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MPact Collective Has Gathered More Than 700 Signatures Supporting Redevelopment of Chair Factory Site For Workforce Housing; Developer & Supporters Asking To Present Plan To Public To Clear Up Misunderstandings About PILOT, Other Issues
By Tina Traster
Typically, residents gather petition signatures when they oppose a proposed development project in their town or village. But in an odd twist, more than 700 people have signed a petition urging the Town of Haverstraw to support redevelopment of the Chair Factory site in the Village of Haverstraw, especially because the mixed-use proposal includes workforce housing.
In mid-December, a representative for developer MPact Collective of Huntington, Long Island, presented the petition to the Haverstraw Town Board. In addition, Angela Hunea, the representative, asked the town board to set a date for the developer to appear before the board to have a useful back-and-forth discussion about the project, which Town Supervisor Howard Phillips is opposing by denying the developer any meaningful negotiations on a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) for the project.
Phillips’ first question to Hunea was “where do you live?” His second request was to see each signature on the petition. Thirdly, he showed an unwillingness to allow the developer to present its plans without any clear explanation. No other town board member spoke up in response to the request.
Developers usually present proposed plans to planning boards or other jurisdictional bodies that have a say in a project. The Village of Haverstraw has thrown its weight behind the $340 million project that will transform the fallow riverfront site and bring 450 housing units, 70 percent of which will be a combination of affordable and 40-year rent stabilized workforce housing.
However, the project is dependent upon PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) incentives. The Village, Rockland County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and the school board have all shown support for the plan. Phillips and the town board, however, are the only holdouts.
In response to Phillips’ refusal to invite the applicant to present its plan in public, the developer is circulating a letter for Haverstraw residents to sign and send to Phillips and the town board. The letter says: “We the undersigned residents of Haverstraw, The Village and Rockland County, respectfully request that you place the representatives of the development team for the Chair Factory site on the agenda of the upcoming town board meeting for the purpose of having a meaningful dialogue about the PILOT for the Chair Factory site.”
The letter goes on to say “as concerned members of this community, we believe that it is vital for the Town Board to engage with the developer in a public forum to address community questions, concerns and suggestions related to this project. Transparency and open communication are essential to ensure that the development is aligned with the best interests of all residents.”
MPact Collective has been educating the Village of Haverstraw and Rockland County residents at large about its mixed-use project, which includes 14,000-square-feet of retail that connects with Allison Avenue, green spaces lacing the perimeter of the site to make the Hudson River accessible for kayaking and boating and built- in protection for climate change flooding. The proposed 150-room hotel is slated for the second phase. The developer has attended street fairs, Village events, Haverstraw Collective meetings. It has held monthly Haverstraw Forward meetings in Village Hall to answer questions and talk to residents about its vision for transforming the waterfront.
But the developer wants a chance to respond to the board’s concerns face-to-face at a Haverstraw Town Board meeting because Phillips is the only obstacle, for now, to the project’s progress.
“Allow the people to talk about the project in public,” Mari Morrison Rodriguez, an activist, implored at the last town board meeting. “The people who signed that petition are asking for more information. Here we have one side. What really would be helpful is if the other side is also present in a town forum where that discussion can take place. It’s confusing when you only get one side.”
Phillips has let his opposition to the project be known at Town Hall meetings, in the town’s bi-annual fall newsletter, at the Haverstraw Collective on Oct. 2, and in public at large. Phillips’ opposition to the issue is only relevant to the plan’s momentum because the developer is seeking a PILOT, which has been approved by the Rockland IDA, and has support from the county, village, and the school district.
Without a PILOT agreement, the project cannot secure necessary government financing and tax credits that enable affordable developments to be built. MPact Collective has said it will not purchase the property until the PILOT is approved, and other state and private funding is in place. The developer plans to pay nearly $8 million for the nine-acre site, as well as three to four private parcels it is in the process of acquiring.
By all accounts, there is widespread support for the $340 million, 450-unit housing project on the former Chair Factory site on the 9-acre peninsula jutting into the Hudson River (70 percent of units will be affordable including set asides for veterans, seniors and those below income thresholds). Mayor Michael Kohut and village officials have championed the project from the start, when they selected MPact, which was one of four developers that bid for the project. County officials including County Executive Ed Day and those fighting for affordable housing. as well as Rockland’s Industrial Development Agency, have also lined up behind the project, and so has the school district.
