Planning Board Hearing: Girls' School Proposed For West Clarkstown Rd.

CLARKSTOWN, NY — As January ends, our local officials are busy conducting the public's business in plain sight.

John Adams famously wrote, "Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right … and a desire to know."

There are plenty of upcoming chances to help tend to our democracy close to the roots. One public meeting is scheduled for this week in Clarkstown.

The town Planning Board will hold a public hearing Wednesday on a proposed private girls' school for 420 students at 31-41 West Clarkstown Road. A previously scheduled ‘informal review’ did not take place Jan. 25.

However, on Wednesday the board will hold a formal public hearing on the proposal, which would tear down two existing single family homes, merge the lots, and build a 31,428 square foot private, religious school (K-8) with 71 parking spaces (20 proposed to be in reserve) plus 30 spaces of special event parking at the bus area. The property is located on 6.6 acres of R-40 zoned land on the east side of West Clarkstown Road about 475 feet south of New Hempstead Road.

The meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the auditorium at Town Hall.

According to the Rockland County Business Journal, traffic on West Clarkstown Road has become a pressing issue, with so many projects proposed.