Church looks to subdivide, sell historic parsonage

The United Methodist Church of Mount Kisco’s parsonage at 31 Smith St. Google photo

By MARTIN WILBUR

The United Methodist Church of Mount Kisco hopes to subdivide its 1.75-acre property on East Main Street and sell the lot that contains the 1870s former parsonage to generate revenue for the congregation.

Plans submitted to the village’s Planning Department call for the parcel to be split into two parts, a more than 53,000-square-foot property at 300 East Main St. that contains the church and a 23,000-square foot portion for the parsonage at 31 Smith Ave. It would meet zoning requirements for development coverage and setbacks, said architect Viktor Solarik. 

Site plan approval would also be required.

The church and the parsonage have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982; the parsonage is an 1871 Victorian.

During a Nov. 12 presentation before the Mount Kisco Planning Board, Solarik said there would be a proposed new driveway on the west side of the property for the house. The property would be able to accommodate the runoff from the new driveway, he said.

“So the building stays exactly as it is. It is basically a house,” Solarik said. “So the only new thing that would have to happen is the construction of the driveway.”

There are some older sheds that would straddle the newly created property line between the church and the house, which would be eliminated or replaced. On the church property there would be changes to existing pavement to remove it from the newly created parcel with the house.

Village Planning Consultant Jan Johannessen said the parcels are located within the New York City Department of Environmental Protection designated Main Street area and that the volume of gravel that is being contemplated for the new driveway would trigger the need for a DEP Stormwater Pollution Protection Plan review.

Avoiding replacement of any of the sheds could also expedite the process, he said.

“You may want to rethink the sheds,” Johannessen said. “That one new shed is going to send you to the DEP. Maybe we can have a staff meeting that discusses that, and if that’s absolutely necessary, then that’s what’s going to have to happen.”

The church must retain a surveyor and a public hearing would have to be scheduled. 

Planning Board Chair Michael McGuirk called the application “a pretty straightforward subdivision.”

The applicant would like to have the required approvals completed by next spring in order to get the property and the three-story Victorian-style house on the market.

“The church is motivated to move it along,” Solarik said. “I believe they’d like to sell it in the spring when the market hopefully will be favorable, and so it would be great to be ready for that.”