Daily Voice
June 14 2012
North Castle Town Board Delays St. Nerses Ruling
by Robert Michelin
ARMONK, N.Y. – The St. Nerses Armenian Seminary believes it has laid
out its plans to move to Armonk clearly enough, yet the North Castle
Town Board held off on approving its final special-use permit after
discrepancies with occupancy issues.
`I believe we’ve come up with a solution that will please the town and
neighbors and also fulfill our religious purposes,’ said Seth
Mandelbaum, an attorney representing the seminary.
The seminary group, which plans to move in to the property at 486
Bedford Road, made an updated special-use permit presentation to the
board Wednesday evening. After hearing the presentation, Councilman
John Cronin requested the board not vote on approving the permit as he
wished to further review the number of occupants that would be using
the facility on a daily basis. The board concurred with Cronin and the
vote was delayed until the board’s June 27 meeting.
The St. Nerses Armenian Seminary will prepare priests for the Armenian
Orthodox church while housing the students while they study at the
seminary. Mandelbaum said families of students may live on the campus
and no more than 20 people will live on the campus at once. Mandelbaum
added that during special lectures or events at the seminary,
occupancy can rise to around 50 people.
Armonk resident Pete Wilder said he is concerned about occupants at
the seminary reaping the benefits of North Castle while being a
tax-exempt establishment, such as the children of students at the
seminary entering the Byram Hills Central School District.
`I don’t think this is in the best interest of the town,’ Wilder said.
`I think it would be a very costly event for very little value.’
Mandelbaum said there is only one child of current potential occupants
at the seminary who is of school age that would enter the Byram Hills
school district and that utilizing the features of North Castle is a
minuscule factor in the move from its current New Rochelle location.
`That is certainly not a large part of this project,’ Mandelbaum said.
`It’s mostly about the religious aspects.’
Mandelbaum added the group plans to maintain the current exterior of
the buildings on the property and will install a large retaining wall
and screening fence in order to shield property from neighbors.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress