Two-Family Zoning Questioned in Pleasantville Zoning District
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A proposal before the Pleasantville Planning Commission to build two two-family homes has sparked a debate within the village about its two-family zoning, which permits the multifamily homes.
One of the structures has been proposed for the corner of Bedford Road and Clark Street while the second home would be on the adjacent lot with frontage on Clark Street. Both lots are located in the R-2A zone, or two-family zoning district.
At the Apr. 11 Village Board meeting, former village mayor Bernard Gordon expressed his concern that the proposed two-family home on Clark Street shouldn’t be considered in the R-2A zone, but rather in the zone for one-family homes. All the houses on Clark Street are one-family homes.
“The 245 Bedford Rd. subdivision exposes a gap in the R-2A zone, which the Board of Trustees should address immediately,” Gordon said. “I propose the board pass a moratorium on subdivisions of corner lots in the R-2A zone.”
Gordon argued that to maintain an R-2A status a subdivided lot should abut Bedford Road. The proposed lot was subdivided prior to presenting the proposal to the Planning Commission.
Gordon said when he was Planning Commission chairman a Special Character Overlay District was developed in response to the construction of a brick office building on Tompkins Avenue across from Holy Innocents church, resulting in a Victorian home being demolished to the disapproval of many residents.
Subsequently the Planning Commission moved to preserve the character of Bedford Road and adopted the Special Character Overlay District, which covers various zoning districts, including lots along Bedford Road, where any proposed construction must be reviewed by the Architectural Review Board.
The goal of the district is to “conserve existing neighborhoods which impart a sense of the village’s cultural and historic heritage.”
The current proposal for both two-family houses may fall within the Special Character Overlay, one of the issues the Planning Commission is currently examining.
The plan was criticized by residents at the commission’s Mar. 23 meeting. It was argued that the design proposed two identical structures, which had the feel of a condominium complex and didn’t fit in with the historical nature of the neighborhood.
The meeting’s minutes indicated that the plans would be revised and presented at a future meeting.
A key matter is the Girl Scouts’ property down the street on Bedford Road and Great Oak Lane, according to Gordon. He said if there isn’t a moratorium enacted it could impact what happens to the Girl Scouts property, which is rumored to have a buyer.
“That makes a moratorium more urgent,” Gordon said. “That property will likely be subdivided and permit construction of two-family houses on Great Oak Lane, which will have a negative impact on the neighborhood for a variety of reasons.”
Gordon stressed the importance of protecting the nature and character of the village, which is supposed to have predominantly single-family homes.
Mayor Peter Scherer asked Gordon whether a moratorium would impact the Clark Street proposals.
“If there was a moratorium and the Planning Commission denied the (Clark Street) proposal then the moratorium would take effect,” Gordon said. “But it wouldn’t take effect if the (proposed) plan was adopted under the current zoning.”
Scherer commented after the meeting that a moratorium requires a series of steps including justifying a prohibition supported by in-depth analysis and what it hopes to achieve.
“We will work our way through it and see what our options are,” he said. “Keeping Pleasantville the way it is is a goal all of us have.”
Another discussion on the issue was scheduled for Monday evening’s Village Board work session.
Abby is a local journalist who has reported on breaking news for more than 20 years. She currently covers community issues in The Examiner as a full-time reporter and has written for the paper since its inception in 2007. Read more from Abby’s editor-author bio here. Read Abbys’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/ab-lub2019/
