Village of Tuckahoe, NY
65 Main Street Tuckahoe, NY 10707914-961-3100 — fax:914-961-3114
Hours: 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM Monday – Friday
Tuckahoe TV Stations: Channels 26 and 75
Westchester magazine recently wrote on the subject of the worth of real estate in our County; value percentages for Tuckahoe were up 185% since 2000. This, by the way, was the largest increase countywide. I believe this large jump was due to the previous undervaluing of our Village’s property. As the rest of the county home prices increased and became even more expensive, our area became more desirable and the real estate boom finally arrived in Tuckahoe. What made it more desirable? Don’t get me wrong, for some it was always desirable, but an increase like this suggests other forces are at work. Is it simply more value in the expensive market, good schools or a safe community? I am not sure we could isolate just one factor, as it may be a combination of all of these or even something else?
Obviously, I think it is good to be a desirable community but it comes with drawbacks. The most noticeable is growth. Two impacting forms of growth are: new homeowners with children replacing seniors without children and flat out new development. When people want to be here, that will also bring developers to maximize vacant or outdated property within our existing zoning law. That is what they are entitled to do, as of right, but that principle is not only for developers but homeowners as well. Let’s face it, the homes in Tuckahoe are not sprawling mansions, quite the contrary, they are quaint modest homes. New investors to our community often feel that a larger kitchen or a family room are a necessity and approach the boards for permission to expand. Occasionally even relief from existing zoning constraints is sought by homeowners in order to go above and beyond what is currently permissible. An ultimate decision to reject all new development is not within any law, the best we can do, as a community is to control it. I am here to do just that with our zoning law, but remember, our zoning code is a document that is continuously in need of tweaking to keep us ahead of the bad development. A preconceived notion that our homeowners deserve greater deference than developers, from our planning or zoning board is not only improper, it is dangerous. The reason being: on occasion homeowners take advantage and add illegal apartments that strain us. With newer development we attempt to control the impact to services and schools, by limiting the amount of bedrooms in each unit. Implementation of this kind of planning method allows us to tailor space to those couples starting out and those who are scaling back. Also, newer development comes with all the benefits of an updated code, like ample parking, green space, lot coverage rules and setbacks. A balance must be struck with the old and the new in order to ensure we grow properly.
I believe a great disservice to this community was the years when single-family homes were allowed to be turned into three and four family buildings. Our Village abounds with these kinds of properties, many are now owned by absentee landlords. This kind of formerly unchecked expansion has created a village devoid of ownership. Census data states owner occupancy in Tuckahoe is shockingly low at 47%; the Westchester median is 60%. The vast majority of these are not in the few large apartment buildings, which are often owned condos or co-ops, but are in the homes. In my opinion a proper ownership ratio is one component of a desirable community because more residents are invested. How do we achieve this? Well, one solution is no new two family homes. Some may feel our code has pretty much restricted newly created lots but it doesn’t stop the future possibility of tearing down the remaining single-family homes to replace them with two-family homes. This type of moratorium will ensure in the future we are not struggling to catch up in a losing race.
On occasion, residents have voiced concerns over our increased desirability. Many villagers’ dreamt that their grown children would buy a home down the block, keeping their grandkids close by. This dream has all but evaporated with the higher home prices commanded in our Village. Even the days of parents giving their homes to their children are slipping away. Since most seniors will need the income from the sale to not just supplement their retirement but to downright fund it. New residents to our community count on seeing an increase to their prime investment: their home. This pushes the dream further away. Market price increases pit many philosophies against each other, certainly newcomer families who want to see their investment grow vs. longtime residents who believe that their next generation being forced to shop elsewhere is going to destroy the Village they knew. I believe many new residents are here because they too enjoy the village feel of Tuckahoe. I don’t believe villages are about knowing everyone from birth. They are about the kind of accountability that seems to be a result of that. Accountability need not elude us, we all should understand the importance of a neighbor coming over and telling us when we are being inconsiderate or even that they witnessed our children acting inappropriately. Tuckahoe is desirable for many reasons; good value in the real estate market, good schools, safe community, but also a village that hasn’t loss the sense of village. As a Mayor all these are critical and I will continue using zoning laws and quality life enforcement to protect that sense of village. However, there is more. A key element comes from villagers and businesses having courtesy and respect for its neighbors, a feature often missing in the anonymous living of a big city. For my money that makes a desirable community. I wish all, a joyful 2008 and now I must go outside and ask my neighbor to stop using that blasted blower and bend down to pick up the last remaining leaf in Tuckahoe.