We have been seeking to get a reading on community sentiment about this latest expansion plan, and we have found that there is virtually universal opposition to the idea.Our informal polling has failed to identify anyone in who wants to see further expansion of this office complex. The fact is that the matter was resolved by the courts more than 25 years ago, and people are legitimately wondering why this whole thing is rearing its head once again. Thanks for the supportive article! Anne Gold, Executive Director, PEPA www.pepany.com

Dear Ms Gold your comment is totally self serving. Did you poll the entire town or just Purchase? Did you think anybody was going to come out against PEPA considering the social black listing that would occur? The town needs new corporate development and the expansion of the medical facilities on Westchester Ave. Harrison is a community for all income and social levels not just for the wealthy and privileged.

Purchase Street 75 feet wide, Where? Traffic lights added to handle all the additional traffic, are you kidding! There are four traffic lights on Purchase St. All at large intersections. Anderson Hill Rd. Hutch. Pky. north and south exit ramps and Westchester Ave.

I would like to respond to Mr. Revira. Ms. Gold's comments are not self serving, as they are made as spokesperson for an entire group of people, members of PEPA. Her comment about the polling applies to THIS office complex, not all of Westchester Ave. Not all members of PEPA are wealthy and privileged, but all members ARE concerned about overdevelopment in Harrison. If you believe the town needs new corporate development and expansion of the medical facilities on Westchester Ave., then that development must be done legally, within the towns zoning regulations, and with the best interests of Harrison residents in mind, not just the developers.

Can't be kidding about traffic lights which, if headed south, are obfuscated by the underpass under the Hutch headed South from all the congestion in the area of Mastercard, Manhattanville, The Centre, Morgan Stanley and Suny - not to mention Pepsi. Is this Purchase a residential area we're talking about or a corporate alley ? Taking the gem of Harrison's residential tax base and cutting it up around the edges - and through its heart - doesn't at first glance, nor even after long meditation, appear to be the kind of solid management Harrison needs if its to survive as a small town on the outskirts of NYC. That may well be why the Judge determined it was not a sound proposal, and why it isn't. Enough of development greed chewing at this town at the expense of its rural, bucolic, small town character....

Ross - Stop in at the Purchase Deli and see what they say, or ask the folks at the firehouse.....
Does one have to be rich to dislike traffic congestion, more wasted time, less open space and greedy developers ?

You're obviously angry at all those filthy rich folks in Purchase. Lets subdivide the whole thing and use those divisions to build low income housing; it'll do wonders for home prices - and your tax bill. And what, pray tell, might the owner have gotten for their home one, two or three years ago ? My property value is going down and my tax bill is going up. Ever ask yourself why ? Rye's home values don't go down as much as ours do and their tax bill doesn't go up like ours does. Same with Scarsdale. Again, ever ask yourself why ? With all that development is Purchase more or less desirable to folks who can pay 6MM for a home ? What do you know of what those owners paid for their home ? And When they bought it?

Truth Hurts, I appreciate your input on this debate. The area of road that I was referring to being 75 feet in width is the road directly in front of parcel A or Master Card, on Purchase Street up to Manhattanville road. Thanks and I look forward to hearing further input from you on this and other issues. Kathy

Mr. Revira: I stand by my comments about this development needing to be considered under the law, as it relates to our zoning code, and with the best interests of Harrison residents in mind. I do not wish to belittle residents, age groups, socio economic groups, environmental groups or political parties as your comments attempt to do, but I do wish to engage in a thoughtful and respectful exchange of ideas and opinions, which is what this country is based on. I still really do not know your position on this particular development, but the planning board meeting is next week if you are interested in sharing it then. It is through open dialogue and a sharing of points of view that problems get solved and goals are achieved, and this forum could and should be used for that purpose above all.

Ross!
Keeping things in perspective means Obama isn't responsible for our 14 trillion debt. i was for john McCain until he launched Ms. Palin, and his campaign, into the realm of Disney's Fantasia. Bankers should hang for their actions in this mess, as should the rating agencies, who now rate Harrison's debt as investment grade, and the "regulators" along with Fred and Fannie. I put Harrison's planning board, town council and mayor in the same quality grouping as these actors.... As for the "high end" senior housing development, it is understandable Purchase doesn't want to change its character, and putting an Osborn like development into Purchase is understandably not in character with what Purchase has been for a few hundred years.
How do you feel about putting McDonalds into Civil War battle sites ? Purchase, again, is one of Harrison's gems, getting cynical about a $6MM home sale strikes at the heart of what Purchase is all about AND Harrison's revenue base. Just desserts? Most folks who have millions don't spend their filthy lucre as did George Bush and the wonderful, service oriented Dick Cheney did ours... I saw how Dick Cheney paid 17% on his millions of income while he was Veep and collecting millions from Halliburton and its no bid govt. contracts, so please spare us the rhetoric about Obama and just desserts.. If you don't want Purchase to be a high-end residential area then tell us where the taxes should come from.... Texaco like corporate sponsors ?

You mention your family has lived in Harrison for generations but have no history of Harrison. Purchase has continually evolved over the last 150 years. The center of Harrison was Purchase until the railroad came to town. Anderson Hill Rd. was called Harrison Ave. back then. 50 years ago Purchase was at the end of its landed gentry stage with large estates and gentleman farms. Over the last half century Purchase College and Keio Academy have been built. Manhattenville College has expanded. Pepsico and Master Card are corporate residents along with many other companies. Numerous country clubs and luxury sub- divisions inhabit Purchase. To say that an Osborn like senior housing complex does not fit the character of Purchase shows your ignorance or your arrogance. Have you ever seen the beautiful housing they have in Rye? You betray your bias by defending Obama and attacking Bush, Cheney and Palin. You mention our 14 trillion dollar deficit and lay it at the feet of Republicans and ignore the fact that under Obama the US is borrowing 42 cents on every dollar spent. After seeing your diatribe at the town board meeting I would have to conclude you have a natural anathema toward the police and exhibit the classic traits of a “limousine liberal”.

Ross Old Buddy, Limousine liberal ?
Ignorance or arrogance ? Why not both.
Don't know the history ? We bought our first dog at Balmoral Kennels on Kenilworth road in 1954 where SUNY now is. NYC has Rockefeller Center, Times Sq. and Central Park - the issue is the question of balance. Cheney and Rumsfeld and laying it out at Bush's feet - as you lay it all at Obama's? My friends in the Air Force were driving around in armored Humvees in Montana guarding ICBMs while our folks in Iraq had SUVs.
Hate the police ? Best cops i ever saw were Harrison's in the late 70s; i don't like Harrison's police management, not the police. Try getting your facts down and leave the heat in the kitchen.

Doug, Ross, Mary, Ms Gold: Enough! Purchase and West Harrison are just zip codes! We all live in the Town-Village of Harrison. There is no "Special" part of our community. Why PEPA? Why not HEPA? Why? Because this group is obviously only concerned about what happens in Purchase. PEPA was conceived with the notion that Purchase had to "Protect" itself from the rest of the town while using the "Environment" as a nice way to cover its real purpose. You haven't heard one comment about protecting the physical environment. In fact the group is more focused on preserving the social and economic environment. Let's stop the BS. This is a case between the haves and the have not-a-lots. Personally I am 100% for more tax paying corporate development along the Purchase corridor so my family can keep our homes. I only live 12 feet from my neighbor and love where I am. I really don't care if someone has to live next to a corporate neighbor when I have the train tracks a block away. So, when it's all said and done, for all of us, it just comes down to $. Let's not BS each other anymore with lofty ideals and phony concerns. Ross, they aren't Limousine Liberals. They are Westchester Liberals. "Sure I believe anyone should live anywhere they want, just as long as it's not next door to me!" How we digressed to Obama, Bush and Cheney is beyond me. I just want parcel "B" to be developed so more taxes dollars are brought in. Sorry it might cause more traffic. Try living on Harrison Avenue.

Doug, Ross, and All: I hate to say this but the Purchase section of town was really affected by the State of New York and the politicians who decided to build S.U.N.Y. Purchase. Do you realize what that costs Harrison. They almost killed the Purchase Volunteer Fire Department who now has volunteers sleeping there because of the call volume to the college, and by the way Manhattanville College is not far behind. By far the traffic on Anderson Hill Road is the worst bar none. Where was everyone when they destroyed Westchester Avenue and all of the trees and what character was left. Wait untill you see the new Westchester Avenue interchange. How come we let Sloan Kettering change a office building to a hospital who will pay no taxes, you think we should of bought the property from Verizon before Houlihan did for the Town House, Court, And Police. You think they won't sell 400 Westchester Ave to the college?. Parcel B could be built without adding traffic to Purchase Street. And by the way our good neighbors at Manhattanville have been building things for years with no permits, installed parking lot lights with no permits, did major renovations with no permits.Great neighbors. The change to medical facilities along Westchester Avenue is causing major issues with traffic, fire response, ambulance response, and Police. We need a full time Planner like Pat Cleary to meet with Town Committees before these things go to the Planning Board. If we don't change things now.

Doesn't this all come down to UPDATING OUR MASTER PLAN? The master plan is the blueprint for community preservation and development. It determines where we should build, where we should preserve open space, etc, etc. Without it, this just proves that we are a floundering community with no goals in sight. We cannot continue to arbitrarily allow variances that only benefit special interests, because in the end it costs us more money. Bringing in tax dollars is always great, but what would the costs be in providing additional public services in filling two parcels versus one? Traffic increases, police presence increases, fire protection, etc. etc. etc. Development does not always mean more tax dollars in the town's coffers if it costs more to protect/maintain in 10 years from now. The application should be denied.

I think that was one of many campaign promises made by our mayor.

There was a legaly binding agreement in the past so this could not happen. Now the corporate lawyers seem to have found a way to get around that. I was at the planning board meeting when Mr. Pirro basically threatened the planning board (Us) by saying "I'll see you in court" What are the names of the owners and developers that support this activity and behavior?