Planning Board takes up high-profile applications

Concept plan of potential mixed use building proposed next to Bedford Playhouse

Annotated aerial view shows property at 793 Bedford Road, outlined in blue, that is to be combined with neighboring properties in order to use an existing building as a food business. CATIZONE ENGINEERING PHOTOS

New building next to Playhouse; Starbucks in the works

By JEFF MORRIS

The Bedford Planning Board reviewed some high profile applications at its Monday, Oct. 20 meeting, including one that involved the Zoning Board of Appeals  conducting its own meeting-within-a-meeting, and one that asked for a requirement for affordable housing be rescinded.

Starbucks replaces bank

An application by DP 21 LLC calls for the demolition of a former bank building in the parking lot of Kohl’s on Bedford Road, and construction of a new Starbucks drive-thru.

The application for 777 Bedford Road, Bedford Hills, involves the entire property, which includes the 80,000 square foot Kohl’s and Vision World building. The portion where the work would be done is closest to Bedford Road, (Route 117), with access both directly from that road and from Norm Avenue, as well as from the recently built connection that leads to the new ShopRite in Mount Kisco.

Pietro Catizone of Catizone Engineering said they would most likely be looking for variances from the Zoning Board, including one for signage, and one for building coverage. The existing building is 625 square feet, and the one being proposed is 2,245 square feet. Catizone also described possibilities for landscaping.

The board asked about the parking lot configuration, with chair Deirdre Courtney-Batson pointing out that the new master plan calls for parking in that area to be in the rear of stores, to avoid the appearance that Route 117 is “one giant parking lot.” She also expressed concerns about pedestrian safety. Catizone said they could install traffic calming devices.

Courtney-Batson brought up the idea of installing solar panels over the parking area; board member Diane Lewis said that could take away from the look of the landscaping. “There’s certain things I’d be willing to give it up for,” said Courtney-Batson, indicating solar panels should be a priority.

As this was a preliminary application, the board took no action, but instead segued into a second proposal from the same applicant, this one a short distance away at 793 Bedford Road. It calls for a subdivision that would combine the 793 property with that at 795, and take 16,778 square feet from adjacent property that is actually over the town line in Mount Kisco. That property has an address of 333 North Bedford Road, the same as the building that now houses ShopRite.

The reason for these swaps is to transfer septic capacity from the Mount Kisco side of the line to the Bedford side, said Catizone, with the goal of repurposing an existing building on the site to some kind of food business — the existing septic on the Bedford side of the line being “very small.” The board voted to circulate a statement that it intends to be lead agency for environmental review purposes, while a simultaneous review takes place in Mount Kisco.

Chabad of Bedford

The board considered a site plan application for Chabad of Bedford at 220 South Bedford Road. The synagogue has been allowed to function under a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy since construction was completed, and the applicant was in the process of closing out the site work portion of the project when a violation was issued by the Westchester County Department of Health on June 24 because of “modifications without approval” to the existing on-site wastewater treatment system. A violation was then issued by the town for installation of a turf field without a permit, a portion of which overlapped the existing septic system. A new project will remediate the work.

At the same time, a woodchip play area was installed just south of the turf area, and playground equipment was installed without a permit. This resulted in the ZBA conducting its own meeting in the midst of the planning board meeting, in order to consider a special use permit for playground equipment.

Both boards opened and closed public hearings and approved their respective applications.

633-647 Old Post Road

Property in the midst of Bedford Village, adjacent to the Bedford Playhouse, was the subject of a proposed zoning petition and conceptual site plan for a mixed-use development, presented by Attorney P. Daniel Hollis. He said LHP Old Post Road LLC is the sublessee on a 199-year lease.

There was confusion about zoning, said Hollis, because of discrepancies in several maps issued over the years, including a 1994 map that did not include the entire 3.14-acre parcel in the NB, or Neighborhood Business, district. He said the north and east boundaries of the parcel match the boundaries of the Bedford Village Water District, which is useful because the sewage treatment plant for Bedford Village Elementary School will be on the property.

More confusion arose when the board began reviewing Part 1 of the Environmental Assessment Form, and questions were raised about the effect on wetlands that were shown on the property. 

Board members wanted to know how they were to assess the environmental impact of the proposal when all they had was a vague outline of a building, without any details about what was to be built. Town Attorney Eric Gordon explained that they had to go through this process under SEQRA regulations as part of the zoning petition. He said if the site plan changes — which Hollis said it would as it became more defined — they would have to go through the environmental review again, and that this was simply a way to “get the ball rolling.”

After further discussion of what seemed to be circular arguments, the board declared itself lead agency for the environmental review.

3-5 Edgemont Road

This Katonah building went through an extensive review process several years ago, as the former home of Katonah Publishing was converted to apartments. Now architect Steven Helmes, representing owner Jamie Provenzano, said Provenzano was requesting that one of the five apartments no longer be required to be affordable, as was agreed to when the approval was granted.

The board pushed back hard against this request, and Attorney Gordon said the law was clear that 20% of the units had to be affordable, which meant one of the five units had to be affordable, and that town law said it had to be one of the units on that site. 

After it became obvious that the request was not going to be granted, Helmes said he would go back to his client and inform him he was unsuccessful.