Board of Education Message Regarding the Town’s Proposed Form Based Code

October 28, 2021

Dear Members of the CCSD Community,

A number of residents have contacted us with questions and concerns regarding the New Castle Town Board’s proposed Form Based Code (FBC), and the CCSD’s role with respect to the FBC process. We are writing to you to answer some of these questions, and to explain where the FBC currently stands and the CCSD’s connection to this Town Board rezoning initiative.

The Board of Education takes no position on the proposed adoption of the FBC. However, Board members are fiduciaries of the school district, and the school district is considered an “Interested Agency” throughout the mandated review of the FBC under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). As an Interested Agency, it is imperative that the CCSD review all aspects of the proposed FBC and comment to the Town Board on how the adoption of the FBC could potentially impact our school district. Since the outset of this process, the CCSD has submitted to the Town Board a series of comments and communications outlining our concerns about both the Draft and Final Generic Environmental Impact Statements (DGEIS and FGEIS).

We recently submitted, via our attorney, letters to the Town Board detailing our specific concerns about the adoption of the FGEIS, and about the next step in this SEQRA process, which is a vote on the Findings Statement, currently anticipated to occur in November 2021. If the Town Board elects to adopt a Findings Statement, that would mark the conclusion of the SEQRA process, and the Town Board would then move on to discuss the proposed rezoning of the Chappaqua Hamlet.

In order for the community to better understand our role in this FBC process and the specific concerns we have communicated to the Town Board, the link to our most recent communication can be found HERE. All of the Board’s and the CCSD’s previous communications to the Town Board and the community on this issue can be found HERE. We will keep this link updated with any further communications related to the proposed zoning changes.

Should the Town Board adopt the Findings Statement as final, our role as an Interested Agency in the SEQRA process ends. Please note that the CCSD has no jurisdiction over Town zoning decisions. We are always happy to hear from the community, and we will, of course, stay engaged with the process and continue to advocate on behalf of the school district.

We hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather and, for those of you with children in our schools, that they have had a wonderful start to the year.

Sincerely,

The Chappaqua Central School District Board of Education