Ice cream shop to be sandwiched between buildings

Exterior view of the proposed ice cream shop, with plan annotations. The door to the right would lead to the shop; door to the left leads to stairway to upstairs apartments. THE HELMES GROUP

By JEFF MORRIS

A narrow building between a clothing store and Weinstein’s Pharmacy in Katonah will become an ice cream shop, under a proposal now before the Planning Board.

The application by Gooser LLC for a waiver of site plan was presented at the Nov. 17 board meeting by owner Dan Ginnel, who said architect Steven Helmes was originally supposed to appear but had been called away for a family emergency.

Ginnel said the building, at 107-109 Katonah Ave., was one he and his daughter had purchased. The space was originally a separate store, but had been combined with the two retail shops next door, currently HIM by Catherine H. and Indigo by Catherine H., and was being used for merchandise storage.

Under the plan, said Ginnel, his daughter wants to separate it once again and create a 323-square-foot ice cream shop. The shop would have no inside or outside seating, being a walk-up business only, and no food preparation on site. The application was made under the town’s “café” definition, which covers up to 450 square feet.

The entire facade of the building consists of two doors; the one on the left leads to a stairway to apartments above. The door on the right would open to a roughly 3-foot wide entrance hallway, extending back to an area that is 6-feet, 2-inches wide, with a customer counter/window and employee access to the storage and prep area. A bracketed sign is proposed to be mounted on the wall above the ice cream store entrance, with a dark sky compliant light fixture. The application notes that signage details are not yet ready, and a separate application will be filed at a later date.

According to documentation provided, the product will be delivered three times a week in a small truck or van and stored in freezers. Hours of operation are proposed to be noon to 10 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday in May and October; noon to 10 p.m. daily from June through September; and noon to 8 p.m. from November to April.

Ginnel said there will be a second entrance in the rear of the building, with a new concrete ramp to provide ADA-compliant access. The plan calls for improving both the front and rear entrances, and for renovations and upgrades to the existing first-floor bathroom, which is shared with the clothing stores, into one which is fully ADA code compliant.

The application states that the existing building dates to the early 1900s and predates the town zoning code, with the lot classified as “dimensionally pre-existing non-conforming” with respect to front yard setback, building coverage and impervious surface areas.

Public Works Commissioner Kevin Winn had already informed the applicants that there will be no increase in water usage, and DPW sewer capacity approval is not required.

Planning Board Chair Deirdre Courtney-Batson noted it seemed like a “very good use of a tiny space,” and the board seemed ready to move ahead with approval. However, a sticking point arose regarding required parking spaces for the business. Planning Director Jesica Youngblood pointed out that the application was correct: the town requires two off-street parking spaces, and the planning board may waive up to 50% of those spaces.

Ginnel said his daughter already pays the town for parking spaces for clothing store employees, and could pay for another for the ice cream shop. 

The board approved waiving the requirement for one of the two parking spaces, but said a variance from the Zoning Board would be required to eliminate the requirement for another space. It was thus unable to waive site plan approval until the application went before the ZBA.