Playhouse neighbor, Starbucks offer revised plans to board

By JEFF MORRIS 

At its Aug. 31 meeting, the Bedford Planning Board was presented with substantially revised plans for two commercial applications.

633-647 Old Post Road

The proposal for a mixed-use building next door to the Bedford Playhouse had already been the subject of multiple meetings, with the board spending considerable time going through the environmental review.

Architects responded to board members’ concerns by presenting sketches of two options for reducing the massing of a proposed mixed use building. Above,  Massing Option A uses dormers to give a two-story appearance. Courtesy of Beinfield Architecture

At the last meeting, in July, the plan ran into considerable criticism from the Bedford Village Historic District Review Commission, which said the design “lacks compatibility with the established character, scale and material integrity of Bedford Village Historic District.”

Specifically, commission member Stacey Albanese had said that considerations of scale, siting, and massing are paramount to any new construction within the historic district, and that its 18th and 19th century historic buildings do not exceed two and a half stories, with small scale massing, narrow frontages, and human scale proportions.

“The proposed monolithic structure is significantly broader and taller than any contributing building in the district,” she said, calling the 1947 Playhouse adjacent to the proposed site a “documented outlier” that “does not establish a precedent for expanded scale or massing, in the commission’s opinion.” 

As a result of that feedback, architect Seelan Pather of South Norwalk-based Beinfield Architecture returned to this reopened public hearing with two new “massing options,” essentially revised sketches changing the configuration of the building’s structure and its relationship to its neighbors and the streetscape.

Pather assured the board that BDHRC’s goals “are the goals that we share and have attempted to incorporate from the beginning of this design process when I met with you months ago.” 

Pather said he believed that the “fundamental programming” was sound, meaning that parking belongs at the rear, on the lower level; that they try to create a retail frontage along the street; and that there’s a primary connection from the upper roadway and sidewalk to the lower parking. “Those are the fundamentals that we presented from day one,” he said. 

In the first revised concept he presented, the building was changed from a U-shape to a T-shape, in order to create a larger, 110-foot separation at the northern boundary. This first massing study shows two and a half stories all the way across. 

A U-shaped Plan B for the Old Post Road property offers a private courtyard for residential tenants. Courtesy of Beinfield Architecture

A second concept keeps the previous U-shape, with more of a private courtyard for the tenants within. It also maintains a full third story, but only for a smaller portion of the building, while maintaining the enlarged pedestrian courtyard in front. Pather said this plan also reduces the overall mass of the structure in relation to the Playhouse building. He said they would like to keep their options open as they figure out the architecture.

Board chair Deirdre Courtney-Batson said she thought this was a very different direction than what they saw last time, “and one I’m much more comfortable with. I’m particularly impressed with the extent to which there’s been an attempt to listen to what’s been said.”

The board turned its attention to continuing a review of Part 3 of the SEQRA environmental assessment. After spending 20 minutes on that, there were three chapters remaining undiscussed: impact on transportation; impact on archaeological and historic resources; and consistency with community character. Those were tabled until the next meeting, and the hearing was adjourned.

Bedford Road Starbucks

Unlike the Bedford Village application, a revised plan for a proposed Starbucks at 777 Bedford Road, Bedford Hills, was not the result of feedback from the board; the building had been rotated to comply with Starbucks corporate signage and layout standards.

The new café building is now a little smaller, he said, allowing them to rotate it and fit it on the site in accordance with the Starbucks standards. 

The application calls for demolition of an existing bank building at the front of the Kohl’s property, and construction of a Starbucks with a drive-through window, patio and parking.

The proposal previously had been before the board on Feb. 9, at which time it was granted a negative declaration for environmental impact. It then went to the Zoning Board of Appeals, which approved three variances, for building coverage, development coverage and a pylon sign, all of which Catizone said were actually reduced from existing conditions.

According to the application, Starbucks evaluated the location of the refuse area and determined that it was too far from the service entrance and resulted in trash having to be removed through the outside eating area. It was relocated north of the proposed building to have minimal impact to outside seating and provide a more direct route from the service area. Screen walls were added along the service side of the building and walkway in conformance with Starbucks corporate standards.

Starbucks also evaluated the location of the small parking area to the north of the building and felt that it was disconnected from the remainder of the site and created another intersection to the driveway through lane; the parking was reconfigured accordingly. As a result of these revisions, the previously proposed retaining wall to the north of the building was eliminated, creating the opportunity for a larger and continuous outdoor eating area.

Catizone said Diamond Properties, which owns the property along with the adjacent commercial development in Mount Kisco, brought in a landscape consultant to create a look consistent with the rest of their campus, and utilize only native plants, as had been requested by the board.

Catizone also said they had been working with Mount Kisco officials to resolve the water supply issue for the site. They discovered that the water feed to Kohl’s is actually a 6-inch combined service for fire and domestic, designed for approximately 9,000 gallons a day — and that Kohl’s and Vision World combined are using less than 400 gallons a day. Essentially, that’s the equivalent of about a three-bedroom home worth of flows for a 90,000-square-foot building, he said. They are currently in talks with the village of Mount Kisco about different ways of using the existing service.

After some further discussion about wastewater treatment, landscaping, and the possibility of solar panels, the board granted preliminary site plan approval.