The vote on a new sewer system for Katonah has been postponed until later this week. By way of full disclosure I own a piece of commercial property that will be serviced by this new sewer system.
The public review and discussion of this jury rigged sewer system has been very limited and not in the best interest of the town. Bringing sewers to the larger commercial properties will lead to major development over the next decade. Anyone who says that it will not does not understand real estate development.
I for one will personally benefit from the system but the town will be harmed. The town will lose its character as people are able to build full on their lots because they will not have a need for leaching fields and they will be able to build more densely because the sewers can handle larger waste then the current septic fields on their existing property. For instance our building is only covering about half of the land. The back half is used for leaching field and temporary parking. It would be intelligent for us to build out the back and up a couple of stories to add larger retail and possibly restaurant space along with more office space on the upper floors.
I happen to like the charm of Katonah what I don’t like is that our town board has not adequately discussed and reviewed these potential issues.
The design of the system it bypasses hundreds of single-family homes in order to pick up large parcels that have a tremendous amount of effluents under the guise of helping us environmentally.
If we want sewers why don’t we just develop a plan for the entire town rather than a jury rigged serpentine system that picks up apartment houses and multifamily homes that are large contributors to campaigns.
Why are proposals and ideas in front of the town board always in a rush? Why can’t we do a complete analysis and bring in all interested parties and stakeholders? We seem to value action above intelligent outcomes.
A more adequate discussion of the future nature of Katonah and Bedford Hills is required before we let a valuable asset such as the sewer system be used by a few lucky commercial owners.