Mount Kisco Officials Support ShopRite Move to Diamond Property
Mount Kisco officials last week expressed support for a proposal to move a ShopRite supermarket from Bedford Hills to the Diamond Properties complex on North Bedford Road.
Diamond Properties has signed a lease to move ShopRite supermarket from its current location at 747 Bedford Rd. to The Park, the company’s sprawling property at 333 N. Bedford Rd. in Mount Kisco. The new supermarket would be 70,000 square feet.
For the proposal to advance, developer Jim Diamond must first obtain a zoning text change from the Village Board because a supermarket is not a permitted use in the Light Manufacturing (ML) district.
Diamond said changes in the area marketplace are forcing him to seek changes to what is allowed at the property. Some of his tenants have already vacated and the empty spaces are unlikely to be filled by owners of large warehouses, he said.
In 2016, Wine Enthusiast, which occupied 20 percent of the space, moved its warehouse operations to New Jersey. Last year, HCLI and It’s About Time publishing also relocated.
Cosentino, which operates a marble and quartz showroom and warehouse, and Seaport Lighting also plan to leave later this year, Diamond said.
The complex also houses the Grand Prix New York go-kart facility and entertainment facility and Saw Mill Club East, among other operations.
Diamond is looking to attract general retail sales businesses to the property by having the language regulating the ML district changed. He is asking the Village Board to allow retail businesses of up to 80,000 square feet of gross floor space.
Planning Board and Village Board members said they supported the concept of bringing the ShopRite to the northeast corner of the property. Planning Board member Ralph Vigliotti said he wanted the supermarket plan to work in the building.
Mayor Gina Picinich and Trustee Peter Grunthal were among the Village Board members expressing support for the proposal. Grunthal said trustees should amend the zoning to allow the supermarket to move in but wait for the village’s Comprehensive Plan to be updated before allowing other currently non-permitted uses at the site.
Diamond replied that he preferred the board change language for the ML zone now to allow other types of retail in his facility aside from a supermarket rather than waiting.
The Village Board could consider allowing retail other than just a supermarket when revising the zoning text, Picinich said. However, there should be a minimum square footage requirement to avoid having small shop retail that is better suited for downtown.
In addition to the zoning text change, Diamond would need a special permit from the Planning Board.
Grand Prix membership requirement
Village officials also indicated that the developer should wait for approval to eliminate the membership requirement for Grand Prix New York, which was a condition of the Planning Board’s original special permit approval.
Vigliotti said a plan to eliminate the membership requirement should be a separate matter from the ShopRite issue.
The Planning Board originally included the membership requirement as a special condition for Grand Prix, taking into consideration traffic and parking, among other issues.
