Gripes Force Second Look at Bluff-Top Lots

Howard Hughes Realty has agreed to take a second look at its plan to subdivide 42 bluff-top acres in Westchester into lots for 205 homes.

The Hughes plan calls for developers to carve up the scenic bluffs on the northern edge of Westchester and fill in several ravines to provide more building space.

But residents in northern Westchester who objected to the plan countered with a proposal for 120 homes. Their plan could save much of the bluff tops, preserve the bluff faces and the ravines for wildlife and reduce the estimated 2,050 additional car trips a day that would result from new homeowners under the Hughes plan.

Last month, a Planning Department official sided with the critics and rejected the Hughes plan.

Compromise Suggested

Trying to save at least part of its plan, a Hughes official wrote this week to more than 100 residents suggesting that the two sides seek a compromise.

“We are willing to work with the neighbors and community to resolve the issues,” said Stephenie Miller, vice president for Hughes.

Miller said that Hughes has filed an appeal with the Planning Commission. Any compromise would be submitted to the commissioners, Miller said, but without a compromise, Hughes would probably seek commission approval of the original plan.

Adelle Wexler, one of 14 Westchester residents who offered the alternative proposal, said that Hughes should hold an open meeting to discuss a compromise.

“We have asked to be part of the planning process from day one,” she said. “I don’t think what we have asked for is unreasonable.”

Wexler said that any compromise should closely resemble her group’s plan.

Concerns Over Density

Miller would not specify how many homes Hughes Realty is willing to settle for in a compromise plan.

“I heard all the concerns about density, the bluffs, ravines and traffic,” she said. “What I am looking for is a map that reflects a development achieving the purposes of Howard Hughes Realty and the community.”

The Hughes land is divided into two parcels. The Hughes plan called for a 17.3-acre parcel, between Dunbarton Avenue and the edge of the Westchester bluffs, to have lots for 85 homes. The second parcel, between Kentwood Avenue and the bluff tops, would have had 120 homes on 24.4 acres.