Friars' land set for open space

BARBARA LIVINGSTON NACKMAN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
Original publication: April 04, 2001

PHILIPSTOWN — The Capuchin Friars in Garrison are close to signing a contract with the Open Space Institute, selling 93 of the religious retreat's acres overlooking the Hudson River.

A proposal by Schwartzberg Associates of White Plains to build hundreds of townhouses and a spa-hotel on the site on Route 9D is officially dead. Meanwhile, the friars are seeking zoning variances to rebuild their youth and family ministry building on another piece of property.

"We are ironing out some issues and are guardedly optimistic that it will all fall together," OSI President Joe Martens said yesterday. "We have a long-standing interest in and around Philipstown. This is such a prominent property on the waterfront."

OSI envisions keeping much of the land open with public access. It is in sharp contrast to the high-density residential proposal that officials said was too large and out of character for the rural hamlet.

Many Garrison residents upset with the developer's initial proposal for 425 townhouses and a 100-room luxury hotel criticized the town for not rejecting it quickly enough. They began a movement to create a village government to oversee local land use.

After two attempts to scale down the project aimed at wealthy retirees, Schwartzberg is out of the picture, the friars say, even with a third and final proposal for 140 units and a hotel.

"We gave (Schwartzberg) an adequate amount of time to get approvals for his project. He was unable to show us significant progress. It was time to move on to another transaction," said Kevin Ward, spokesman for the Capuchin Order.

Attempts to reach Schwartzberg yesterday were unsuccessful, and a Web site promoting his proposed development was not accessible.

The Capuchins want to renovate the 25,000-square-foot St. Francis Friary. They would construct a 24,000-square-foot building to include a gymnasium, offices, meeting rooms and accommodations for retreats. Ward estimates the project could cost $4 million.

The proposal before the town calls for consolidating the friary's operations onto the 19-acre St. Francis parcel. Offices and a youth and ministry retreat center would move to the smaller parcel a half-mile south of the 93-acre Glenclyffe site, where Schwartzberg had tried to develop Point Lookout.

Consultants are looking at alternative sites of the building in response to comments Monday night at a public hearing before the zoning board, Ward said. The hearing will continue May 7.

The Roman Catholic order has been in Garrison for about 70 years. The order acquired the land, once the home of Wall Street broker Stuyvesant Fish and his wife, Marian, around 1923. The friars had hoped the 443-acre estate would become a center to train priests and brothers. By the 1980s, as their numbers dwindled, the Capuchins began marketing the sale of some of their land.