Citizens for an Informed Yorktown

Planning Board

November 19, 2012

Attending: John Kincart, John Savoca, John Flynn, Rich Fon, Darlene Rivera

Regular Session

1. Kiederer subdivision

The Board unanimously reapproved the subdivision after Dan Ciarcia, the applicant’s engineer advised the Board that the original SEQRA and stormwater findings were still valid.

2. Aspen & Mill Subdivision

The Board unanimously reapproved a second approval request pending county Department of Health and Transportation approvals.

3. Mongero Properties

The Board unanimously reapproved the site plan after Al Capellini, the applicant’s attorney, explained that the applicant is waiting for the DOT to approve the contract between AT&T and a contractor for the relocation of  the fiber optic cable on the site. 

4. Costco

Twenty-seven people spoke at the continuation of the DEIS public hearing, eight in support of Costco, 16 opposed, and three comments that did not appear to be either pro or con.  The Board voted unanimously to close the hearing and left a 30 day period to receive written comments.

Work Session

5. JV Mall:Zoning changes concerning parking requirements

A representative of Simon Properties, owner of the JV Mall, discussed proposed amendments in the parking, landscaping and signage requirements for the regional shopping center zone that have been drafted by town staff. 

Parking: The amendments would replace the existing parking requirement language, which all agreed was outdated and confusing, with the following new language: the number of required spaces would be 4.25 spaces for each 1,000 feet of gross leasable space, which it was explained, is the current industry standard.  It did not make sense, the representative said, to have more spaces just to accommodate parking needs for one week a year.  (For other commercial districts, the requirement would be reduced from 5 to 4 spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area. Existing problems in the Turco parking lot were cited; that lot contains fewer than the 5 spaces .) Planning Director Tegeder asked Simon to  quantify what the new parking requirements would mean when compared to the existing number of spaces.

Landscaping: There was no language in the proposed amendments but there was agreement that more trees were needed. It was suggested that it could be one tree per 12 parking spaces.  The size of the trees could also be specified.  The JV Mall representative suggested that the trees could be planted in diamond shaped islands that would not reduce the number of parking spaces. The company has used a similar approach in the Greenburgh and Hawthorne multiplex theaters.

Signage:  The Simon representative proposed submitting a “signage package” with the revised site plan. The plan would be approved by the Town Board as part of the site plan approval process and would serve as a guide to prospective tenants.

General comments:  Phase I of Simon’s plans will be to “turn the center inside out” and create a new façade facing Route 6 to increase visibility along the road. The existing berm along Route 6 will be modified so that the parking lot will be shielded but the stores made more viable.  The revised site plan should be ready for submission shortly. Phase II, which calls for an expansion of the mall, will be considered based on the company’s experience with the Phase I changes.

Simon is expected to return to the Planning Board on December 3, and, after that meeting, the matter will be returned to the Town Board for a public hearing on the proposed zoning amendments.

6. Winery

On a referral from the Town Board, the Planning Board discussed issuing a new Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO) to the Winery. There was some confusion over when the previous TCO expired and whether the Board was looking to extend the previous TCO of issue a new one. There is no currently valid TCO.

There was some skepticism among Board members as to what the owner, who was not at the meeting, had done since the first TCO was issued and they expressed concern about the need to made the site safe and efficient. Planning Director Tegeder asked what incentive the owner had to make the changes as he is already using the site.  There appeared to be a consensus on the Board to have the Planning Department send a memo to the Town Board recommending that the TCO be limited to six months instead of one year.