Letter: Proposed Development on Garden Road Poses Risks to a Fragile Area

The following letter was written by Andy Rodman of Cushman Road about a proposed 8 home development on Garden Road.

I have lived in the Water Tower area for 30+ years. No action on water remediation has ever been taken in the Water Tower area on Garden Road. This is close to the highest point in the town (which is why the water tower is located there since water flows with gravity). Over the last 30+ years, many new houses and additions have been constructed and this has eroded the area’s already limited ability to absorb water. Scarsdale is underlaid by very dense clay and rock. Because impervious surfaces give water no place to go, it erodes all surrounding properties. Climate change has created many more major rainstorms and will most likely continue since progress on greenhouse gas emissions has been negligible.

1. 80 Garden Subdivision impact on the Water Tower property

In 2021, the Water Tower on Garden Road was restored and repaired by the town. Surprisingly, not a single drain or pipe for water remediation was added. This area next to 80 Garden floods when there is heavy rain as does 80 Garden Road. If the ground level of 80 Garden was raised by 4 feet, making it higher than the Water Tower Property, all that water would flow to Cushman Road and across the street onto Garden Road, as well as flooding out the Water Tower the town depends upon. This would create a whole new set of water problems in exchange for the unresolved existing problem. This is not an acceptable solution.

2. Local Geography

If this is the high point of the Village, how is it possible the water does not drain? Local geography plays a role. Mamaroneck Road is the highest point and Garden Road and Cushman Road slope down from there. Soundview Avenue in White Plains is the high point on the other side and there you can see Milford Road, Earlwood Road, and Hartsdale Avenue (name changes from Garden Road) that all slope down to the bottom of Cushman and Willow Roads. Gravity sends all this water from Garden Road, the wetlands, Cushman Road and White Plains, all high points, to a small pipe that leads to a tiny stream on the East side of Willow Road. Feeding this one small pipe will exacerbate an already overwhelmed area.

3. Costly Risks without Benefits

It is not even possible to imagine that adding 8 houses and cutting down 400 trees and raising the property by 4 feet will eliminate the area’s problem. Rather, this will most likely put over $100 million dollars of taxable property at risk of damage and destruction. This will also end up flooding Fenway Country Club and undoubtedly lead to lawsuits with the club. Scarsdale taxpayers will have to pay all these legal fees as well.

4. Setting New Precedent

This precedent brings the problematic issue that anyone building a new house will have the right to raise their property by 4 feet. This would be a staggering precedent to establish after the town’s moratorium and all the thought that went into the new rules. The long-term effect will be negative.

5. Maintenance Responsibility & Structure

The maintenance of this project as proposed is in the homeowner’s hands and that will not work. The town will have to tax these homes at a higher rate and assume the responsibility of taking care of the maintenance of the water remediation and filtration systems, the retaining walls, keeping the grass swales clear, and implementing a backup plan should any of the seven wells fail. The limited warranty on Contech and Cultec systems is one year (Yes--you read that correctly). Surely we should be planning for the next 100 years! The builder of 80 Garden should be responsible for up-front maintenance and should be required to put money into an escrow account controlled by Scarsdale Village (as per the new law requiring 5 years of maintenance) to fix all the problems that will take place. In addition, since the developer says the owners are responsible for the maintenance, is this going to be a Condominium Complex and are they going to have a Homeowners Association agreement (HOA)? What is going to require them to pay for the maintenance? If they are Condominiums and we have an HOA at least the homes can be foreclosed on in case of maintenance arears. This project will ultimately lead to all Scarsdale residents paying higher taxes. These repairs and continued maintenance will also require the village engineer to stay on top of the required maintenance and file regular statue updates and reports.

6. Contech & Cultec Systems

The Village of Scarsdale typically aims to solve potential drainage problems by requiring builders/homeowners to install Cultec systems. This is a flawed water remediation strategy. As noted earlier, the dense clay that is the principal component of Scarsdale soils is not conducive to water percolation. Water collected by Cultec or Contech tanks will wind up staying in these tanks, the drainage that the Village engineers seek only happens over extended time periods. The proposed strategy is further marred by the Town’s very high water table. New rains will bring greater volumes of water runoff. Adding one, or twenty Cultec or Contech units will not cure this fundamental problem. Property located downstream of the top part of the 80 Garden Road development site will be severely negatively impacted. The water tower will be flooded as well.

7. Insurance

If this subdivision was somehow ever approved and flooding occurs, the likelihood of getting house insurance at any reasonable cost will be a burden to the existing homeowners. It is already prohibitively expensive.

8. Traffic and Density

As residents of both Scarsdale and White Plains know, Garden Road is one of the main connector roads between the two communities. Every day, between 7am and 10am, and again between 4pm and 6pm, Garden Road becomes a speedway for commuters. When one adds eight new homes on Garden Road, most probably with new school-age children, the recipe for traffic accidents will be greatly increased and most likely will require a traffic light in the Middle of Garden Road.

Summary

At present, 80 Garden Road has two houses on the property and the area is unable to handle the water because of its wetlands. Eight houses cannot possibly work with the water magically being remediated since it has nowhere to go. The geographical high points around this development of Mamaroneck Road and Soundview Ave are not going away. Raising the height of the property by four feet to accommodate a water remediation system that will require extensive maintenance, and expense is a very risky approach. It also threatens the Water Tower complex. Visually it will be an eyesore and unfair to all the surrounding properties. This process of 80 Garden has been going on for way too long. It’s high time that the planning board take a firm stand against developers and the hit and run attitude that they bring to Scarsdale. This plan has no merits for the town and the community in the long and short term. It brings only risks to an already fragile area.

Respectfully submitted,
Andrew Rodman

Link to Contech warranty:https://www.conteches.com/cos/
Link to Cultec Warranty: https://cultec.com/Asset/CULG050-cultec-warranty-interactive.pdf