it, NYSC offered waived member fees for October and upgraded everyone’s Passport membership, which already gives folks access to any of its clubs.

Membership for those who don’t opt-in will be canceled. “No other action is required,” NYSC said.

How this will affect Wings Over Water’s plans is unknown.

The resolution to amend the CS district code was passed unanimously.