Tuesday)

Like all Greenburgh residents I support Yonkers' efforts to promote

economic development, and would support Ridge Hill, if its traffic

impacts were mitigated. Council President Chuck Lesnick's vigorous

efforts over the past few months to find a solution to Ridge Hill's

traffic impacts should be applauded. That being said, Chuck and the

rest of the City Council need to condition any vote they take on Ridge

Hill on the implementation of the traffic mitigations that have been

discussed, including, Direct Access connecting Ridge Hill to the Sprain

Brook Parkway and density reduction. It has been estimated that

reducing Ridge Hill's retail component by 500,000 square feet could

reduce daily traffic generations by about 20,000 trips - i.e., or

one-half of the estimated volume - and still leave the Forest City

Ratner with one of the largest retail projects to built in Westchester

in decades.

Yonkers, and Chuck specifically, cannot simply leave

traffic mitigation open-ended. The traffic problem is too important to

residents of both Yonkers and Greenburgh. The local roadway network in

our communities is already overburdened and unsafe. Adding substantial

traffic without mitigation would only make the problem worse.

If the Council approves the Ridge Hill project without simultaneously

mandating concrete traffic mitigation, unfortunately, I believe that a

critical opportunity to mitigate these impacts will be lost forever. We

share the same roads as our Yonkers neighbors and hope to work with them

to move Ridge Hill forward in a timely fashion, while preserving the

quality of life in our communities

Paul Feiner

Greenburgh Town Supervisor