Planning Board Meeting

Good evening. I'd like to call the Village of Croton on Hudson planning board meeting for Tuesday, 07/28/2026 to order. We have a couple of items on our agenda. First being a new business item, Carmel Riverside LLC, 425 South Riverside Avenue. Applications for a special permit, site plan approval, and a steep slope permit for a new 49 unit multifamily building. I have a relationship with one of the principals in this application who I have ongoing business with, mister Leggio, and therefore, am recusing myself from the application and will turn over the chairmanship of the meeting and the review of this application to our deputy chairman, Geoffrey Haynes. So I'll be stepping down now, and I'll come back at the end of the meeting.

Alright. So we respect Rob's decision. He is concerned about the integrity of the village planning board and wants to make sure there's no perception at all of of any kind of favoritism. So we respect that. I'm gonna miss him greatly in this application. His expertise is incredible. In fact, he was named by Westchester Municipal Planning Federation, the planner of the year. So his skills are great. We're we're gonna miss him for this application. So we're beginning tonight a long, long process. Okay? The village residents are concerned that we give this a thorough review. We're gonna do that. We're gonna give this a thorough review, and that of course takes time. There's a number of moving parts to this application, and it's fairly sprawling. And we're going to be tracking each and every one of the loose ends to see that they are fully evaluated. The way this will play out over the next few weeks, tonight we're gonna have a period where we're we have many questions for the applicants. Those of you that have read the backup material that's provided on the website will see a report from our planning consultant that works for the village, NPV, represented by Bill Brady over here that outlines 31 areas that are pointed out is needing some additional clarification or some additional information. We also have some accompanying documentation on traffic studies and school enrollment impact and water and sewer impact and and community benefits. So there's a lot of supporting documentation that came with this. This is, you know, a a six inch high packet of information that the planning board gets for this. So we're gonna be going through that tonight, asking questions about that supporting information, the traffic study, the water and sewer hookups, etcetera. This meeting tonight, just so everybody's aware, is gonna be a discussion with a developer where we have a lot of gaps in this application that we need clarified before we can go into a full presentation of where everything's gonna be laid out on the property, how tall it's gonna be, what color it's gonna be, where the car chargers are gonna be. We're not there yet. Where we are right now is with an application that that has a lot of gaps. And until we have all that information in hand, we're not ready to get a a presentation from the developer With any luck, that information comes to us by the next meeting, and we might be able to entertain a a presentation at that point. I know this might be news to you guys, but just wanna explain to you that the what we see is the process going forward and be transparent about that.

This application includes a special permit and a site plan review. Two actions that the planning board has to take and two approvals or denials that that the planning board would be responsible for. There'll be public hearings on both of those. Tonight is not a public hearing. Tonight is gonna be one on one with the applicant. Bill Brady, our NPV planning consultant will be going through point by point the 31 areas that we need more information on. And then plenty board members will have a bunch of questions as well, perhaps a village engineer to flush out the application. So we're not at the point yet where we can get a presentation nor a public comment until we have a common set of facts that everybody understands what this project entails. It's it's premature to to start making points about it. So let the process play out. I know some of you came here wishing to speak, but give us some time to to to do our due diligence, have some patience, and we will get a better application, a a better group of information for you to for you to react to as a result of this. So that's kind of where I what I wanted to lay out. This is gonna be several meetings. There's there's gonna be a lot of loose ends to track down and and follow throughout the meeting. There may be some zoning board variances that need to be pursued. We'll find out about that tonight. So there there's a lot of things that are gonna transpire. Obviously, no decisions are gonna be made tonight nor anytime in the immediate future. So just so everybody's aware, this this is something that the the planning board is really gonna weigh carefully and dig into

like we have. And, you know, rest assured that's that's where we're going with this. Anybody have anything else they'd like to add to this? No.

Do you wanna have the attorney tee up some of

Yeah.

What our protocols and abilities are and are

So that's a good point, Steve. So what we'll do is we'll turn it over. Introducing our team here, Bill Brady from MPV, Lori Lee Dickson Dickson, I'm sorry, the village attorney, and Vincent Salanitro is our village engineer. Karen Stapleton is our representative from the engineering department, and the planning board members who you have probably seen in previous meetings. So we're gonna be working with with the developer to to answer these questions and flush it out. And during the course of this process, the planning board cannot just say, no, we don't like this and vote no. We've got certain criteria we have to weigh and some criteria we can't weigh. So to kind of flush some of that out, Lori, if you don't mind

Sure.

Giving people an overview of of some of the things that the planning board will be able to consider in this application.

Sure. I I and I I think the concerns are specific to the special permit. So, of course, there's a site development plan that goes along with that. But since this is the first application to to be entirely within the purview of the planning board, I thought maybe just to explain the process for a special permit, a special use permit. And the the criteria is clearly in the code. I did an educational memorandum to you. It's not privileged and confidential. It will be uploaded along with the rest of the documents. It just explains what a special permit is, what it entails, and the decision by the village board of trustees to assign you with the primary responsibility of the special use permit was because of your unique qualifications and expertise in these these planning aspects. The Village Board of Trustees has enacted local legislation in your your village code, which defines uses permitted as of right and indicates that in in your use tables and also defines what uses are permitted by special permit. So they've already predetermined by legislation that the use proposed is permitted in this zone, at this location, in this zone, pursuant to additional conditions and additional criteria. So so you're not allowed as a planning board to legislate otherwise. You can find by reviewing the criteria in the code, and it's article 10 of the village code, zoning code. Article 10 and its complete, current state is also included in the memo that I provided and will be uploaded. So you can see in its entirety the areas to be considered by the planning board, and the applicant is aware of the responsibilities to meet the minimum requirements. And the project, once it's determined to be the project and presented publicly

Mhmm. Will then have an you'll have an opportunity to look at the project as proposed and to determine what additional information you may require, what other records or evidence that you need. And again, you'll need to find substantial evidence in the record to either approve it approve it with conditions or deny it in its entirety. But that substantial evidence must be present in your record. Your record is the development starting with this initial conversation and continuing throughout the public hearing process. This project, once it's ready in answering all of the necessary information that may or may not be missing from the the plans that you have in front of you, will need to go to the County Planning Board for review and comment before you can reach a decision. And also, under the code provision as adopted recently will need to be transmitted to the Board of Trustees for consideration as to providing you with comments. So, that's a thirty day process. The the project having appeared this evening on your agenda can now be placed on a board of trustees agenda and the thirty days will run from the date of that meeting. So you do have time to obtain more information from the developer, set of revised plans if appropriate under the planning your your planning consultant's recommendations, and then you'll have time to consider comments you may receive from the county. Again, that's a thirty day requirement and comments you may receive from the Board of Trustees. Mhmm. Again, the criteria is clearly set forth in the code and you are limited if if you can determine that those factors and that criteria is met through evidence provided by the developer, then you can approve this, approve it with conditions or if you feel

that it hasn't met the necessary criteria based upon substantial evidence in the record, you can deny it in its entirety. So that's the limitation. You can't legislate it and say this use is not appropriate because the board of trustees has already determined this use is permitted by special permit in this

zoning district. Okay. Thank you. So there there's obviously some time ahead of us for things to be investigated. Tonight, as I mentioned, we'll have the collaborative discussion with the developer where Bill Brady is gonna walk through the the memo that mentions the gaps that we saw in the application so that perhaps next meeting we can come back and have an application that's that's closer to being complete, and we can move on from there. So perhaps, Andrew, if you wanna come up to the microphone, bring your team up, introduce everybody, and, we'll I'll turn it over to Bill to, walk through his his questions.

Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Andrew Cortese. I'm the applicant Carmel Riverside LLC. I have my managing partner here, Robert Leggio. We're here to present our multi family project. A little bit about myself, I've been doing development, real estate development and construction for the last thirty years within Westchester County. From typically, most likely through the real through the river towns from Yonkers all the way up to Peekskill. We within the thirty years, we acquired some property and we hold it in our portfolio and we manage it as well. So typically, we build and manage our own projects. So that's what we're looking to do here. We take pride in our work. And a little bit about this project, we we purchased it myself and my partner probably two and a half years ago. There were some violations on the property. We cleaned those up. There were some tenants there. We kind of they're still there as well right now. We were we were transparent with our goals to redevelop the property. So they're well aware that we are looking to do that.

And Sorry. Can you move the the mic? Mic?

Oh, sorry. I'm so sorry.

I know you have problem. Thank you. Thank

you. Yeah, we're well you know, the the tenants are well aware that we're looking to redevelop the property. We've been transparent with them, And, we look forward to working with your board in the future for this development here.

Thank you.

Just a few words. Good evening, deputy chair, board members, staff. My name Jacob Amir. I'm from Zarin and Steinmetz. Our firm is the attorney on the project. And I I just wanna kinda supplement very briefly. I'm not gonna take up too much time. What you opened with and and that this is a serious long, we hope not too long, but a but a serious process. And and I'm I'm happy that the members of the community are here behind us, this table to hear this project from the outset. Because I think it's important from the beginning to get a good perspective of what the project is. It's much easier to go through it that way. And we look forward to hearing mister Brady's and your village consultant's comments. A few seconds just overall, so everybody hears what what this is. So the project proposes the development of a building with 49 units, a combination of one and two bedroom units. I believe 79 parking spaces including five handicap spaces. Five affordable units, e bike, bike storage, various amenities and improvements. Your planning consultant has identified this as a type two action under secret. There are variances that are required, so we will be asking your board to refer to the zoning board so that we can proceed with that. But again, what's important to especially note for the people behind Andrew and me, is that it doesn't obviously end with the zoning board. That is just one small relatively speaking component of this. It will go back to this to this board for for site plan and special use permit as you had mentioned before. I wanna just sort of introduce very quickly, and then we're gonna turn it over to the consulting team because there's a lot of info to get through

who's here, and the reason why I wanna introduce is because you said there are components here. There's storm water, and lighting, and landscaping, and traffic flow, and school impact. So I think all of that needs to be addressed at the outset, not just because we wanna show off that we have a project that's really great for the village, but that the team has gone through great efforts to try to get us here. There's a lot to put in, but that's it's important to lay out. Lou DeMasi, DiMasi Architects is gonna go through architectural plans to the extent we're able. Jim Annicchiarico from Croton Engineering and Michael Mastrogiacomo from Mastro Geocomo Engineering are gonna handle engineering aspects of the project. Robert Sherwood is gonna talk to you about some landscaping and Paul Vernon and Tars of Kimley Horn are gonna talk to you about some fiscal issues, school impact or non impact and traffic memo. So hopefully, we get a wide scope on this meeting, and then we intend to incorporate your planning consultant's comments into a further submission. So as we go through this process, the issues and the open points become less and less and less and less till we get to a place where your board is comfortable with the site plan and special use permit.

Okay. That's great. Thank you. Just to add one more piece of detail to explain some of the process. We do anticipate that we will use an issues actions tracking sheet to keep track of all the loose ends that we have in this project, things that we may be asking you to come back with. And it would just be a central document, you know, a single source of truth that we would share with you. And In every the public. In the public. Yeah. It's gonna be part of the public meeting backup. And it would show what blue sends are, who's responsible, and the the promised delivery date of those things. It's just common, you know, project management tracking type mechanism. So that'll be incorporated into into this process as well. So I imagine the points that Bill's bringing up tonight will fall into that sheet. Some additional ones that the group here comes up with tonight would fall into that sheet. That'll be great. It it keeps us on our on our toes with the checklist. So that's that's that's great. Sure.

Do you wanna take or alluded to step in?

Alright. So with that And again, mister mister acting chair, just so we're clear, the board isn't necessarily interested in taking a full blown presentation tonight. I think that they're interested clearly in the elements that the planning consultant has has indicated. So maybe instead of taking the experts' presentations on the project, you can start by just having that review in public of the items that the planning consultant have determined may be missing from this and also the planning board seeking clarifications on some of the questions and comments raised in

Yeah. Exactly. I mean, that's that's the intention for tonight. It would not be a full blown presentation. Glad you guys have your subject matter experts on hand. They may be able to help fill in some gaps that, the bill raises. So, we we could use them for for that, part of it. So with that, Bill, if you wanna

Yeah. Run down the list. Great. Thank you very much, Jared. Again, as you noted, our memo was in the materials that are online. And if you wanna review those, you'll you'll kinda can play along. We put together this memo to kinda also give the board and the public background on complicated. There's a lot of different pieces to the things that need this board's gonna be approving. Get nice and closer. Thank you. And reviewing, and it's a good opportunity for the applicant to understand, kinda going forward and all be on the same page as we've discussed on the various pieces. And, this is our initial review of again, we'll get into some of the general and procedural comments that we've pulled together. As has already been said, the board is gonna be looking at this for a site plan approval by the planning board, and a public hearing will be conducted by the planning board, for site plan approval. The planning board will also be reviewing this as the attorney also mentioned this for special permit approval. It requires special permit by from the planning board, and a public hearing will also be conducted by the planning board for the, special permit. As already mentioned too, this application is categorized as qualifying exemption under the New York State Environmental Conservation Law. No further seeker action is required for this application. It doesn't mean that this board will not be looking at the many many the many many environmental impacts of this project though. As already mentioned, this project will be, the application will refer to Westchester County Department of Planning, Westchester County, due to its, due to the special use permit. There are also additional local land use permits. We list them in here, everything from a steep slope permit, a tree removal permit, and an excavation and filling permit. We've requested that the application the applicants submit those application materials to the village as we go further along. I think it's also mentioned that this this application not only is in the C 2 Commercial District, C 2 General

District. It's also located in the, sorry, the Harmon South Riverside Gateway overlay zoning district. So it's got it's got its underlying zoning, the C 2, and also the HSRG overlay zoning district. So we'll get into some of those details on those two districts. We note that the we've outlined what we believe are potential zoning variances that the application would be would would require based on the current submission, and we request some additional information as we go through some of these, specific variances that would again, as mentioned, we'd have to go go through the zoning board of appeals. We note that the, per the zoning court per per the zoning code, the maximum floor area ratio shall be 0.8, and the applicant needs to provide an exact calculation so that we all understand what floor area ratio is proposed for this project. The next one is regarding the height of the project. The maximum height is, 35 feet. In addition, the, for buildings located in their entirety more than five feet from the street line, the height in feet and in stories shall be established by the village engineer in such a way that no building shall be prevented from attaining at least at one point the maximum height permitted in the district in which such building is proposed to be erected, Such height, to be measured above the elevation of the preconstruction grade abutting such building at this point. We noted that in the, site plan drawings, we need to, see, they need to provide that the calculations regarding the height of the building relation to the site, and those will be provided to the village engineer for his review. Also, another variance is that we note that the front yard setback does not comply with the for the C 2 zoning district,

and for lots within 25 feet of a residential district boundary. So a variance will be required related to that setback, and the front yard setback does not comply with the HSRG overlay zoning district, a variance, from the zoning board of appeals will be required. So regarding parking, in the code specifically said, notwithstanding any other provisions of the code, for mixed use and multifamily residential buildings in that HSRG gateway, overlay area, there shall be provided at least the following amount of parking for each residential dwelling unit, one parking space plus one additional parking space for each bedroom in the unit in excess of one bedroom. And we say, for example, studio apartment, one space, one bedroom apartment, one space, two bedroom apartment, two spaces. So the proposed project will will meet the minimum parking requirements, but the zoning table has a wrong calculation for the required parking. Again, the applicant will give the correct information and and provide that to the board. So then we get into the area and bulk regulations relating to the maximum building square footage. The code says with the exception of lots within the C 2 Zoning District and the municipal place gateway area, the municipal place, the maximum permissible square footage for any single building should not exceed 20,000 square feet. It appears that the building will be larger than 20,000 square feet, so a a variance from the ZVA will be required, and we are asking that the applicant confirm the building's total square footage. So now we're gonna get into some of the design regulations, and this has to do with off street parking placement and design. The code states that all of the parking shall be located along the side and in the rear of buildings unless the applicant demonstrates to the planning board that site or business constraints prevent prevent conformance with this requirement.

The the proposed project does not meet this requirement, and we're requesting that the applicant provide more information whether or not they're gonna be seeking a waiver from the planning board for that requirement. Another requirement is related to curb cuts and sidewalks. Quote, properties within the gateway area shall be permitted a maximum of one vehicular curb cut per lot per street frontage unless the property owner can demonstrate the planning board that the standard cannot be achieved or is not appropriate to the specific site, and the project does not, meet this requirement, and we're asking the applicant to, seek a waiver from the planning board related to that curb cut and sidewalk requirement. Another requirement related to open space, quote, to enhance the appearance of the gateway areas and contribute to Croton's open space character, a minimum a minimum of 15% of the lot shall be set aside as open space. Applicants will be required to submit a landscape plan as part of the site plan application. The applicant has submitted a landscape plan, but additional information is needed to determine if the project complies with this section. If any of the components do not comply, the applicant will need to either seek a variance from the ZBA or a waiver from the planning board. So then related to signage, all signs in the Gateway District must conform to the village's signage regulations. In addition, no sign in the Gateway District shall exceed 48 square feet in area, and the application the applicant will be would is required to provide more information if they're gonna be having any signs at the proposed site and, again, the sizes of those signs. Regarding lighting, a lighting and photometric plan is required at the time of site plan application. That has not been submitted, and the the applicant should provide this to confirm that the lighting plans will meet the requirements of the lighting section of the code.

So more about parking. Regarding the size of the parking spaces, 300 square feet shall be considered one parking space, and it's to provide room for standing area and aisles for maneuvering. The applicant should provide parking dimensions on the site plan to confirm the proposed project meets the zoning regulations for that requirement. Related to access, Unobstructed access to and from a street shall be provided. Such access shall consist of at least one ten foot lane for parking areas with less than 20 spaces and at least two ten foot lanes for parking areas with 20 or more spaces. So the applicant, is requested to provide the parking aisle and access dimensions on the site plan to confirm that the project meets those zoning requirements. We get into another list of regulations, more regulations. The project will need to meet we discussed this before. The project will need to meet the regulations relate related to the village's affordable housing requirements. This project the planning board will need to make a determination regarding the reservation of parkland. So the planning board will determine whether a a proper case exists for requiring such land reservation in accordance with the code. Related to the village's local waterfront revitalization consistency, the board will need to make it its consistency determine determination with the village's LWRP as part of its final site plan approval, and the applicant has provided a coastal consistency form. The project will need to conform to the village requirements for storm water pollution prevention. They'll need to provide a plan for that. But because the site is greater than one acre, a storm water pollution plan will be required. The site, excuse me, falls within the Indian Brook Croton Gorge overlay and must meet the performance criteria of those, of that part of the code. The applicant should provide a narrative on how the project will meet the criteria of that overlay.

So we also that's just the background on all the different approvals and requirements of this project. We then took a look at the site plan, and we had the following comments. Regarding the landscaping plan, we recommended that the applicant provide an irrigation plan for all the new plantings plantings and can please confirm that the rear plantings will not be in constant shade, and if so, select another species and also provide information on how the rear area of the project will be maintained. We had a comment on the retaining walls. We note that three tiers of retaining walls are proposed with the with the site plan. Additional details on the construction of the walls should be provided. We're requesting whether or not geotechnical studies have been conducted on the stability of the slopes. The planning board may wanna consider having a structural engineer review those structural plans. Related to water and sewer and the capacity of those, utilities in the area. So in accordance to the with the code, the location of all proposed water lines, valves, and hydrants, and of all sewer lines with profile should be provided indicating connections with existing lines or or alternative means of water supply or sewage disposal and treatment. Again, related to storm water, related, the code requires that a storm water pollution prevention plan, we've discussed this already, shall be required for any site development plan, and that it will need to be submitted, still needs to be submitted. Tree removal, relating to tree removal, the code requires that a tree removal plan be provided. Relating to blasting or rock removal, we are requesting information on whether blasting or rock removal will be, happening at the site, and if so, what mechanism is proposed to remove the rock. Related to emergency access, we noted that, one of the the plans do include a fire truck access plan,

but it still needs to show the ability for a fire truck to access the garage or, show adequate maneuvering space. And we we're requesting that they, discuss, whether or not the project meets the New York State Building Code fire access requirements, and a turning diagram on the proposed site should be provided. We also recommend that the planning board refer this application to the village, fire department for their review and comment. Related to visual impacts and elevations, architectural elevations have been provided, but no context montage is included as required by code, a a context montage. A streetscape montage that shows adjacent buildings within 200 feet of the proposed building is required, and the applicant should provide should provide photo simulations of the project in the context of the surrounding properties. In addition, we ask that they provide rear elevations of the proposed building and its retaining walls. Regarding lighting, a lighting diagram is required that shows the areas of illumination. The code requires that the proposed location, direction, power, and time the timing of the proposed outdoor lighting, is provided by means of data, details, and an illumination contour plan, which shows that lighting equal to or greater than one half foot candle will not splay off the site as required. We get into we discussed trash collection. So we note that the trash storage and removal appear to be located at the garage door or refuge area shown on the plans, but the garbage truck can only back into the site blocking the driveway and the sidewalk. Additionally, in the preliminary set of the 1st Floor plan, a trash room is shown adjacent to the refuge area without an internal connection, so we're asking that the applicant clarify the proposed trash collection process. Also, the garbage truck turning diagram shows that the truck must back into the site from South Riverside Avenue blocking the driveway and the site proposed sidewalk,

and we're requesting that they discuss how often will the trash will be picked up. And, also, all dumpsters and refuge storage areas shall be fully screened from the street and adjacent properties as per the code. We discussed the proposed walkway, that was shown on the on the drawings. The applicant will discuss a little bit more of that, and whether or not there'll be entrant an entrance to the building through the walkway on-site. Delivery and loading area, we're asking for more information on delivery vehicles, where where they will be what area that will be located, whether or there's a loading or delivery vehicle zone, And if so, we're requesting that they mark that on the site plan. The code also requires a construction a construction management plan. And in those in that management plan, the applicant will be also providing information on phasing and staging during construction, duration of construction, truck traffic during construction, construction noise, and construction dust. So in that construction management plan, they're required to provide that. So it's a long list, and again, we're at the beginning, but they have a lot to get back to us. Thank you very much, chairman.

Thanks, Bill. It's really complete. Really appreciate all your hard work on that. So I'm assuming you guys will come back with something in the next meeting, something in writing. Give you time to to digest this. Meanwhile, while we're here together, do you have any initial questions, feedback, comments on what you heard so far?

So I no. We we we don't have any comments per se. We we want a second that we appreciate the thorough memo. This is a great road map for us. So it's it's very, very helpful. I don't know if if look, we we have our team here. It it may be helpful for for them to just give a little bit of their thoughts on the project, at least aspects of the project. We wanna we don't wanna be long winded, but at least since since everyone's here, have them come up and just give give some some sort of facets of it to put into context what what we just heard from mister Brady.

Yeah. No. I mean, we we don't have a complete application at this point. I think it might be premature to bring people up and start talking about the project. Okay. Unfortunately, you you assembled your team for this and and, you know, sorry that they they're here and not able to speak. But we really wanna keep the focus on these outstanding issues, get a complete application together. I think that'll facilitate the project more than anything else. We come back. We all got a common set of facts to deal with. We all know what needs to be done. So that's kinda how I was hoping we would we would proceed tonight. And also because there are so many questions on here

adding or subtracting from the list of variances, that's, you know, a very essential question that should be answered. Some of the missing items and details and information may impact your ability to refer this at some point because you're not really sure what variances they're seeking and what needs to be sought and whether, you know, they're aware of the extent that the project didn't meet the code. And if, you know, if they have members of their team then can speak to one or more of the comments, the architectural comments or the site plan comments or the it you know, it's it's important for you to and the public to have a project that is as complete as possible and ready for for public comment, ready for referrals, ready for, you know, the necessary distributions under the general municipal law, etcetera. So I don't I don't know if there's any clarification that your team members might have available. I'm you know, I realized that, yeah, it's very short notice, but you can see from seven pages, it's it's pretty thorough.

Let me just let me just comment. So there are we would like, if it's possible, to to get the referral to the zoning board. The reason why I'm I'm going back to that is, there are there are a couple of variances that we're clearly gonna need that are not gonna change as we go through this. I've, you know, set back for instance. I think I think Robert Sherwood, if he can, can probably talk about the open space because that I know is one item that may be up in the air as to whether we need a variance, whether we're asking for a waiver. So if it's possible, if, you know, if we could just touch on that on that one because if that is somewhat satisfying to to you this evening, I'm hopeful that we can get the referral to the zoning board. And look, just to just to be open, it's on the applicant to to get a full variance request. Right? If we go to the zoning board with a request for two or three variances and we needed four, let's say it's hypothetical, we're just we're wasting our own I'm wasting your time, but we're wasting our own time. We're gonna go through this process. So the onus is on us to make as complete a variance request as possible. Otherwise, we're gonna have to go back there, which is why I I I would I'm hopeful we can get that process started now.

But if if it's okay, if we can speak to the open space item.

Yeah. I mean, if if we stick our comments strictly to the questions that were raised, your your responses, we can entertain that. Okay.

Okay. But, Jeff, just point of reference, my own opinion is that I don't is this Honda? Yes. I don't wanna be sending stuff just as, the attorney just said. I don't wanna be sending stuff to the zoning board piecemeal. And I don't wanna you I don't wanna submit anything to the zoning board until the application's complete to our satisfaction.

That's all. Yep. Perfect. Yeah. We we just we just converse. I think that that that makes sense. We let's supplement what we have in the next meeting. Okay. I think that's

the most efficient way to handle it. If per chance, the project will be amended or in some way changed as a result of the need for this significant number of variances or whether other variances are necessary, it would be important to get the actual project as proposed and certainly the inability to get variances would foreclose the opportunity to come back here to proceed. So, you do want to make sure that there's coordination and Mhmm. That the project is ready for a public presentation, you know, as routinely intended for the first meeting. But in speaking with the acting chair and the board members earlier this evening, in light of the significance and this list, site plan and special permit, we thought it best to provide you the opportunity to supplement to the point where you can make that presentation and and the public can be

satisfied that this is what you're proposing. Right. Yeah. So just a couple of housekeeping items then since since we we'll go that way. One is, are the notice is to the related agencies and and county, is that gonna be held in advance till the next meeting or is that the tie is that going out now?

So there's a notice that goes to Westchester County Planning Board, but I don't think that goes to them until we declare declare an I a public hearing. So I think that that wouldn't start we that we wouldn't send it to the Westchester Department of Planning until we

declare when the public hearing is gonna be on this matter. Okay. I I I'm not aware of what the procedure process is. So it does it it it really is incumbent for this to be ready for public before it's distributed. I know that the the code also requires the transmittal and the Board of Trustees once they add it to their agenda and they have an agenda upcoming. Len?

August 19.

August 19. Thank you. What day is it? August 19, it will it will appear on their agenda and give them the opportunity, and the thirty days will run from the date that it appears on their agenda as well. So I guess I'm, you know, I've known you a long time, Jacob. I'm just Yep. I wanna encourage and and mister Cortese, I I advised on other projects at other communities that you were developing. I just wanna make sure that this is the project and with so many things missing and being suggested to be added. I think it would be helpful for the public to know what the project is.

That makes sense. So, in terms of chronology based upon that. So, if we're coming back to this board's next meeting, obviously assuming we have all our ducks in order. I know the memo from the cons planning consultant was came out, I think, the twenty fourth. So we had to go through that right after that. I don't know if there's a timing on assuming we get everything that we're gonna get. I mean, it's it's on us to do that as quickly as possible. Is there a timing on when the consultant can can return a memo? And also, will the next meeting be a public meeting? Will will it be open to the pub a a public hearing?

Likely not a public hearing, but Vince, if you wanna talk about the submission of documents and the deadline

Yeah.

To submit documents before the next meeting.

It's usually fifteen days before the the meeting. We have two meetings per month. We have a schedule. We can provide that to you. Okay. Something like that. Okay.

So we would envision Yeah. The code the code says a public presentation is usually the first Yeah. Which isn't a public hearing, but generally, the the chair has established public comments are available. But we were reluctant to go with the presentation this evening because the comments would be based upon sort of incomplete data. Mhmm. And we wanna make sure that public is we're being transparent, you're being transparent, and that the public knows the project that you're proposing and and and there wasn't really enough information for that to happen. But I don't think you're necessarily, and I'm not speaking for you, ready to call for a public hearing. Nope. You wanna

Yeah. So the document deadline, according to what Vincent said, fifteen days. I believe that would be Friday this week in order to get it on submitted for our next regular scheduled meeting. Mhmm. That's aggressive. Understand. But, you know, if we can have some some solid responses at that point, and can put this on the agenda, potentially we can have the presentation, presentation at that point, and then potentially the public hearing thereafter. Great. Sounds good. Alright. I think that's it. That's all. Thank you guys. Anything else that you guys wanna add based on what you heard here so far?

Last call for the consultants. Any any questions?

A whole group behind me there. Are you missing a lot of questions in here, but we understand the timing.

Yes. I have I have one very basic question. Is the plan for these to be for sale or for rent?

We're still on the side on that, but

Okay. Fair enough.

Probably for rent, but we'll we'll

A little louder, please.

Probably for rent, but we're still not a 100% certain. Thank you.

Okay. So I do have several questions having gone through the the documentation, supporting documentation for water supply and sewer and parking etcetera, etcetera, if you'll bear with me. So referring to the supporting documentation about the preliminary water engineering report. Page go on page one. Point three point o on that document. On the very bottom of the page. Based on the testing of the existing six inch water main in South Riverside, we can supply domestic needs to the project. So we got a a six inch water main on South Riverside. However, fire flow fire flow of the six inch water main provides less than specification required for firefloor demand. So that I mentioned, we got two we got two couple options. One is to build an on-site water storage and pump system, and The other is if we're able to bring down a a water connection from Wayne Street that would supply potentially supply us. Vince, you might be able to speak to the status there, but I think that easement is been under discussion for quite a while. And I think we we it it may continue to be under discussion for a while. We may wanna consider the water storage and pump system on-site to be a pretty good

likelihood that how we might have to support this. Yes. Currently, our our design does have the pump and tank system. Yeah.

Anything you wanna add to that, Vince, at all?

No. Still in the works that easement language for, yeah, at Water Man. So that's the

parts you've raised. And any other members you guys have any questions, feel free to jump in while I'm doing this.

I had one I'm sorry. One quick question for Bill actually. Mhmm. Going back to your memo. On item seven under design regulations, why wouldn't that trigger an additional zoning variance as opposed to a waiver from the planning board?

If these are in the so it depends on if it's in the code for, or if it's a special permit requirement. Right? Oh, number seven. This is regarding the the sizes. Right? All street parking placement design. That one. Under design regulations. Oh, under design. I'm sorry. I thought you said seven. Right. Under design. So number

eight then. Right? No. I'm asking about number seven, Bill. On page three. On page three. Three of seven. Design regulations has a seven right at right there.

Alright. Oh, got a good phone number.

Oh my goodness. Sorry about that. Don't know why that happened. So Okay. So number 7. So the proposed budget not meet this requirement is seeking a waiver from the planning board per so I'm assuming that this is, when we talk about waivers from the planning board, that is a special permit requirement. But again, we can get clarification on that. So it's a good question, Steve. I Again, I can look it up in the code and we talk with the applicant on on seeking a waiver from that parking off street parking requirement. So Yeah. If

I may, I can chime in also to that. You'll notice in the code provisions, and again, I put article 10 in its entirety in the memo that we'll be uploading for special permits. You're permitted to waive from that list of criteria, but anything that needs a variance from an actual dimensional requirement in the code in the zoning code itself would needs to go to the zoning board of appeals. So you can waive certain items in in the the special permit criteria, but you cannot waive requirements that are actually part of the zoning code itself. So a dimensional requirement, a minimum number requirement, those need to go to the zoning board of appeals. So those are not available to be waived, only available as a variance process.

So it is under our purview and not the zoning board. Is that what I'm answering? Okay.

A waiver is specifically yours. Okay.

Thank you. It's it's more of a, you know, every site's different. You know, where where where is this gonna be located? The code the special permit requirements talk about having them in the side in the rear, but but because the site is different than

I just don't wanna send the applicant to the wrong board for an approval.

Right. Yes. Thank you.

That's a waiver. Mhmm.

One last question. May I

Go ahead, Jonathan.

Is the building gonna be steel or wood?

It's gonna be, steel on the 1st Floor deck, concrete floor, and then wood frame above. Okay.

So I'm gonna move on to the school analysis and schools impact report. So page two has an inconsistency in the table. We talk about the low point of enrollment at Croton-Harmon School as being twenty twentytwenty twenty one of thirteen ninety four. Table below it has a different number for that year. So, there is just an inconsistency, I'm not sure which number is correct. A lot of work went into this report describing cost to educate a student and how many students are expected and how much revenue would be generated, how much how much tax revenue would be generated to the school district, and whether that would essentially cover the cost of of adding new students. That that's, you know, really valuable information. It's based on what we expect will be the assessed value of the apartment complex. And it would be nice to get a more accurate number of these potential assessed values so we can determine how accurate or not these figures might be. In other words, whether the additional students will be covered by the additional tax revenue generated to the school district. I don't know how we can we can get any sort of preliminary estimate on what the assessed value might be.

If we don't have an assessment. Yeah. The the town to handle that.

So you're Bill Bill, how have you guys handled that and other applications you've been involved with?

Yeah. I guess we can work with the town. Again again, we work it's often we have them if the town does the assessment assessments.

Right? It's Yep. Trying to get a preliminary number from them. So That would be helpful. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe you guys could pursue that. Yep. Thank you. Yeah. I mean, based on the preliminary estimate, the tax revenue that we generated for the school district would more than cover the additional students who will be coming into the district, or expected number of students. Yep. Which is a good thing.

Good point, Jeff.

So, where we can show math in these tables is really helpful. So, that's the school report. Let's move on to the traffic study. This is gonna be a, just so know, it's gonna be a point of focus for us. There's there's it's a busy part of our town. What's unaddressed in this traffic study is blaze. The blaze. The historic Hudson Valley's event that takes place for about forty five days in the fall.

Runs for ten weeks. Yeah.

If you've been down there, it is it is a crowded scene. We'd need some sort of, at least, acknowledgment that that that that's there and is an issue, and then a sense about how it it it you can potentially mitigate it. You're gonna have residents that are trying to get home after workday and stuck in a line with with people who going into historic Hudson Valley, Van Cortlandt Manor. So it would be good to have some thought put into that and and and how that could be mitigated. Right across and there was a really thoughtful letter to the Gazette that someone wrote about. Right across from the building that that you're proposing is a driveway that goes down to ShopRite. That is not for pedestrian use. When the the ShopRite when the plaza was modified, they put the ADA access on the far side of that parking lot. In other words, closest to Van Cortlandt Manor. So that is the preferred way that people are supposed to enter pedestrians are supposed to enter ShopRite, to walk all the way down. Nobody does. Instead, everybody walks down this ramp. It's two way traffic, and it's very tight, especially people are lugging groceries up that hill. And you're that pedestrian walkway from the apartment complex leads directly across the street to that ramp that is not pedestrian friendly and not meant for pedestrians. So presumably, it would add some pedestrian traffic of people that wanna pick up some quick groceries, wanna run down walk down there, grab some things.

It's something that needs I'd love to give it some thought and and how that could potentially be addressed. Obviously, this is not on your property. This is Shop Right owner's property. But if there's a way to address that as part of this, you know, that would be wonderful if we could put some some thought into that.

Okay.

Yeah. The number of trips that are expected to be generated is is a result of the is a result of the apartment complex. We've got the numbers are generated, I think, based on the table that comes from, I believe, Bakers University, which provides data to all planning entities that is a table that says if if it's an apartment complex with 30 to 50 units, the number of average trips is x. So that's where these numbers are are derived from. It would be desirable if we could instead or in addition use numbers that refer to apartment complexes we've just built here in Croton. It might be a more like for like comparison, which would be Maple Commons and North Riverside. Is it four is it 425 North Riverside? 25 North Riverside, which is still being occupied. However, for both of those projects and even for 1 Crown Point Avenue for that point, for that matter, estimates were provided that said, here's what we expect to be our estimated number of trips. And if we can incorporate those three residential units into the study, Obviously, some have more units, some have less, or they all have more. Well, Maple Commons has less, and we could adjust accordingly. But it it's good to do a like for like comparison. I think, you're at the Westchester or the Pace University Land Use Law Center meeting where some of the planners said it's best to use as a point of reference local projects as opposed to some table.

The the addresses you just threw out, were one of them of the baked by Susan apartments? Because there's eight or 10 units there that could be studied people coming in and out of there that might be comparable in terms of geography and the demographic.

Possibly. Possibly. But something that kind of flushes out this data is kind of what we're looking for that uses some of our local buildings. Okay. I think that's it for that. And alright. So community benefits was kind of a the summary of all these other documents in terms of what the complex would bring to the community, property taxes, etcetera. And again, it's based on projected assessed value of the building. If there's a way to to get a number that we feel is a little bit more accurate or dialed in to drive these numbers that would be desirable. And I don't know, Bill, if that's something you can help with.

Definitely.

Yes. Because, you know, we we've got it generated a fair amount of taxable revenue for both the town, the village, and the schools in Westchester County.

Just if if I can chime in.

Please.

It it isn't a use that you can regulate, but if these were offered for sale in a condominium format, the assessment is based upon a different formula or calculation. So you you might wanna look at ownership under a condominium formula. Assessments are much different than a a multifamily rental

property. So Yep. Great point.

Also, we can we, you know, we have done a performer based on the rent roll that would generate the value of the building also. So maybe we can have a an appraisal look at it just to get a value of what they think it projection would be and then talk to the assessment the town assessor.

Yep. So As much coordination and cooperation between Yes. Applicant and the consultants is appreciated.

Absolutely.

Okay. I think that's all I have for the documents. Anybody else from the planning board have questions that they want to add to the mix here?

I don't.

Just one comment regarding the microphone. Yeah. The regarding traffic study, I think it should be more comprehensive to traffic flow through the South Riverside Avenue and Croton Point, where, you know, you're gonna have lot a gonna be developed. Maybe that the traffic study can be expanded to how much impact it's gonna have.

Okay. The cumulative.

The the cumulative, like time into the other projects. Right? Yeah.

Okay. Vincent, do you have anything?

Not at this time.

So I think that's where we are for tonight, for this agenda item. Unless there's anything else or questions that you guys have?

Oh, I have one question. In the event we come back with all our our, you know, responses to your comments, will our professionals be heard at the next meeting or is

Will the presentation be heard at the next meeting? What's your sense, Lori?

I I think It's it's highly likely that if if we can get clarifications and answers to comments and questions that that the the board certainly would entertain a a project presentation.

Yeah. Okay. I think that's something once we get our responses to you, probably the planning consultant and the village attorney in our office can sort of

Sure.

Have a conversation so we know, I mean, that there's a comfort level for that. Right. Like you said, list the of questions will shrink. Will shrink. Yeah. And we'll focus on certain ones. Right? Yeah. And, you know, again,

the village engineer is really the intake point. So, you know, keeping the lines of communication open is always

Everyone's gonna everyone's gonna be on. Thank you. Got it. I

I'm standing in for the the planning board attorney for this evening, but we confer daily. So, you know, she probably is even watching this evening, but, you know, we'll do what we can to move this to streamline it. The opportunity exists in here. As you know, the opportunity exists in the in Article 10 for you to streamline the process and look at the site development plan simultaneously with the requirements for Article 11. So, we would like to see that happen, and that would be to your benefit. So that's why this memo covered both the site development plan and also the special permit.

Great. Alright, gentlemen. Thank you. Thanks for coming. Thank you. Appreciate it. Okay. We're gonna move on to our next agenda item. And, Rob, if you'd like to rejoin us.

Good job, Jeff.

Good. The

it was good that they where's the Michael? Yeah. Closer to mystical nature.

He was hard to hear a little bit of and it gave me little soft spoken. Right. Yeah. Which

Alright. So we're gonna move on to our our next agenda item. It's a referral from the village board of trustees to review local law introductory 10 of 2026, the CAF, and EAF to amend chapter two thirty zoning of the village code that seeks to amend the text of chapter two thirty zoning to provide clarification as to the harmoring or keeping of animals in the village.

You guys anybody take a look on this for you? Yeah. I have. Okay.

No.

This does have a short environmental assessment form. It has a coastal assessment form, which are largely blank and appropriately so because there's just really no impact. No issue. So, there's really not much to review there. The lots of changes themselves has to do with foul, definition of foul I think is where it started from. Right. And along the way we clarified a few things. Most prominently the keeping of roosters and pigeons shall be prohibited, where I don't believe that was spelled out in a in a previous law. So that might be one of the bigger changes that's that's involved here. Okay.

Seems to me like a a prudent thing. And we're referred to it to refer it back or are we taking action on it?

Yep, they're asking for comments if you have any.

That's right, okay. I mean, I think that

This has been added to the use provisions, so it's clear what's permitted and what zones. It's also clear the number of animals, minimum lot size for certain animals. So they they did I can speak from experience and I can get a nod from our key trustees in the in the audience. They they looked at this many ways on how to handle it, and they thought it best that we drafted it at their suggestion to include it in the use provisions. So it's going to be included in this table. So everyone's clear, it's clarified what's permitted, what's not permitted. Mhmm.

I would point out that in if you look at the setback that's required for, say, somebody wants to have a chicken coop Mhmm. It says that it shall be penned or housed within 50 feet of any lot line. And on my particular house, I'm in I'm not sure if I'm in RA 5 or RA 9, whatever the smaller one is. 5, I think. 5. I can't really have a chicken coop because I have a fairly standard lot. It's narrow. Mhmm. I can only have it exactly in the middle, which really even with the 50 feet probably doesn't work because the chicken coop is wider. I would just like to, on the record, note that I can have an ADU on my property, but I can't have a chicken coop. I think there's some inconsistency to that rule. I'm not opposing the chicken coop, not suggesting we change it. It's just an inconsistency with our thinking. That's all.

Is there? Well, I think we can include that on as a as a recommendation back to the Village Board of Trustees to

I'd like to.

Review K. That provision. Mhmm. Thank you. Is the public aware of this?

Yes.

It's it's part of our agenda, so it's posted on the village website.

And the and the board of trustees has been discussing it, of course, at multiple work sessions and then also on the agenda for its referral to you. So, yes, the public feedback

letters coming in saying that they support chicken like that or don't support chicken?

I'm not aware of I'm not aware of that. Hasn't been scheduled for public hearing yet. What's that? Not to the engineer. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. They're they they're collecting comments in advance of scheduling it for a public hearing. So at the public hearing, it's possible that members of the public would weigh in or send letters or support or otherwise.

I don't have chickens. Just so you know, I don't have chickens. A friend of mine does, and I follow him around that field. He doesn't have a rooster. He gets eggs and the chickens anyway. So it's a matter of I have to feed my family. It shouldn't be a problem.

Right.

You have to wait. Answer is committed. Maybe people have different thoughts. Yeah. Oh, my my my parents, when they lived in a larger property, had chickens on the property, and they didn't have a rooster. And they got plenty of eggs. Right. It's great. Nothing like a farm fresh egg. Really fun to pick, follow you around, and you can pick out each one. One's the boss, and the other follow him. It's gonna take off that way, but they don't make any noise. Right. Alright. So any any other thoughts? Okay. So I think what we can include a note about the the setbacks for chicken coops and and specifically in versus an ADU and specifically on smaller properties. Within RA five. RA five, I think it'd be hard to achieve that setback.

Yeah. If not possible. RA five is the 25 feet. It says 25 feet? 25. And then all other districts? It's 50. Twenty fifty. Five feet.

Yeah. RA five in the RV. In the middle. Right? Because the 50 foot lot. Yeah. 50 foot lot. Yep. It's almost precluding it from happening. Yep.

But I can have it in the second house.

Alright. So I think we can include that in a referral note back and you guys can work on that, then we'll take it from there. The only other item we had on our agenda was well, actually, Steve, you had something about

We were gonna ask about engineer report on the issue about at our last, yeah, at our last meeting we resolved that there were gonna be some landscaping improvements for 425 South Riverside as it related to the signage and landscaping application. So, just my question is, has, Andrew Cortese fulfilled his, requirements?

Oh, for the I have to check up on that one. It looks probably tomorrow. Maybe the day after twenty five. No. He was

here before the board last Yeah. I remember. But I I think we misspoke by saying 04/25, which is the report the project you just looked at. So it's the three

Same address. Same address. Address. It is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it was it was fulfilling a a prior A prior. Yeah. Requirement for

So there's site plan modification that

Got it.

That needed to be buttoned up.

Okay. So I was just looking for an update, which Vincent will get back to us on, it sounds like.

No problem.

Yeah. Great. Yep. And the only other thing just to I don't know if we've followed up or where we're at with this garden center down the way.

It's a good question. Far as I know, they have been reaching out to the DOT. And last I saw, I think it was in DOT's court to give them an answer. I don't think that they have, and that was, like, two months ago. I could follow-up on that, though. That'd great. It's been two months or so since I saw the emails being exchanged, so I'm looking good. Thank you. DOT takes

some time. Yeah. Well, we know. Years. We know. I I I said this to the board of trustees recently. There's another community that's been trying to obtain surplus property along the Saw Mill River Parkway for six years the This goes back about as long quite frankly. Is it like No, I'm not exaggerating. To be used as a public park. It's taken six years.

That's tough. Vincent, do you know the status, on that, clothing drop box that's opposite

They're trying to get rid of it. Quaffey. They Matters Coffee. Trying to get rid of it, I think, yesterday, but it was too heavy for the truck that they had. So today, they were using forklift or something. So

They being the people that put it there?

The the management company. We don't know who put it there, how it got there. Really? Yeah. So they're trying to get rid of that. That's nuts. Okay. Thank you. I think they might have done it by today, but they're working on it for sure. They don't want people that own the shopping center are Yeah. Trying to get rid of it. Yeah. They've gotta get rid of it. Great. They don't want it there either. That's good. Thank you. That's good news.

Alright. So I think the only other thing we have on our agenda then would be the, minutes from Yeah. Our prior meeting. Think they're in my oh, here we go.

I did not have any comments or changes. Great job, Karen. Yep. Looks good.

I have no comment.

Neither do I.

Okay. John, you wanna make a motion on the minutes?

Like to make a motion that the minutes from June 20 or June 20.

July. July.

He accepted without any corrections.

Second.

All in favor?

Aye. Aye.

Alright. No problem. You guys. So we're adjourned for tonight.