Helen Almanza and her husband Albert have lived in their house on Meadowbrook Drive in the heart of Tarrytown since 1971. She raised her kids on the tree-lined street and has always intended to pass the house on to them. But now she’s not sure that the future of her legacy — or that of her neighbors — is secure, since the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, just a block east of Almanza’s home, has announced plans to expand its facilities — right up to the backyard property lines of Almanza and her Meadowbrook neighbors. “This certainly will reduce our property values,” Almanza said. “I don’t have a lot of money and my house is all I have to give to my children. This is my nightmare.” And Almanza is not alone in her “nightmare.” A growing group of fellow neighbors — some also Good Shepherd parishioners — have joined together to fight the expansion of the neighborhood church they say is beginning to swallow the neighborhood.
Indeed, Good Shepherd’s expansion plans are ambitious. According to the church’s master plan, designed by architect Ben Heimsath, Good Shepherd is seeking to expand its nearly 32,000-square-foot facility at the corner of Exposition Boulevard and Windsor Road into a nearly 70,000 square-foot “campus,” at an estimated cost of $11 million. The expansion will address major space problems the church has faced for years, says Rector David Fikes, and will add a “meandering” feel to the landscape while maintaining its environmental features — like the stately trees that tower over the property. Fikes says the design will maintain the character of the neighborhood and shows Good Shepherd’s intentions to remain a good neighbor.
But to accomplish church goals, a couple of key matters must be resolved. First, the church property that fronts on Exposition will need to be rezoned — from SF-3 (single family) to LO (light office) — so that the church can rebuild its current educational building into a three-story facility that would loom over the southeast corner of the property at the corner of Exposition and Gilbert. (The LO zoning allows up to 60-foot heights, though the building, as planned, would be 43 feet tall.) Second, the church will be asking the city to vacate Moffett Street between Gilbert and Windsor, so it can expand the campus across the block — and acquire a surface parking area large enough for 67 cars.
It is these plans that are most upsetting to the neighbors, who say the rezoning for a high office tower sets a dangerous precedent for the Windsor/Exposition corridor. “I just don’t think the scale of the buildings [is] appropriate at all,” said neighbor and Good Shepherd member David Cole. “And when you gradually relax the zoning — that’s a door I’d rather see unopened.”
The proposed closure of Moffett and the resulting construction raise additional objections among the nearby neighbors. Over the past 15 years, the church has slowly acquired — mainly through parishioner donations — the properties that line the west side of Moffett, small cottage-style houses that were once single family residences. Under the church’s new master plan, the houses will be demolished and the campus will “meander” westward toward Meadowbrook, and eventually include a fellowship hall, expanded nursery facilities, a winding drive through the church property, and a parking lot.
According to Meadowbrook resident John Vincent — who, under the master plan is likely to have the church’s Dumpster right behind his back fence — the reason he and his wife initially moved to the neighborhood was the presence of the neighborhood church. “We thought it was pretty cool — my wife and I could hear the church bells from our bedroom,” he said. “Then … we start living here, and find out the entire street is owned by the church.” Several residents say the plans the church unveiled to neighbors in late July were “shocking.” “We were blown away,” Vincent said. “From my perspective, I bought into a neighborhood. Now I’m going to be surrounded [by], and looking at, commercial property.” To Meadowbrook residents, the neighborhood church is beginning to look like a church neighborhood.
Fikes says the church has tried to be sensitive to the neighbors’ concerns while remaining focused on taking care of its congregation. For example, he said, the three-story educational building is designed to mask its actual height by tucking the third story under a dormered roof — “the rationale is to keep the neighborhood scale.” And he believes closing Moffett will actually help the neighbors. “It will relieve the neighborhood parking because there won’t be so much parking on the streets,” he said. The neighbors are unconvinced. Currently nearly 40 cars fit on Moffett, so the church will be gaining only about 27 spots — and closing Moffett will block a traffic outlet, pushing more traffic onto neighboring streets.
Fikes says Good Shepherd has been trying to address the neighborhood’s concerns in community meetings. “I think any time there are changes there is a fear of change for the worse,” he said. “We hope this will improve the property [value] of the neighbors and the relationship between us and the neighbors.”
Helen and Albert Almanza remember similar meetings with the church nearly 15 years ago. Rumors were circulating that the church was actively seeking to acquire the properties they now own on Moffett. “We all thought that once they crossed the street it would not be such a good idea for the neighborhood,” Almanza said. “They said [at the 1987 meeting] they had absolutely no intention of acquiring any more property. Then within one week, their first house [on Moffett] was purchased.”
That episode sowed lingering distrust. Almanza and others fear that, despite Fikes’ assurances that the church does not intend to acquire more property west of its current boundaries, the same thing may happen again. One week after the church unveiled its current master plan, Almanza said, someone called about a property at the corner of Gilbert and Meadowbrook whose owner had recently died. “He identified himself as being a member of the church and inquired about purchasing it to donate to the church,” she said. “It’s just like clockwork.”
This article appears in September 20 • 2002.