Documents › Planning Board, 2026-07-28

site plan 7 pages

Public schools impact memo from Kimley-Horn, dated February 27, 2025 and revised May 22 and July 13, 2026, updated to reflect a revised estimated post-construction assessed value of $28,500,000, up from the $16,000,000 used in the original. Using Rutgers University multipliers, it estimates the 49-unit project would add up to 11 school-age children to the Croton-Harmon school district, a 0.69 percent enrollment increase, distributed as 6 students in grades K-5, 2 in grades 6-8, and 3 in grades 9-12. The marginal annual cost to the district is estimated at $286,055 to $293,150, against the property's current $22,250 in annual school taxes, and the memo anticipates future tax revenue will exceed that cost.

Also attached to this agenda item: 425 S Riverside Ave-Croton-Site Development Plans Architectural Plans 425 S Riverside Signed 7.17.26 Coastal Assessment Form Fiscal Report 425 SRA Full Environmental Assessment Form Gateway Overlay District Compliance Memo Landscape Plan 425 SRA NPV Memo 425 S Riverside Ave 07-24-2026 Neighbor Letters x 2 425 SRA Neighbor Letters 425 SRA PB Application PB Cover Letter 7.13.26

kimley-horn.com 1 North Lexington Avenue, Suite 505, White Plains, NY 10601 914-368-9200 MEMORANDUM To: Robert Leggio, Andrew Cortese Carmel Riverside, LLC From: Bonnie Von Ohlsen, AICP, RLA Paul Vernon, AIA Kimley-Horn Engineering and Landscape Architecture of NY, PC Date: February 27, 2025 (rev. May 22, 2026 and rev. July 13, 2026) RE: Public Schools Impact 425 S Riverside Avenue, Croton-on-Hudson, NY The purpose of this memorandum is to evaluate the potential impacts of the proposed residential development at 425 South Riverside Avenue on the Croton-Harmon Union Free School District (“CHUFSD” or “the District”). This memorandum has been updated to reflect a revised estimated post- construction assessed value of $28,500,000 at full build-out. The original memorandum (2/27/25) utilized an estimated assessed value of $16,000,000. The final assessed value of the property will be determined by the Village of Croton-on-Hudson Tax Assessor following completion of construction. The subject Site at 425 South Riverside Avenue currently contains a commercial building with an auto repair shop, gymnastics space, and industrial/lawncare equipment sales. The site is located within the Croton-Harmon Union Free School District (“CHUFSD” or “the District”). This school district encompasses most of the Village of Croton-on-Hudson, as well as portions of the Town of Cortlandt and the Town of Yorktown. The project site is approximately 0.3 miles east of the Metro-North Croton- on-Hudson station. See Exhibit 1, School District Location. The project proposes a new residential building with 49 multifamily rental units (25 one-bedroom units and 24 two-bedroom units). 44 of the new apartments will be available for rent at market rate, and 10% (5 units) will be affordable (3 one-bedroom and 2 two-bedroom units). CROTON-HARMON UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT Existing Facilities The Croton-Harmon Union Free School District contains 3 schools (1 elementary school, 1 middle school, and 1 high school) as listed in the table below. The locations of the schools relative to the Site are indicated on Exhibit 1, School District Location. kimley-horn.com 1 North Lexington Avenue, Suite 505, White Plains, NY 10601 914 368 9200 Table 1 Croton-on-Hudson CSD School Facilities School Grades Carrie E. Tompkins Elementary School Kindergarten – 4 Pierre Van Cortlandt Middle School 5-8 Croton-Harmon High School 9-12 School Enrollment and Capacity According to the District website, the total district enrollment (2023-2024) was 1,553 students. The 2024-2025 District Budget Detail projected a 2.51% increase in enrollment to 1,592 students (approximately 39 additional students)1. The District has been experiencing minor fluctuations in total enrollment since the 2000/2001 school year, ranging from a low of 1,394 in 2020/2021 to a high of 1,752 in 2009/2010. See Table 2, below. Table 2 Enrollment in CHUFSD2 2019- 2020- 2021- 2022- 2023- 2024- K-12 (Total District) 1,582 1,519 1,523 1,526 1,553 1,592 A letter from the Superintendent and Board of Education, included in the district’s Approved Budget for the 2024-2025 School Year, summarized initiatives and programs for the District, such as infrastructure and transportation improvements. https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1718628065/chufsdorg/hpwhj4ywcyg8qpazdv7r/_OfficialBudge tStatement2024-25.pdf https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1718628065/chufsdorg/hpwhj4ywcyg8qpazdv7r/_OfficialBudge tStatement2024-25.pdf 3 Indicates projected enrollment for the school year, not actual enrollment. kimley-horn.com 1 North Lexington Avenue, Suite 505, White Plains, NY 10601 914 368 9200 ESTIMATE OF SCHOOLCHILDREN FROM THE PROJECT To identify potential impacts to a school district, it is important to quantify the number of school-age children that are expected to be added to the district over a period of time, relative to the capacity of the school facilities. For this estimate of school age children, we have used most recent applicable publication with multipliers available from Rutgers University, Center for Urban Policy Research (CUPR): Who Lives in New Jersey Housing, Updated New Jersey Demographic Multipliers, Rutgers University, November 2018. Using these multipliers in this source for 1 and 2 bedroom rental apartments, it is estimated that up to 11 school age children could be generated from the project. See Table 3. Table 3 Public School Children Generation Unit Type Unit Count Multiplier4 Public School Aged Children (PSAC) 1 BR 0.127 3.175 2 BR 0.339 8.136 Total 11.311 (rounded down to 11 children) Using a more detailed breakdown of the CUPR multipliers, the 11 estimated school aged children are expected to be distributed across grade levels as follows: 6 new students in grades K-5, 2 in grades 6- 8 and 3 in grades 9-12, added to the district at full buildout. See Table 4. Table 4 Public School Children Generation – School Distribution Unit Type Unit Count Elementary (K-5) Multiplier5 Elementary Aged Children Junior High School (6-8) Multiplier4 Junior High Aged Children High School (9-12) Multiplier4 High School Aged Children 1 BR 0.058 1.45 0.02 0.5 0.048 1.2 2 BR 0.198 4.752 0.057 1.368 0.083 1.992 Total 6.202 (rounded down to 6 children) 1.868 (rounded up to 2 children) 3.192 (rounded down to 3 children) 4 Rutgers University, Center for Urban Policy Research (CUPR): Who Lives in New Jersey Housing, Updated New Jersey Demographic Multipliers, Rutgers University, November 2018. 5 Rutgers University, Center for Urban Policy Research (CUPR): Who Lives in New Jersey Housing, Updated New Jersey Demographic Multipliers, Rutgers University, November 2018. kimley-horn.com 1 North Lexington Avenue, Suite 505, White Plains, NY 10601 914 368 9200 COST TO EDUCATE According to the New York State Education Department (NYSED) website (http://www.nysed.gov), the total average cost to educate one student in the Croton-Harmon Union Free School District in the 2022- 2023 school year was $26,650. The cost per student was adjusted for this analysis based on the number of students anticipated to be added to the district, as described below. The CHUFSD Budget 2024-2025 cites a total district cost of $58,798,307 ($10,809,565 in capital costs, $6,588,068 in administrative costs, and $41,400,674 in program costs) and a projected total enrollment of 1,592 students. Subtracting out administrative and capital costs to educate (which are unlikely to increase with the relatively small number of additional children), estimated per pupil cost to educate in the CHUFSD would be $26,005 ($41,400,674/1,592 students = $26,005 per pupil). This calculation includes the School District’s program costs only, because the addition of 11 students to the district is not expected to produce large scale capacity issues, or require the addition of an entire classroom, or more teachers, staff members, or new educational facilities. This calculated cost per student is consistent with the NYSED cost previously mentioned. Using the adjusted total fixed costs from the school district budget described above, the total cost to educate the 11 students would be $286,055 ($26,005 x 11 students = $286,055). Using the NYSED figure of $26,650 per student, the annual cost to educate the 11 students (conservatively estimated to be generated by the project) would be $293,150 ($26,650 x 11 students = $293,150). The existing property at 425 S Riverside Avenue has a taxable value of $46,100 and a full market value of $1,595,156 according to the 2024 Final Village Assessment Roll6. According to the assessment roll, the 425 S Riverside Avenue parcel (79.13-2-91) generated $22,250 in real estate taxes to the CHUFSD. The future assessed value of the proposed project will be provided by the Croton-on-Hudson tax assessor after construction, and therefore is not available at this time. However, the future assessed value of the project is anticipated to be higher than the current assessed value. Market value for the property post-construction is estimated by the Applicant to be $28,500,000. Therefore, it is anticipated that the tax revenue resulting from the proposed project will significantly exceed existing tax generation7. 6 https://ecode360.com/CR0035/document/753035642.pdf 7 see Fiscal Memorandum dated 7/13/26 prepared by Kimley-Horn kimley-horn.com 1 North Lexington Avenue, Suite 505, White Plains, NY 10601 914 368 9200 According to Welcome Home Westchester’s recent report (March 9, 2022), “Multi-family Housing Development Impacts in Westchester County Part One: School District Enrollment”, recent multifamily housing developments have not had a major impact on school enrollment or school budgets. This report focused on multifamily developments (100 or more units) in suburban school districts (as opposed to city school districts such as Yonkers, White Plains, New Rochelle). In all cases studied in this report, the projects generated a net tax benefit for the school district despite increasing the number of school children enrolled in the school district. The report concluded that there is no data from recent large multifamily developments in the suburban Westchester communities/districts studied to indicate that there will be a drastic increase in enrolled students. Furthermore, the conclusion was that the net benefit to the school district in all cases is positive, with tax generation of the new multifamily development exceeding the cost to educate additional students. This study also reiterates that the “cost to educate” figures used above (as described by the school district budget divided by the enrollment) are overly conservative. As stated in the report, “the most widely used technique for performing fiscal impact analyses (the per capita approach) has, with few exceptions, included all line-item expenditures within municipal and school district annual budgets. Ostensibly, this approach makes sense, as, if the objective is to derive a per capita budget expenditure cost, the sum total of all expenditure line items should be included when dividing by the current jurisdiction’s population or households. However, this approach grossly overestimates the likely per capita/per household cost due to the inclusion of salaries, wages and fringe benefit costs of municipal and school district personnel, as well as the inclusion of capital outlays, fund transfers and debt service payments by municipal government and school districts.”8 CONCLUSION Using the multipliers derived from Rutgers University CUPR, it is anticipated that the proposed residential project at 425 S Riverside will generate up to 11 school age children to the Croton-Harmon Union Free School District at full occupancy (an increase of 0.69 percent in total district enrollment using 2024-2025 District Budget Detail). The project will likely result 6 new students in grades K-5, 2 new students in grades 6-8 and 3 new students in grades 9-12, and will be distributed over time as the building becomes occupied. The marginal cost to the District is anticipated to range from $286,055- $293,150. Based on the assumption of a reasonably higher future assessed value9, it is anticipated that the tax revenue from the new residential will exceed existing tax generation of approximately $22,250 in annual real estate taxes to the CHUFSD. 8 Welcome Home Westchester, Multi-family Housing Development Impacts in Westchester County Part One: School District Enrollment (The Building & Realty Institute), March 9, 2022 9 see Fiscal Memorandum dated 7/13/26 prepared by Kimley-Horn kimley-horn.com 1 North Lexington Avenue, Suite 505, White Plains, NY 10601 914 368 9200 SOURCES: www.data.nysed.gov www.chufsd.org/ Croton-Harmon Union Free School District Official Adopted Budget for the 2024-2025 School Year Welcome Home Westchester, Multi-family Housing Development Impacts in Westchester County Part One: School District Enrollment (The Building & Realty Institute), March 9, 2022. Who Lives in New Jersey Housing?, Updated New Jersey Demographic Multipliers, Rutgers University, November 2016 2024 Final Village Assessment Roll, Croton-on-Hudson kimley-horn.com 1 North Lexington Avenue, Suite 505, White Plains, NY 10601 914 368 9200