Village Hall Packed at Park Swap Meeting:
Morris Family & S.T.E.P. Offer Two Visions for One Small Park

by Judy Silberstein

(March 30, 2004) The courtroom was packed, as was the lobby, and the conference room at Larchmont’s Village Hall where more than 125 residents turned out for a special board meeting on the future of the pocket park nestled between two homes at the intersection of Palmer Avenue and Parkway. Family and friends of Brian Morris and his mother Maureen appeared in support of the two, who are seeking to trade their lot between Julia B. Fee Realty and the Morris home at 1956 Palmer Avenue for the park property on the other side of the house. Members of the anti-swap group S.T.E.P. (Save the Existing Park) and their supporters appeared in large numbers to argue against the trade and to lend weight to an alternative plan for improving the current park. The board’s purpose for the session was to provide updates, quash rumors, correct misinformation, and bring all interested parties together for civil discourse.

A. Existing Park; B. Proposed Park Location; C. Policeman's Memorial (based on S.T.E.P. map)

At this point, “There are no deals,” stressed Mayor Ken Bialo in his introductory remarks. Contrary to reports in the New York Times or CBS News, there has not been a sum of money named as the “sweetener” to induce the village to trade the park for the somewhat smaller Morris lot. Mr. Morris has offered $50,000 to develop the park, plus some additional funds that could be used elsewhere, perhaps at Flint Park, he suggested. “But $200,000, as has been rumored, is out of the question,” he told the Gazette. He reported that appraisals requested by the board show his lot worth $200,000 and the park worth only $15,000 more.

The evening unrolled like an old-fashioned, high school debate. Each side received fifteen minutes to make its best case, after which anyone else could speak for three minutes, with supporters and opponents of the swap taking turns at the microphone for almost two hours.

In his fifteen minutes, Brian Morris argued that the swap would redress an historical injustice dating back almost 50 years when his grandfather, Joseph Fay, originally owned the park property but negotiated a trade with the Village of Larchmont so he could erect a store adjacent to existing commercial buildings. According to Mr. Morris, Mr. Fay fulfilled his part of the bargain, and the trade occurred, but because Larchmont never approved the requisite zoning changes, the store was never built.

The lot is zoned residential, and the Planning Commission has approved building of a 2600 square foot home there. However, Mr. Morris contends that switching the properties will give both the park and the house more appropriate locations for their particular uses.

“You’ve got a buffer spot in the wrong place,” stressed Mr. Morris. Unlike the current park, he argued, a park next to Julia B. Fee would create a buffer between the commercial district and all of the nearby homes, including those owned by the Morris family and the one he plans to build. Park designer Adrian Smith, retained by the Morris family, provided a provisional sketch of what sort of park might emerge if the swap were to occur. (Click here to see a larger view.)

In their fifteen minutes, various S.T.E.P. members reiterated their major objections and countered assertions from the Morris side. “This is an issue that threatens open space,” argued Parkway resident Michael Heming. Moving the park would position it on a lot that is smaller, irregularly shaped, in a noisier spot, and bordered by a solid wall, instead of the open yard of a next-door residence. Further, the current spot is safer for children to play and pedestrians to reach: safety should trump buffer, argued Fred Bruno, whose home on Center Avenue backs onto the park. The swap would be tantamount to a sale of (the better) public land to a private developer, he argued. If the board is willing to consider such a sale, it should allow anyone to bid and accept the highest offer.

Mayor Bialo interjected that sale of parkland would not be allowable, prompting Larchmont Avenue resident David Hattem to ask if he could swap the park for his back yard.

In any case, argued Mr. Heming, money is not the point. No matter how much money Mr. Morris provided to sweeten the deal, the Village would be left with an inferior lot, and the money would go elsewhere.

Yes, the current park is underutilized and in need of attention, conceded Andrew Attinson, a partner with Street Works, LLC, a development and consulting group that has been assisting S.T.E.P. At its current location, he argued, the park relates naturally to the police memorial park directly across the street and is an integral part of the residential neighborhood, so that neighbors can take ownership and are motivated to use and care for the park. He introduced designs for a park renewal that would provide a mixture of soft (grass, trees) and hard (path, patio) surfaces designed to attract people into both the front and back of the narrow lot. S.T.E.P. has already collected pledges of approximately $10,000 as “seed money” for a fund for new plantings, paths, furniture and other improvements recommended in the Street Works plan. Click here for a larger view.)

For the rest of the evening, the two sides swapped the microphone back and forth.Speaking for the Morris family was Maureen Morris (Brian’s mother), two brothers, two sisters, an aunt, a cousin, and family friends who have lived in the area for many years. The Morris children chronicled years of what they viewed to be unfair treatment for their property, including the denial of zoning variances and expensive parking tickets imposed for parking in front of their own family home.

“I’ve felt so discriminated against,” said Mrs. Morris who described herself as a senior citizen with seven grown children, five now living in the area, and not the “so-called private developer” that some have cast her to be. From her home, she sees the park every day, and there is almost never anyone out there, no matter how nice the weather is, she reported.

Not so, countered Parkway resident Laura Roth, who displayed pictures of her children ice-skating in the park last winter. “We do use this park –it’s a retreat, a safe place, an oasis of quiet.” She pleaded with the board not to send a message that it values one resident over another.

“Are we getting preferential treatment?” asked Stephen Morris. No, the two properties were swapped long ago, we’re just swapping back, he answered. Furthermore, he argued, the park should be owned by the entire village, not just those living in one neighborhood.

Wouldn’t we all like to go back and undo a real estate deal from the past? suggested another neighbor. “Maybe I shouldn’t have sold my brownstone in Park Slope, but I did it,” remarked Dave Hattem.

The two sides continued trading arguments until close to 10:30 pm, for the most part in an amicable exchange that had the Morris family come repeatedly to the microphone to answer points made by numerous neighbors from Parkway, surrounding streets in the Pine Brook area, and other parts of the village. “The quality of the conversation was very good, truly extraordinary,” commented Mayor Bialo. “This was a monumentally civil discussion of a very emotional issue,” he said.

Fred Bruno (left) & Brian Morris continue the conversation.

At the end, both sides felt they had made their points. “I felt good,” said Brian Morris. “I think we made a good argument.” For Fred Bruno, the turnout provided support for his estimate that 97% of residents do not support the swap; those favoring the trade were mostly not from Larchmont, he pointed out. Michael Heming reflected what was probably a universal opinion: “I’d like to see it put to rest – resolved for the greater good of the village.”

But a quick resolution is unlikely, according to the mayor. The board will be preoccupied in the immediate future with putting together the budget due at the end of April, and with letting contracts so work can start this summer on renovating the streetscape at the Boston Post side of Larchmont’s business district. In answer to questions from the board of the Pine Brook Neighborhood Association that has yet to offer an opinion, the mayor predicted that the village board is unlikely to return to the park issue before May.

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