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Residents have raised concerns regarding traffic, parking and noise issues, as construction on the 110,000-square-foot condominium project rapidly approaches.
At the June Board of Trustees meeting, homeowners living in the area discussed options with the board, offering suggestions such as installing stop signs, speed bumps or rumble strips to control the increased traffic due to construction.
According to Mayor Mary Marvin, the village has its hands severely tied, due to Bronxville’s Manual on Uniformed Traffic Control Devices that regulates traffic control.
In order to install a stop or yield sign as a way to control traffic, the manual states that “a stop or yield sign should not be used for speed control,” and would affect the village’s culpability in the result of an incident or accident.
Before speed bumps can be constructed, there must be studies completed to determine the necessity and proper location for them. The village would also need to install additional signage, which would expose it to additional liability.
Traffic control is just one issue that has residents fretting; another is the amount of parking spaces that will be eliminated during construction on the parking facility.
Earlier this month, a bill was passed by both houses of the state Legislature, which will allow officials to issue at least 75 Lower Kensington parking permits at a reduced rate to homeowners that will have their spots displaced. That bill still needs to be signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and entered into local law by the village trustees.
To aid merchants that are losing key parking, there will be a discounted permit fee at the Garden Avenue parking lot, down 25 percent from $1,200 to $900 annually.
Kathy Bishop, who lives in the area near the development site on Sagamore Road, said that she is more concerned about dirt and noise from construction than dealing with parking.
“At first, I think there might be some annoyance, but people will adjust to the parking problems,” she said on Thursday. “We have young kids, I think that the noise could be the real problem, but we’ll see.”
Top officials from Fareri Associates, the Greenwich-based developer that is undertaking the project, will be in the village next week at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 24 at the Bronxville Public Library to address questions that residents may have regarding parking, traffic or noise concerns.
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