Plans emerge for former Katonah tractor dealer on Bedford Road

140 Bedford Road in a photo taken as the facade was undergoing renovation. JEFF MORRIS PHOTO

By JEFF MORRIS 

The Planning Board began discussion on Oct. 22 of an application for preliminary site plan approval to renovate the former Arroway Tractor building at 140 Bedford Road, Katonah.

Steven Helmes, of The Helmes Group, presented the plan to convert the  17,500-square-foot building, which at one time was an automobile dealership, into a multitenant commercial building. It is right next to the site of a proposed 15-unit apartment building at 150 Bedford Road that was granted preliminary site plan approval in July. Helmes is also the architect of that building.

Because of its location, the board, while supportive of the concept — and praising the renovations already done to the facade — was concerned about traffic circulation and deliveries. 

Board Chair Deirdre Courtney-Batson said her concern was not the volume impact on Bedford Road, since, given how heavy the traffic already is on that road, she did not think this would actually make a huge difference. 

But, she said, “the driveway arrangements in this area are already difficult — the left turns in and out.” 

She said she would like to see a traffic engineer or consultant look at the driveways and make sure that they will work and not interfere with each other. Board member Michael Tierney noted that the lot currently at 150 is where much of the overflow parking for 140 had been located. 

A letter sent by Patricia and Craig Rogers, who live nearby, expressed the same concerns about in-and-out traffic, speeding on Bedford Road and dangers to motorists, pedestrians and children at a school bus stop close by.

A complication in considering the application was due to the variety of potential tenants, with some types of businesses having different impacts in terms of traffic, numbers of visitors and length of stays than others. There are no firm commitments from tenants at this point, though various uses, including a café or restaurant, are listed in the application.

One prospective tenant was said to be a gym that could occupy the larger metal portion of the building in the rear, formerly a garage/service area. Helmes said windows were being installed there.

The larger sticking point turned out to be the size of that business, which would occupy more than the 4,000 square feet per use permitted by the town in central business and neighborhood business districts. 

Courtney-Batson said that the law, which she had helped write, was not working as intended. It was originally conceived in an effort to prevent large chain stores from taking the place of smaller local businesses, but it has proved to have unanticipated consequences in the years since. The board agreed to ask the Town Board to revise it, but Courtney-Batson advised Helmes that, given the length of time that process would likely entail, it would probably make more sense to go ahead and apply for a variance from the Zoning Board.

Lacking more detail on the tenant mix, the board asked the applicants to return in November with updated plans.