Q&A
Plans for park and ride facilities and Morris Park station plaza
1:30:09
·
3 min
Council Member Marmorato inquires about plans for park and ride facilities, land acquisition for the Morris Park station plaza, and public involvement in plaza design. The discussion covers various aspects of station area planning and development.
- No specific plans for park and ride or new municipal parking lots
- Focus on transit-oriented development and improving streetscape and station access
- Land acquisition plans for Morris Park station plaza, including mapping action for future acquisition
- Discussion on incentives for property owners affected by plaza development
- Commitment to public involvement in plaza design through community presentations
Paul Philps
1:30:09
So I will start it and I will turn it over to my colleagues.
1:30:13
I think a couple of things.
1:30:15
1, we are leveraging regional transit service and created transit oriented development.
1:30:21
So we recognize the certainly the the need for parking, but we also wanted to create an environment where we're supporting transitory into development in terms of and we're looking at making improvements to streetscape, access to the stations, those things, which we think are critically important.
Kristy Marmorato
1:30:39
We have 2 portions of of my district.
1:30:41
We have Pelham Gardens, Allerton Avenue that can actually use the Metro North station.
1:30:46
And then we have folks in frog's neck that would be more than happy to take advantage of this.
1:30:51
If we can do some type of study to create a park and ride or figure something out along those lines, I think that's a big necessity.
1:30:57
Because I think it'll open it up to the entire district.
1:31:02
Alright.
1:31:02
Now the area and Mars park and the Mars park station is being proposed is being currently it's privately owned.
1:31:08
And what is the plan for acquiring this land for the plaza?
Michael Kavalar
1:31:13
Yeah.
1:31:14
Thank you.
1:31:14
Council member for the question.
1:31:16
So the the parcel 2 parcels in fact in question on the south side of Morris Park Ave that are the subject of the associated mapping action.
1:31:26
Just a a little on process is the the mapping action itself just essentially sets up the authority for future acquisition.
1:31:35
We've been in conversations with the property owner, together with our partners at EDC and fellow agencies and, you know, at A future point, there would be an acquisition.
1:31:46
The I the vision there is that that space would flow to the larger plaza between Eastchester Road in Bassett Ave.
1:31:54
That does a couple of things that we think are quite important.
1:31:57
1 of those is just a larger space, and we've certainly heard a lot about the need for open space in the area.
1:32:02
We also think it would improve and facilitate users getting to and from the station.
1:32:08
Therefore making it more likely as well that some would choose to commute via train in the future.
1:32:13
But importantly also, the Metro North station due to the engineering considerations and where it ends, we were concerned about it being hidden behind a future building.
1:32:24
And so that's part of the intent.
1:32:26
But, again, the mapping action before you sets up the authority to pursue those conversations around acquisition and those would come later.
Kristy Marmorato
1:32:33
Okay.
1:32:34
Is there an alternative if the private property owner does not wanna give up the space and what kind of incentives are you giving this individual as well.
Michael Kavalar
1:32:45
Yeah.
1:32:45
It's a it's a very good question.
1:32:47
We're hopeful that will, you know, come to a mutually agreeable way forward here.
1:32:53
We have included an incentive in the special district text, so that incentive allows for the property owner there to transfer the development rights that they would have otherwise had on that site, and that's prescribed again within the special district tax.
1:33:08
So that's the incentive mechanism there.
1:33:10
Yeah.
Kristy Marmorato
1:33:10
Do you have a percentage or a number for that?
Michael Kavalar
1:33:14
So the it's a it's a rather small number because the lots are are rather small.
1:33:18
So it would be essentially the RA equivalent of 7.2 multiplied by those very small lots there.
1:33:26
I don't have it off the top of my head, to be honest, but it's it's pretty modest.
Kristy Marmorato
1:33:30
Can can you get me those numbers?
Michael Kavalar
1:33:31
Yes.
1:33:32
Yeah.
Kristy Marmorato
1:33:32
Great.
1:33:34
And will the publicly be included in the final design of this plaza?
Michael Kavalar
1:33:42
I will just note that we're we're not there yet to even, you know, a more preliminary design.
1:33:49
Obviously, we've had some sketches, but I'll defer to my colleagues at the Department of Transportation perhaps to discuss more generically how that typically happens with such spaces.
Anthony Perez
1:34:01
As part of any capital improvements infrastructure, we do include presentations.
1:34:04
The committee was elected officials, so that would be treated the same.
