Goals and Objectives

1.   The primary goal of this plan is to protect the environmental quality and the ecological integrity of the Town of Pound Ridge. This Plan is based on a strict policy of environmental conservation, using as a basis the environmental data accumulated in recent years. (See Environmental Goals and Objectives, page 32.)

2.   The Town’s present character as a single-family residential community should be maintained, with densities kept consistent with County and Regional Plans and with the above stated enviromental goal.

3.   Apartments as an accessory use over businesses should continue to be permit­ted in Scotts Corners as a means of pro­viding for the Town’s very limited hous­ing needs. An accessory apartment associated with an existing single-family dwelling should be a permitted use in the R-2A and R-3A zones. (See page 19.)

4.   The Town should permit a small amount of senior citizen housing to be built to provide a housing alternative for those residents wishing smaller, low-maintenance homes in a rural setting. Soils and topography should be suitable for this type of development and visual impact should be minimal.

5.   Retail and service business development should be limited to the amount necessary

to provide convenience shopping for the projected population of the Town. Its location should be the present Scotts Cor­ners business area. Careful attention should be given to monitoring all new commercial development proposals in terms of their environmental impact, par­ticularly on water quality.

6.   The Town should continue to strive for improvements to the aesthetic quality of the areas of both existing and future development in Scotts Corners so as to achieve a character for this area which will be harmonious with the remainder of the community.

7.   The Pound Ridge Hamlet should remain a community focal point with a scale and character consistent with its Historic District designation.

8.   The Town’s public facilities should be upgraded, maintained and expanded to improve energy conservation, preserve ecological integrity, and provide enlarged working areas for administrative efficien­cy, increased storage capacity and attrac­tiveness.

9.   The Town’s active recreational facilities should be expanded with additional ball fields and the continuation of the bike path system.

 

 

 

1

Summary

The following is a summary of the planning policy concepts which form the basis of the Town Plan.

 

 

Regional Framework

 

Pound Ridge is located in a portion of the New York Metropolitan Region which has been designated by Westchester County and the various regional planning agencies for low density residential and open space types of use. There are no major highways existing or planned through the Town, nor does the Town have within its borders direct access to major mass transit facilities. There are also no significant employment centers or job oppor­tunities. Furthermore, these regional plans and programs recognize the lack of any basic utility infrastructure within Pound Ridge which would be a pre-requisite for supporting any future higher density development, nor do they project any to be located here.

The basic policy concept for future regional development which these agencies have adopted is one of concentrating future higher density uses, both residential and non­residential, in and around “centers” and along “development corridors”. Examples of centers include Stamford, White Plains, and Mount Kisco. An example of a corridor is the Saw Mill River Parkway-Harlem River Railroad corridor extending from White Plains to Katonah. Outside of these centers, their concept is to keep development density as low as possible for reasons of environmen­

tal protection, energy efficiency, open space preservation, convience, cost, etc.

One of the other major issues addressed by these agencies is that of “housing need”. The County and regional agencies see very little need or desire for multi-family housing at higher densities to be located in Pound Ridge, other than for purely local needs or for the promotion of open space and environmental conservation goals, as in the case of cluster­ing. There is no concern expressed by these agencies with respect to “exclusionary zoning” in Pound Ridge as they have charged in the case of other municipalities in the Nor­thern Westchester area which are in or near development centers or corridors. Therefore, there is no pressure for Pound Ridge to react to such needs.

 

Environmental Framework

 

The Town of Pound Ridge is situated in what could be generally described as a very fragile environmental setting. Soil conditions are poor. There are vast areas of steep slopes and wetlands. The Town is the headwater area for several different public water supply systems serving maj or metropolitan centers. The topography is extremely varied with bedrock close to or at the surface in many locations. An unusual abundance of flora, fauna, and scenic beauty abounds. This natural environment is deeply appreciated and carefully preserved by the Town and its residents. It serves important open space and recreational functions for Pound Ridge as

well as for neighboring urbanized com­munities, the County and the Region.

As a part of this strong Town interest in the protection and preservation of the quality of the natural environment, Pound Ridge and its citizens have funded extensive, in depth surveys of various aspects of this natural en­vironment with a view to seeking improved means by which these values can be preserved and protected. The central focus of these studies has been the desire and the need to protect the quality of the Town’s surface and sub-surface water supplies.

The sub-surface water supply, it has been determined, will, if properly protected, be adequate to serve the Town’s maximum plan­ned population under present zoning (9,500 persons plus the ancillary services and facilities required by them). The need to pro­tect ground water — our source of drinking water - is obvious. Protecting the quality of the Town’s surface water on the other hand is important in preserving the ecological balance within the Town as well as continuing to assure a safe drinking water supply for the public systems into which the Town’s surface drainage systems flow.

Based upon the above objectives, a set of fundamental environmental concepts has been developed as a basis for the design and implementation of this Town Plan. In sum­mary, the concepts are as follows:

1.    The basic zoned population and commer­cial development potential of the Town should not be increased. It can, if proper­ly regulated and designed, be safely and adequately supported within the limits of the Town’s natural environmental capabilities.

2.    A series of varying setback requirements from the Town’s basic wetland and water­course system, based primarily upon slopes and hydrologic soil groupings, should be established to control the specific location of all future development upon the land.

3.    Based upon the pattern of existing open spaces within the Town, the above pro­posed framework of stream and wetland setback corridors, and the unique natural features which have not yet been commit­ted to permanent preservation, an open space system should be planned to link all of these into a unified whole. That open

space system should be used as a deter­mining factor in the arrangement and location of future development throughout the Town.

 

 

Residential Development Policy

 

The basic residential development policy should remain that of keeping Pound Ridge a primarily single-family low density residential community. Apartments should continue to be allowed in combination with commercial uses within the Scotts Corners Business District. Such apartments should continue to serve the need for moderate income housing for the small number of locally employed peo­pie.

In addition, a limited number (no more than 50 units) of privately built, medium den­sity housing units designed to serve the needs of senior adults should be encouraged. These could provide a housing alternative for those residents wishing smaller, low maintenance homes in a rural setting within the Town. Any such development, should be at a density not exceeding three to five dwelling units per acre and in buildings containing no more than four dwelling units each. Building heights should be limited to two stories. This type of development should be alowed only on sites which will provide minimal visual impact on the community, with suitable soils and topography, and easily accessible to either Scotts Corners or the Pound Ridge Hamlet.

This plan does not recommend that medium density housing units become a per­mitted use in any area of Pound Ridge, but rather that such proposals be subject to full review and approval by the Town Board following recommendation by the Planning Board.

With respect to residential development in the remainder of the Town, it should be based upon present zoning densities but designed and located in accordance with the above recommended environmental planning prin­ciples. Where appropriate, the use of increas­ed flexibility in terms of the arrangement of dwellings should be considered by the Plan­ning Board so that, consistent with the Town’s basic single-family residential policies, all such development can be best related to the specific physical characteristics and capabilities of the natural environment on

each site. This envisions an increased utiliza­tion of the potentialities inherent in the con­servation subdivision procedures of Section 281 of the Town Law.

 

Non-Residential Development Policy

 

The Town’s basic non-residential develop­ment policy remains that of allowing commer­cial uses only to the degree that they are need­ed to serve residential development and are harmonious with the residential character and quality of the community.

Specifically, business development should continue to be limited in location to the ex­isting business districts in Scotts Corners, and in type and amount to that required to serve the convenience shopping needs of the Town’s residents. The present policy of carefully monitoring all new commercial development proposals in terms of their en­vironmental impact, particularly on water quality, should be continued. Special atten­tion will also have to be given to the question of the need for a future sewage treatment

plant to serve the Scotts Corners area and the timing of such need. As one example, it is the Planning Board’s opinion and policy that the development of the rear, southerly portion of the PB-A District should not be permitted prior to the construction of a sewage treat­ment plant or the development of a similarly satisfactory environmental solution to the waste disposal problems in Scotts Corners.

With respect to the potential for future non-residential development beyond the Scotts Corners Business Districts, as in the case of possible campus office or light in­dustrial uses, the present Town policy of pro­hibiting such growth should be maintained. This is consistent with County and Regional plans for the location of such uses, the lack of adequate transportation and utility systems in Town to serve them, the greater availability of present and planned housing opportunities in the Region’s development centers and cor­ridors, and the Town’s continuing desire to maintain Pound Ridge as a single-family, low density residential community within the total metropolitan area development pattern.