Court Upholds Yorktown Heights Overlay District

YORKTOWN, NY — The Yorktown Heights Overlay District, which was a cornerstone of former Yorktown supervisor Matt Slater’s economic development plan, was upheld by the New York State Supreme Court.

Slater, who is now state assemblyman for District 94, said the court’s ruling validated the care used to craft an economic plan to help revitalize the Yorktown Heights business district.

“The Overlay District law has been the key to attracting millions of dollars in new private investment in Yorktown Heights,” he said, “and it will continue to transform our town and grow the local commercial tax base.”

The district, according to Slater, was designed to provide greater flexibility over land use, including mixed-use concepts, to encourage private developers to invest in Yorktown Heights.

An Article 78 lawsuit was filed in April of 2022 by Protecting Yorktown’s Quality of Life Foundation Inc., Martha Dodenhoff, Susan and Steve Dolled and Louise Fang.

Among the arguments listed in the lawsuit were that the town ignored several potentially significant adverse impacts and failed to consider cumulative impacts from all potential development projects within the proposed zone. The plaintiffs also claimed the town board failed to take hard looks at potential impacts to local infrastructure and known and potential traffic problems.

Additionally, they claimed that the overlay zoning is at odds with the town’s comprehensive plan and said Yorktown should be thought of as a low-density community with single-family homes with a balance of developed and open space.

In his decision, Supreme Court Judge George Fufidio sided with the town, concluding the overlay district law complies with the State Environment Quality Review Act and that the town board properly considered the law’s cumulative impact.

Fufidio also took issue with the plaintiffs’ desire to keep Yorktown as a small, low-density community.

“[T]he dynamics of change are always at play and would seem to be even more so in an area so close to one of the world’s largest urban areas,” he wrote. “With that in mind, zoning schemes are not static, and while zoning laws do promote a developmental and systemic foundation when the winds of change shift, they are not meant to be a bulwark against any kind of change.”

Fufidio said the town reasonably took into account the foreseeable needs of the community and was guided by the comprehensive plan and sound zoning principles.

“It is clear that his endeavor was undertaken to revitalize and modernize a flagging commercial district in Yorktown,” he wrote, adding that “the past should not unnecessarily constrain the future.”

Supervisor Tom Diana said the current and former members of the Town Board were thoughtful, deliberate and respectful of its obligations under the town’s comprehensive plan.

“We adopted this overlay zoning ordinance with the goal of bringing an economic rebirth to our business hamlets that have struggled for years because of changes in the retail landscape,” he said.

“This overlay zoning is intended to position Yorktown businesses for success, and that’s where we are headed,” Diana said.

To date, both the Underfill Farms redevelopment of the former Soundview campus and the Gardena Boutique Hotel have been approved under the Overlay District.