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The single-family home on Furnace Dock Road does not have a formal street address, and is instead located on what is commonly called the "Valeria" property. The structure was not originally on the town's list to be evaluated as a dangerous structure.
The property is owned by the Valeria Development Corp., a subsidiary of AVR Homebuilders, based in Yonkers. In June 2008, AVR Homebuilders received approval to build a 147-home subdivision adjacent to the current 80-home development known as "Valeria."
Dan Simone, director of engineering and planning for AVR Homebuilders, said the house was the residence of the former greenskeeper, who died about six years ago.
Upon building the subdivision the house would have been knocked down, but since the collapse of the housing market the subdivision has been put on hold. Asked when AVR Homebuilders might consider restarting the project, Simone said, "I wish my crystal ball told me when this housing market was going to come back."
Simone said AVR Homebuilders builds on sales, and "We're hopeful in the next year things will start to pick up."
Currently, the house on Furnace Dock Road is almost invisible from the road, hidden behind two enormous evergreen trees. A closer look at the house reveals, "deterioration and cracking throughout the foundation," and "interior floors buckling and ceilings collapsing," the evaluation says. The interior walls are covered with graffiti, and there doesn't appear to be a single window intact.
Simone said that before the building is demolished the company needs to acquire appropriate building permits and will likely have to conduct an asbestos survey.
Valeria Development Corp. is unrelated to the Dickerson Pond Homeowners Association.
Two other structures were also evaluated as possibly dangerous by the town Engineering Department. One property is a former gas station at 2134 Albany Post Road, Montrose. The second property is a single-family home at 270 Furnace Dock Road, Cortlandt. Owners of both properties contended that their structures were not dangerous.
Town engineers found that neither of the latter properties had "dilapidated, decayed, unsafe, unsanitary" conditions, but that they may have town code violations. Town officials said the code enforcement department is evaluating the properties this week, to determine if there are violations.
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