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Politics & Government

Citizens' Group Wants Residents' Voices Heard in Playland Development

Three local residents recently formed Sustainable Playland, a nonprofit group that will submit its own proposal for development of the park. The group's leader said she wants to see a "community-based" project.

Speculation has run rampant about the fate of Playland, and an increasing number of area residents are expressing concerns about hypothetical mega-projects that developers are expected to propose in March.

Rye resident Sandhya Subbarao and her husband, Dhruv Narain, recently held at their home on Martin Butler Court, which overlooks the Playland site. More than 150 people attended the meeting, a turnout that underscores the increasing frustration and confusion being felt over rumors that the site could be the future home of a skyscraper hotel, concert venue or other large-scale commercial development that would overtake green space and bring large crowds into the mostly residential area.

On Nov. 24 Subbarao, Narain and fellow Rye resident Peter Rukeyser officially incorporated Sustainable Playland, a nonprofit group that Subbarao said will conduct extensive outreach across Westchester in preparing its own proposal to the county.

"Whoever is going to look at that property is going to build something that will, in essence, be a commercial venture; it's not going to be a community-based, nonprofit type of solution," said Subbarao, who has lived in Rye since 1996. "We felt that we needed to have a community-based response" to the county's request for proposals.

Among the group's main concerns, she added, are the preservation of public parkland, Playland's status as an historic landmark and the effects development will have on the park's unionized work force.

She said the nascent group will have "regularly scheduled meetings" between now and March, though no public meetings are planned, and has already begun reaching out to an array of groups that will be affected by development at the park.

Rye Mayor Doug French applauded the group's efforts, noting the important role of area residents in vetting development proposals.

"The city is very supportive of the initiative [Sustainable Playland is] undertaking. Groups like this one ultimately help us make better policy, so their role is fundamental," French said. "The Sustainable Playland concept is consistent with what most county families would like to see in terms of better recreational space and access to the waterfront."

County Executive Rob Astorino has made the Playland overhaul a central part of his sweeping campaign promises to cut county spending and, in turn, taxes. His assistant, Bill Mooney, that every dollar spent on the struggling park ends up costing county residents $1.55, as attendance has spiraled downward since it peaked earlier in the decade.

Subbarao acknowledged the difficulty of the issue for county officials, and mainly praised Astorino's efforts and the carefully-worded Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by the county earlier this year, which provides for the continued public use of the beach, boardwalk and Edith Read Sanctuary and prohibits residential development.

"I don't fault [Astorino] for looking at everything and anything; this is as important as any other business venture," she said. "Needs change, times change and the goals of the park have changed. This is an opportunity to reinvent Playland."

She added that while Sustainable Playland is a small group, it seems to have the support of many city and county residents.

"We have heard a lot of different ideas from people, but most people I have spoken to tend to agree with our perspective," she said. "We're not leading a minority group."

For now, she said, the group is holding its proposals close to the chest.

"The developers aren't going to show their cards" until the March 10 deadline for proposals, "so we're not going to show our cards, either."

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