1,300 Sign Petition Against River Knoll Development In Ossining

OSSINING, NY — Residents of Ossining and Briarcliff Manor are trying to stop a developer from putting apartments up on the site of the old Stony Lodge psychiatric hospital. They've gotten almost 660 signatures on an online petition and, organizers say, more than 600 on a paper version to fight the proposed River Knoll project.

You can find the petition here.

The hospital for children and teens closed in 2012. The property is 18 acres of old trees and a steep knoll, bordered by Croton Dam Road and Pershing, Narragansett and Grandview avenues. The owner, Glenco Group LLC, wants a zoning variance to put an apartment building at the top of the knoll, roughly where the main building was.

The developer's website says its reinvestment in the Stony Lodge campus would be responsible because it would preserve more than three-quarters of the site as open space. The one- and two-bedroom apartments would be marketed to empty-nesters.

Opponents, who have formed a group called Ossining Citizens for Sustainable Development, say the project is is inconsistent and incompatible with the single-family neighborhoods around it.

Plus, they say, 188 units would bring 300 cars, which would bring even more nightmarish conditions to the intersection of Croton Dam Road, Route 134, and Route 9A.

The property, zoned for single-family housing, is fronted by a grassy meadow. Opponents of the project say steep slopes and wetlands on the rest of the property would prevent any developer from putting more than 10 or so houses there.

More than 100 residents turned out to an organizational meeting Oct. 7. Many plan to attend the Oct. 22 Ossining Town Board meeting.