A massive development proposal in Harrison has caught the attention of Rye leaders due to its proximity to an area prone to flooding that the municipalities waged war over for decades.
The preliminary plans call for the construction of a 6-story, 164-unit apartment complex on a 2.4-acre site located at 67 Grant Ave., along the Beaver Swamp Brook. Plans were recently filed with the town by developer The Stagg Group.
The site is currently paved and home to several commercial businesses, which would be demolished if the project gets the necessary approvals.
In response, the Rye City Council approved spending $10,000, on March 26, to hire consultants to study the proposal.
“It’s early days and we are getting involved well ahead of the game,” said City Councilman Josh Nathan, a Democrat who is running for mayor this year.
Nathan, along with other city representatives and residents, attended a Harrison Planning Board meeting a night earlier where the developer presented the plans and pledged to commission a review to assess any environmental impacts as a result of the project.
Harrison Planning Board Chairman Joe Stout called the project’s location “one of the most environmentally constrained areas” in Harrison.
As for concerns over flooding in an area known for it, Al Pirro, the developer’s attorney, claimed the project would mitigate it, not make it worse. Flooding would be minimized, he told Harrison officials, because less of the parcel would be paved and the ground-level parking area would allow water to flow through the building.
Nathan said he was encouraged at the questions raised by Harrison planning officials and believes the proposal will be thoroughly vetted.
Pirro also said he plans to speak with Rye officials in order to better address their concerns.
Rye’s hiring of a consultant so early in the process gives it a head start on protecting the interests of city residents, according to Nathan who forecasted that it would take over a year before Harrison makes major decisions on the project.
The town’s Planning Board meeting drew interest from worried residents of Harrison, Rye and Mamaroneck, all of whom share concerns about flooding along the Beaver Swamp Brook corridor.
Rye residents in the Glen Oaks neighborhood — bordered by Boston Post Road, Harrison, Rye Neck and the Osborn School — have been impacted by flooding of the Beaver Swamp Brook before.
Rye and Harrison had fought for decades, starting in the 1990s, over how to clean up the swampy area near that had become a dumping ground. The city contended that Harrison’s plans to fill and create a park in that area would increase flooding and sued to block them in 2007.
In 2015, the state Department of Environmental Conservation approved a plan that addressed many of Rye’s concerns. Eventually the 14-acre site became Malfitano Park, a passive recreation area.
