On June 7, 2018, two municipalities for whom Keane & Beane, P.C. serves as Town Attorney received awards from the Westchester Municipal Planning Federation (WMPF).
The WMPF recognized the Town of New Castle with a Planning Commendation award for its adoption of the new Town Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan was based in significant part on the input of citizens who were engaged by the Pace Land Use Law Center and utilizes the American Planning Association (APA) Comprehensive Planning Standards to establish updated goals to address the needs of the New Castle community. The new Comprehensive Plan was also recognized in the Smart Growth Playbook that the Pace Land Use Center is developing with the Westchester County Association as a guide to smart growth practices. New Castle Town Attorney Nicholas Ward Willis provided valuable legal advice and guidance throughout the process of developing the new Comprehensive Plan.
The WMPF also recognized the Town of Bedford with a Planning Commendation award for its development of an affordable housing project known as Antioch Homes, which was completed in 2017. Antioch Homes is an example of a creative adaptive reuse, as well as a coordinated effort on the part of community leaders to provide 12 new affordable housing units in the Town of Bedford. The Antioch Homes project included re-purposing the former Antioch Baptist Church into four apartments and construction of two new buildings with four units each and required the donation of land by the Town of Bedford to provide sufficient area for an expanded septic system. Bedford Town Attorney Eric Gordon was instrumental in reviewing agreements with Westchester County and New York State which contributing funding for the project and coordinating land use and other approvals needed to move the project to completion.
The June 7, 2018 Westchester Municipal Planning Federation Award Program can be found at: Westchester Municipal Planning Federation 45th Program
