Future RVC development debated

The village has 30 days from the day Judge Bruce Alpert, who presided over the case that has been ongoing since 2004, signed the judgment to appeal his decision. Until then, though they have permission to build on the site and to apply for their building permit, Chase will not touch the site, part of the Brownfields Clean-Up Program, which requires them to clean up contamination at the site before any construction can begin.
Michael Faltischek, attorney for Chase, said that right now they can't go any further until the village makes its next move. "Our [clean-up] plan was approved by the Department of Environmental Conservation," he said. "We could implement it tomorrow. It costs between $8 and $10 million to clean up the site. It's impossible to spend that much money to clean something up [just to] find out you can't build anything there."
If the village chooses to appeal the judge's decision, bringing the case back to court, this will once again delay construction on the site which was initially introduced to the village in 2003. The village has approximately until the end of July to make their decision. However, Jeanne Farnan Mulry, village trustee, said the village is definitely looking to appeal because there are a lot of things wrong with the judge's ruling.
The village has been attempting to keep Signature Place from coming to life, as they've been trying to keep all large scale, multifamily developments from being built in the commercial district. There have been complaints not only from board members, but from village residents, that the project is entirely too large and would be out of place in Rockville Centre. There have also been concerns about traffic congestion and more students coming to the Rockville Centre School District, which is already facing problems of overcrowding.
Though the case has been pending since December 2004, Chase had been hoping to resolve the issue with the board amicably, asking the judge not to render any rulings while they tried to come to a compromise with the village, said Faltischek. Things were looking up for the developers, as they agreed to a 239-unit apartment development proposed by the Planning Board instead of their original plan for a 349-unit, luxury condo development.
They were hoping this plan would be approved when the Board of Trustees voted in the multifamily density law in May, capping density on multifamily dwellings in the village at 25 units per acre. In June, Steven DeClue, the superintendent of the Department of Buildings, sent Chase a letter informing them that their development, at 32.4 units per acre, would require the consent of the Board of Zoning Appeals. Rather than likely having their plan shot down, Chase decided to let Judge Alpert issue his ruling on their pending case with the village.
Faltischeck, who has lived in the village for more than 30 years, believes this development would be nothing but positive for the community. "It affords alternative forms of housing," he said. "It allows the next generation to stay in Rockville Centre, so children - including my children - could find a more affordable, luxury environment close to the town they grew up with."
"There is absolutely no objective indication that this will have any impact on the community," he added. "It is consistent with regional planning and other organizational goals for what this region needs."
John Cameron, the engineer working on the site plan with Chase and also a resident of the village, agrees that Signature Place is a great project for the village. "It helps deals with housing needs," he said. "It's an excellent, transit-oriented project to be built near the train station."
He added, "Based on my professional opinion, the judgment the judge rendered is a fair and appropriate decision based on the facts of the case and applicable laws."
Both Faltischek and Cameron agree that delaying this project any further could have negative effects on the village.
"If the village persists in its conduct and further delays the start of construction and clean-up, obviously contamination will spread and the cost of construction will go higher," Faltischeck said. "If the courts sustain that this is done in bad faith, these costs could be the village's cost. Construction costs alone in the last two years have increased by 30 percent, largely driven by rising fuel costs."
Cameron said that as construction costs sky rocket and cost Chase more money, this will affect the market price of the units.
However, he thinks the more serious issue is the contamination at the site. Any delays by the village in allowing the development to move forward would not only keep the clean-up from happening any time soon, but could also allow the off-site migration of the contamination to spread.
Faltischek also feels that the fierce determination of the village to stymie development in the village does not bode well for its future. "Frankly, what I see happening is scary," he said.
"You can't build walls around you and say 'Don't come here,'" he said. "What's being said is 'Don't come here. We don't want you unless you want it our way.' That's not a very warm and fuzzy message."
He worries that the not only will the anti-development agenda of the Board of Trustees will lead to no new development in the village, but the village will regress to its state during the '70s, when it essentially was a "ghost town" and a place where "people [didn't] want to go." He said that during that time stores were empty and the village's population dwindled.
Over the past 30 years, he said, the village has been restored to a position of prominence in the community, but the village has also never regained the peak population that it had in the 1970s. He worries that the regression to a similar, stagnant, non-active environment is just around the corner, as the village becomes more and more anti-development.
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