News from the Village of Mamaroneck:
MAMARONECK — The Tri-State Transportation Campaign (TSTC) and One Region Funders’ Group awarded a grant of $38,500 to the Village of Mamaroneck Thursday to support efforts to promote equitable, sustainable development near the Mamaroneck Metro-North Railroad station.
The grant will support a Transit-Oriented Development Zoning Study, performed in partnership with the nonprofit Washingtonville Housing Alliance, which will involve community meetings with local residents and property owners, and will result in a draft zoning ordinance and form-based code that will support the village’s recently adopted comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan calls for incentivizing affordable housing, providing quality public space, and linking the village’s retail and central business districts.
“The Village of Mamaroneck is taking bold steps to promote smart growth through revitalization of its downtown area surrounding the train station. This is good news for Mamaroneck and good news for other Westchester communities,” said Catherine Marsh, Executive Director of the Westchester Community Foundation, a member of the One Region Funders’ Group.
“Mixed-use development around existing transit service is good for the economy, environment and quality of life,” said Kate Slevin, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a regional transportation policy and advocacy organization. “The Mamaroneck project is an ideal opportunity for successful, community-driven, transit-oriented development and can serve as a model for redevelopment statewide.”
“The ‘Friendly Village’ of Mamaroneck once again is reaping the benefits of cooperation between its residents, not-for-profit organizations and business resulting in this grant award,” said Village of Mamaroneck Mayor Norman Rosenblum. “Our future development is a necessity to keep the vitality and quality of life we all currently enjoy. This grant awarded for a zoning study near the Village of Mamaroneck Transit Hub improves our development possibilities with the positive environmental goals sought by both the Village and Tri-State Transportation Campaign with the One Region Funders’ Group. Thanks to both for their guidance in this important step forward.”
TSTC and the One Region Funders’ Group received letters in support of the project from elected officials and civic groups including Congresswoman Nita Lowey, State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer, County Legislator Judy Myers, the Hispanic Resource Center of Larchmont and Mamaroneck, Mamaroneck Chamber of Commerce, and Westchester County.
TSTC and the One Region Funders’ Group also awarded the following grants:
• $48,000 to the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency, in Connecticut, for a market study and case study review aimed at stabilizing existing neighborhoods and supporting development around the South Norwalk Metro-North Railroad station.
• $44,500 to the Town of Brookhaven, on Long Island, for a sewer infrastructure study which will support private redevelopment proposals for the area around the Bellport Long Island Rail Road station.
• $14,000 for the Flushing-Willets Point-Corona LDC in Queens, New York, for a market analysis to support proposals for affordable and senior housing near the Flushing Long Island Rail Road station.
The four grantees were chosen from over forty applicants throughout the region. The grant award marks the second year of the transit-centered development grant program. In 2009, grants from the program were awarded to Mount Vernon and Peekskill.
The One Region Funders’ Group is a partnership of private funders from Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey learning and working together to advance and support transportation planning and reform in the Tri-State region. Foundations participating in the One Region Funders’ Group and contributing toward this initiative include Fairfield County Community Foundation, Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, Long Island Community Foundation, New York Community Trust, Rauch Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Westchester Community Foundation, Fund for the Environment & Urban Life, Rockefeller Foundation, and Ford Foundation.
The Tri-State Transportation Campaign (TSTC) is a non-profit organization working towards a more balanced, transit-friendly and equitable transportation system in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
