Patch Chat: French-School Submits Plan to City

The French-American School of New York (FASNY) recently announced the submission of its plan to the City of White Plains for a k-12 campus on the former site of the R.

Some city residents have objected to creating a school on the grounds citing that the project will: overwhelm the area with traffic; reduce quality of life in the neighborhood; change the character of the neighbor; reduce the city's tax base, since the school would be tax exempt; reduce surrounding property values; aggravate the environmental sensitivity of the property; and exacerbate drainage problems.

 Click for a background story.

FASNY argues that it would enhance the neighborhood; share its facilities with the public; be a cultural asset to the city; as well as mitigate any concerns residents have with the project.

Here are FASNY’s plans for the property, according to a press release (attached as a PDF):

• Campus Layout: The campus will be in two halves, front on Ridgeway and split by Hathaway Lane.
• West-side (between Hathaway Lane and Murchison Place): The upper (high) school and middle school will be set around a courtyard. This side will also house the gym; performing arts building (to be built in the future); three soccer fields; and a baseball field on the north side of Hotel Drive, accessible by a path.
• Upper School: The former clubhouse would be repurposed into an upper school and administrative offices. New construction would connect the building to club’s fitness/dormitory building. The club’s ballroom will serve as the cafeteria for both the high and middle schools.
• Middle School: new construction of a two-story building
• East-side (to the right of Hathaway Lane and before Barbara Lane): A U-shaped building will house the nursery school, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and elementary school. The building will have two one-story wings attached by a two-story section for the gym and cafeteria
• Environmental Concerns: Systems will be designed to capture and manage stormwater on site: three retention ponds (two on the west side, one on the east side); roof water will be captured into garden planters. Green practices and materials will be used; walkways will be permeable; and parking lot run-off will be caught in bio-filtration catch basins. A 50-foot buffer will be planted along the property lines on Murchison Place and Hotel Drive; a 35-foot buffer will be implanted between the elementary school and adjacent properties.
• Traffic: Vehicles will traverse a two-lane entry; school traffic will be prohibited from exiting north on Hathaway Lane into the Gedney Farms neighborhood. The two access drives will contain traffic on-site. The city will mandate any other traffic improvements, which FASNY will pay for.
• Open space: FASNY will create 60-acres of space (not including wetlands) open to the public, called The Gedney Preserve. It will include walking, jogging and bicycling trails, connected to the city’s trailways (plans will be modified per city planners and public input).

Need a map to help this sink in? Click here. 

What do you think?

• What do you think of FASNY’s proposal?
• Does it reasonably address concerns of residents?
• Does The Gedney Preserve seem like something that could be valuable to the city and its residents?

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