Chabad of Bedford and Pound Ridge

By JULIE WEISBERG

Congregation eyes Andes property

A local religious organization is looking to purchase the Andes property in hopes of creating a permanent home for its congregation and educational program.

Chabad of Bedford and Pound Ridge Towns — a Jewish Orthodox congregation affiliated with the Hasidic movement — presented its preliminary plans for the controversial Cross River property to the Planning Board during an informal discussion at the board’s June 27 meeting at the Town House.

The discussions allow residents to review their proposed projects with the Planning Board without formally submitting an application to the town. The informal reviews, which only take place in a public session, are legal under state law. No official plans or papers are filed with the Planning Board because it is not a formal application to the town.

“We are looking for a place to serve the community. And we feel it is just the right location for us,” Chabad representative Lou Meltz said of the Andes property at last week’s meeting.

Mr. Meltz said he first toured the property about a year ago, while looking at a number of other properties in the Katonah and Lewisboro area.

“And I just fell in love with it,” he said.

Mr. Meltz, who reviewed Chabad’s religious center plans with the congregation’s Rabbi Arik Wolf, said if the group was to purchase the property there would be no additions to the existing structures or new construction.

The only changes would be internal improvements to the two-story house that exists at the site, he said.

“We don’t want to demolish it. We want to keep the structure as it is,” Mr. Meltz said about the 3,200-square-foot building. “We have just been moving from one location to another. And it’s reached a turning point ... we are looking for a home.”

Recent Andes history

The Andes property is a nine-acre parcel on North Salem Road (Route 121) directly across from John Jay High School. It is owned by Jim and Joan Andes.

The former longtime Lewisboro residents have had the land on the market for several years.

Most recently, the parcel was almost purchased by Westchester County for the construction of new playing fields. The $4 million for the project, with $1.2 million going toward purchasing the land, would have come from the county’s “Legacy Fund.”

If approved by both the county and the town, the project would have led to the construction of a multi-purpose, all-weather field for soccer, lacrosse and baseball, as well as a natural turf little league/softball field. But the proposal — announced by former Town Supervisor Jim Nordgren two weeks before last November’s municipal election — was never ratified by the new Town Board, although the county’s parks committee had approved it.

Some board members and residents were critical of Mr. Nordgren, who had negotiated the land deal without informing them. The former supervisor said he did this at the request of the property owners, as well as out of his own concern that the deal would not have happened if the entire Town Board had been in on the talks.

In May, however, Ursula LaMotte, a Republican county legislator who represents Lewisboro and other towns in the Second District, told the Town Board the $4 million in county money earmarked for the construction of playing fields at Andes is still available. At the same meeting, Town Supervisor Edward Mahoney said he wanted to tie the use of the county money into his plans for the Route 22 project in Goldens Bridge.

This was a reversal from comments Mr. Mahoney made when he first unveiled his Route 22 project earlier this year. At that time, he said the legacy money would be better spent on ball fields not associated with the Route 22 proposal.

The Route 22 plans call for the construction of two playing fields, a senior and possibly a teen center, town court facilities and a New York State Police barracks on a 35-acre parcel of land on Route 22 near the 6A exit off I-684.

The state police have yet to commit to the proposal but have said they are looking for a new home. They have been housed in Somers since leaving Lewisboro more than 30 years ago.

Looking for a home

Chabad of Bedford and Pound Ridge draws the majority of its members from Lewisboro and Katonah, as well as Pound Ridge, Mount Kisco and other parts of Bedford, according to Rabbi Wolf.

But the chapter has had no permanent home in the community since its founding more than three years ago. Services have been held in private homes and in rented halls for particularly large gatherings. Venues such as the Mount Kisco Holiday Inn and the Katonah Memorial House have been used. Its office is now on Anderson Road in Katonah.

For the past year, Realtors involved with Chabad have been looking for a facility where classes, services and offices may all coexist. So far, none of their attempts have been fruitful.

In a June 15 Ledger article about the group’s search for a home, Rabbi Wolf cited parking, main road visibility and accessibility, and ample space for programs as the most important factors for determining the best location for the organization’s new home.

The chapter held a fund-raising event in April at a private home in Waccabuc to help raise money for the group to purchase its future home. Featuring dinner and an auction, the evening drew about 130 supporters.

Next steps

The next step in the process for Chabad would be to submit a formal application to the town. Planners suggested the group review files of other similar successful projects, such as the Jewish Family Congregation on Smith Ridge Road.

If the project does move forward, planners said information on how the project might impact the site’s existing well and septic system, area parking and traffic should be included in any application. And, Larry Praga, a legal consultant specializing in land use for the Planning Board, told the group to check into state building codes related to converting a residential home into a non-residential space.

Planning Board member Joseph DeCaminada said the group should also reach out to the local community regarding its proposal, in hopes of reducing any possible opposition to the project.

“The degree of difficulty, to some extent, relies on the degree of opposition,” Mr. Praga said.