Route 35 cell tower gets final approval

Rendering of new sign planned for Katonah apartment building. BEDFORD PLANNING BOARD

Rendering of rear view of proposed home adjacent to the Woodpile. BEDFORD PLANNING BOARD

By JEFF MORRIS

The planning board granted approvals to two Katonah proposals, a cell tower and a sign, among project reviews at its March 10 meeting. It also made more recommendations for the town’s new comprehensive plan.

Maple Avenue cell tower

The Homeland Towers application for a new cell tower adjacent to the Cross River dam gained site plan approval.

Located at 1 Maple Ave., on land owned by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the tower proposal had first come before the town board Nov. 7 and the planning board Nov. 12. The location was recommended by the town’s Wireless Working Group, which said it provided the best coverage to fill a gap along Routes 35 and 22. It went through public hearings in December and January and an environmental review by the planning board. During the hearings, only one person expressed concerns about the tower’s potential impact on the view from the reservoir.

The tower, on an easement offered by the DEP to be controlled by the town, is to be a 130-foot stealth type tower, designed to resemble a pine tree and to support up to four antenna levels. Homeland Towers gave assurances that the site would not be visible from Route 35, and further refined plans to add some 50 ferns around the gravel driveway that comes off Maple Avenue. The board also received assurances that the locations at the top of the tower were reserved for fire and police antennas.

Board member Diane Lewis and chair Deirdre Courtney-Batson singled out the wireless committee for praise, with Courtney-Batson saying, “The wireless committee has been one of the better things that has ever happened to the town of Bedford.”

Bedford Lake Club

Back in March 2023, the planning board issued a steep slopes permit to the Bedford Lake Club for the rehabilitation of Bedford Lake Dam, also known as Howlands Lake Dam. The property, located at 76 Old Wagon Road, Bedford Corners, includes a stone masonry dam structure built in 1895, which the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation had identified as unsound.

The steep slopes permit had an expiration date of March 27, 2025. Required permits from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation were obtained Oct. 3, 2024 with an anticipated start of construction in late fall/early winter of 2024. There were some delays in obtaining a performance bond required by the town prior to the start of construction, with town approval of the bond not obtained until Jan. 23, 2025. The project started construction the week of Feb. 3, and is anticipated to take three months, which would extend past the expiration date of the steep slopes permit.

The board agreed to grant a six-month extension.

Landmark Preschool

A quick approval was given to Bedford Presbyterian Church for renewal of a previously approved special use permit for a day care.

The permit allows Ridgefield Academy, doing business as Landmark Preschool, to operate a day care at the church’s property located at 44 Village Green, Bedford. “There have been no complaints I’m aware of,” said Courtney-Batson, and the permit was renewed for an additional five years.

New home adjacent to the “Woodpile”

The board heard an application for a steep slopes permit in connection with the construction of a new single-family home, along with a recreation bar, pool, driveway, and stormwater management, on 84 acres in Bedford Hills.

While the property, located at 725 Croton Lake Road, is vacant and mostly wooded, it is adjacent to some of the properties of the Woodpile historic district, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a historic landmark district in 1992.

Jan Johannessen of KSCJ Consulting, representing the owner, said this piece of property is among those sold by the family of James Wood, who died at the age of 97 on Aug. 11, 2024. The Stonecrest property is the part of the Woodpile that is immediately adjacent; Johannessen said because of the topography and the planned home’s low profile, ultra-modern design, it should not be visible from the other property.

Courtney-Batson said she was inclined to think they should make a site visit, “just because it’s in such a significant location from an historic point of view in Bedford.” Johannessen said they would be happy to accommodate a visit by the board, though it will be “quite a hike” to access the home site. They will attempt to schedule a visit prior to the next meeting.

Sign for Katonah apartment building

The apartment building recently constructed at 156 Bedford Road, Katonah, next door to the Katonah Bedford Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps, will get a freestanding sign identifying it as “The Mark” under a proposal by the building’s new owner, Mark Fonte of Bedford South 1 Realty LLC.

While the original plan that was approved by the board included two signs that were not yet designed, the board pushed back against that idea, noting that a second sign on the southern side would not be readily visible. The board also asked that the background color of the sign be changed from black to dark green, to match the shutters on the building.

With those changes, the plan was approved.

Comprehensive plan

Continuing a discussion that began Feb. 10, the board again offered suggestions for the draft comprehensive plan. Most of the new input came from Diane Lewis, who was not present at the last meeting. Planning director Jesica Youngblood said she would be gathering the comments into a letter prior to the next public hearing on the plan, which is coming up Tuesday,  March 18.

Among Lewis’ suggestions were to add statements on protecting groundwater; protecting air quality; expanding dark skies regulations that currently only apply to commercial development to apply to residential; emphasizing that industrial uses should be light industrial and not infringe on residential areas; specifically calling out habitat and biodiversity protections; promoting preservation of dirt roads; and more advocacy for improvements to the Metro-North Harlem Line.

Courtney-Batson said she agreed with the idea mentioned at the last public hearing of appending the town’s climate action plan to the draft, but did not think it should go further than that.