Some details below may not be correct - this is information
passed on by residents.
Please check with township to check the facts:
3-26-08 The area now known as the Ardsley Wildlife Sanctuary
was once owned by Hillside Cemetery ... they wanted to build
homes there for years. At some point, the owner had filled in
ponds on the property so they could build on it. This caused
incredible flooding in the area. The township purchased what
may have been about 80 acres of the property ( using open
space grants ? ) There was possibly a long legal wrangling.
The township put in basins & tried to restore the natural
ponds to help with flooding in the area. The school district
purchased the remaining 20 acres to be used as an outdoor
classroom. They named the area the Ardsley Wildlife Sanctuary.
There are about 20 or so deer, many foxes, skunks, raccoons,
turtles, pheasant and countless other bird species back there.
In about 2007 some folks began contemplating what might be
done with the land. Many want to put in soccer fields. To
others, who live nearby, that might entail roads, parking lots
and a lot of traffic. Land Concepts was hired to do a study of
the landscape, wildlife, soil, neighborhood, etc. - of the
entire area - to determine what if anything can be done with
the property.
There is not a clear, lovely, flat 80 acre field to work
with. It is wooded & hilly and broken up into smaller parcels,
surrounded by burial grounds on 2 sides. The only known access
by road requires an easement from Hillside Cemetery, which,
some think, they are not likely to grant. Or new roads would
need to be built into the property where dead end streets have
always been.
Much of it the property swampland, much of it is ponds &
reservoirs. Ardsley is in a valley - at the bottom of two
hills along Susquehanna Rd. and therefore, needs a lot of
reservoir space during the rainy seasons. There is concern
that whatever is built there, will flood and whatever water
they may displace from there, will go into other peoples yards
& homes. Even though the fields would not be impervious, they
would have to be graded so that they were usable and that
could still cause problems with the natural runoff. Any
concrete or blacktop paving, would add to the flooding
problems already in the area.
As of 3-27-08 Land Concepts is ready to hold the first of
its d public meetings to inform people of their findings & get
input from residents. Unfortunately, few residents know about
the meeting as of this writing on 3-26-08 .
