Letter: Put Neighbor to Neighbor Pantry Building in Location of Temporary Fire House, at Horseneck Lot

As I read the recent coverage of the proposed ‘Neighbor-To-Neighbor’ site abutting the Christ Church property and subsequently drove past the site, a few problems quickly came to mind:

– difficult enter/exit; this major traffic point on the Post Road will surely cause congestion – has P+Z looked at the difficulty of left turns in, and left turns out of the access roadway ? Will yet another traffic light ultimately be necessary?;

– wetlands & watercourse effect; I understand that the current landscape is already problematic in times of heavy precipitation;

– ‘quality of life’ disruptions effecting abutting neighbors; this proposal introduces a ‘commercial-type’ utilization in a historically residential zone, with church and cemetery boarders; I assume this will be characterized by frequent truck delivery, and a large volume of autos, as I further understand the facility will serve residents of Port Chester, NY  and Stamford, CT, as well as families in Greenwich.

Upon further thought, I have identified a better sited, already existing facility, that will become available at 2016 year end –

While I am not familiar with it’s interior, conceptually it would appear to be a very viable alternative for the ‘Neighbor-To-Neighbor’ proposed facility. As I see it moving forward:

– Christ Church and the Town swap land, so taxpayers come out whole;

– surely the conversion of the current fire station facility will be considerably more economic that the ‘ground-up’ construction on the Christ Church property;

– dramatically easier access for all users of the facility, including delivery trucks, and local and non-local facility users; no traffic impact;

– this heavily commercial area surrounding the firehouse facility is much more homogeneous fit for this type of facility, than is the bucolic area encompassing Christ Church.

– The Horseneck Lane facility would address all of the concerns mentioned above.

Let all the involved parties consider this alternative.

Paul Keeler

480 Field Point Road