St. Mary's Katonah subdivision draws intense opposition

Photograph provided by The Helmes Group of an existing house on the St. Mary’s property.

By JEFF MORRIS

A plan by St. Mary’s Church of the Assumption to subdivide its property in Katonah continues to draw intense criticism.

The proposal was subjected to questions and concerns from neighbors at a Planning Board hearing Aug. 31, and was again the focus of scrutiny from the public at the Oct. 1 Zoning Board of Appeals meeting.

The application came before the ZBA because the subdivision the church is seeking, in the Village Apartment zoning district, resulted in the need for variances to front-yard and side-yard setback requirements.

With Meredith Black chairing the meeting in the absence of Chair Peter Michaelis, and member Rosemary Lee viewing the session remotely, the short-handed board spent an hour and a half discussing the proposal and hearing comments from neighborhood residents. 

The board ultimately voted unanimously to approve the request after making clear that the ZBA had a very narrow jurisdiction on the matter and could not allow the possibility of any future sales or development to influence its decision.

The plan

St. Mary’s wants to create a three-lot subdivision of the 5.32 acres it owns at 117 Valley Road. Lot 1 would contain the 1980s-era rectory; lot 2, a small house with a Tier 1 historic designation; and lot 3, roughly three vacant acres fronting on Wildwood Road with wetlands and steep slopes. 

The church has stated its goal is to sell the little house, which is vacant after its tenant was evicted for defaulting on rent for a year; keep the rectory; and subdivide the vacant acreage. The subdivision would be required in order to sell the house, and the line between lot 1 and lot 2 is what triggered the need for a variance. The rectory would be 31.9 feet from the proposed lot line, where 50 feet is required. A side-yard setback would be 10.1 feet where 50 feet is required, with the subdivision lot line resulting in a combined side-yard setback of 35.1 feet where 100 feet is required.

The property technically has two frontages: one on Valley Road, and the other on Wildwood Road. Lot 3, the vacant back parcel, needs no variance, and any future development there would be reviewed by the Planning Board separately.

Architect Stephen Helmes had said earlier that he was advised that if they want to create a three-lot subdivision, they had to see if the back lot is buildable. He said they did this by creating two possibilities: a single-family home with access off Wildwood, and a two-building, 16-unit development, also with access off Wildwood. He said they came up with a plan to show the property could support a maximum of 16 apartments “if needed,” but that the church has no interest in actually developing the property itself — only in subdividing it so it will be able to sell the vacant house.

“There will be no change in the character of that neighborhood with this lot line,” Helmes insisted.

The objections

Three residents — Tom Conrad of Valley Road, Jeff Motelson of Wildwood Road, and Elizabeth Plenkett of Wildwood Road — voiced most of the concerns at this meeting. Their objections were aimed at what they saw as the inevitable consequences of the subdivision and future sale of the vacant parcel.

“I think it’s important to note that the variance being requested isn’t just two feet, or six feet, or 12 feet,” Conrad said. “I mean, we’re talking about 40 feet on one side, and 65 feet of the required 100 feet total side-yard setback. That’s a significant variance and no small thing.”

Motelson was particularly vehement about the future of the vacant parcel. “This is a Trojan horse,” he said. “There is going to be a problem because it’s not going to be vacant for long. They can build on it right away. They won’t need a variance to do it. It can be built on immediately.”

He also raised concerns about the former St. Mary’s School located just up the road. He noted St. Mary’s School is no longer in that building, having relocated to the Kennedy School Complex in Somers. 

“It now is being used for school purposes, exactly four hours and 40 minutes a week for what they call CCD classes,” he said. “And for that, they have a usage allowance from the town of Bedford or from the city of New York as the case may be of 10,000 gallons of sewage a day for its four hours a week of school usage. It’s so wildly disproportionate to reality, you have to wonder.”

Motelson brought up other issues as well, describing flooding that had occurred at one point when stormwater flowed all the way down Wildwood Road, and referring to the narrow, winding nature of the road, all the people who walk and jog along it, and all the traffic that is generated by activities at Katonah Memorial Park.

Board limitations

Black spent much of the hearing explaining the board’s jurisdiction. She said the ZBA cannot adjudicate future use or future ownership, and that other issues that were raised, including taxation of church property or sewage allowances, were also beyond its purview. She noted the historic lot 2 house carries additional protection, and any footprint change would need a new variance review. Also, the granted side-yard setback for the rectory applies only to the rectory as it stands.

While more objections were raised, along with suspicions about whether Father Mark Vaillancourt would actually remain living in the rectory, the board countered that none of these questions about future occupancy, ownership, or development were of any relevance to the matter at hand. The application had been referred by the Planning Board because a variance was needed before it could consider the subdivision, and even if the ZBA granted the variance, it would then be up to the Planning Board to continue reviewing the proposal. If the subdivision is approved, lot 3’s actual development would again have to go back to the Planning Board, with its own public hearing.

The three members of the ZBA present approved the variance. Lee could not vote because she did not attend in person.