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The first public hearing is slated for Tuesday, April 23, at 7 p.m.
There will be an additional opportunity for public comment in a special meeting Monday, April 29, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. and—if public demand warrants it—another public hearing meeting Tuesday, April 30, from 7 to 9 p.m. All meetings will be held in Town Hall's assembly room.
Residents will have three minutes to speak at a time, but can speak as many times as they want. The public will also have 10 days after April 30, or whenever the public comment officially closes, to send written statements to the town.
“Those who want to be sure to be heard should come out on April 23 and April 29,” said New Castle Town Supervisor Susan Carpenter. “We’ll only meet on the 30th if everyone hasn’t spoken yet.”
April 23 was picked for three reasons, New Castle Town Counsel Clinton Smith said.
“One, it is a Tuesday night, Town Board meeting. Two, it should give us enough time to get final copies of the documents prepared and available to the public to meet the time requirements. And three, it is consistent with the dates outlined in the settlement agreement,” he said.
Town officials said the DSEIS approved for completeness will be available on the town’s website by Thursday.
Although town officials determined Summit/Greenfield’s DSEIS complete and ready for public comment Tuesday afternoon, that means simply that the town has determined the document “addresses, identifies and attempts to answer all the principle issues involved.”
“Our conclusion after our talks today was that the document was complete. And by ‘complete,’ we use that as a SEQR term, which means that it is adequate for public review,” said Smith.
“There’s things that we think should be changed and things that we’re confident will be changed as we go through the process, as the public gets involved and points out things that we missed. That’s why it’s a public process—because many eyes are better than one,” he added.
While some residents are concerned that Chappaqua Crossing will be put on the fast track, town officials promise that is not the case.
“All of this has been out in the public eye for quite some time,” said Town Board member Robin Stout.
“I don’t refer to this as an expedited process or a hurried process. If we cannot accommodate folks between the 23rd and 30th, then the pubic comment will be open. The pubic hearing will remain open until the last person has spoken.”
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