Chappaqua Locals Meet with Town to Discuss Housing

CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. - Members of the organization Chappaqua for Responsible Affordable Housing are meeting with town and county officials in an effort to put a halt to Conifer Realty's current housing proposal for the hamlet.

Despite believing affordable housing would be beneficial to Chappaqua, many residents have taken issue with the location of the proposal from safety, traffic and aesthetic standpoints.

According to a statement released by the group, the organization is looking "for smaller-scale options that would be more integrated into the community and more in keeping with the town's character."

Representing the group in a meeting with Town Supervisor Susan Carpenter was architect and resident Bill Spade. The two recently drove around Chappaqua to look at possible housing alternatives.

"Susan and I got together as kind of a preliminary way to go through those ideas and she was very encouraging about those types of options," Spade said. "It was a very encouraging meeting."

Carpenter enlisted Spade's help during a New Castle Town Board meeting March 13 after listening to several residents share their concerns about the current proposal.

"I guess she wanted to get a sense of how realistic these options might be," Spade said. "I think we saw some things that had some good possibilities, so it wasn't just a matter of having a hope and a dream. There were some real strong possibilities to consider."

The next step for Spade and his group is to schedule a meeting with the New Castle Town Board in the near future to present more specifics on the alternatives.

The group also has scheduled a meeting with federal monitor James Johnson and representatives from The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the county to discuss concerns about Conifer's proposal.

"We understand this to be a more general problem throughout the county with regard to the types of sites being promoted for affordable housing, and Mr. Johnson is interested in hearing our local perspective on this issue," the group's statement said.

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