Mount Kisco Trustees to Consider Zoning Change for ShopRite
The Mount Kisco Village Board agreed last week to draft a zoning text change that would allow a ShopRite supermarket to be constructed in the Diamond Properties complex on North Bedford Road.
Village trustees instructed Village Attorney Whitney Singleton and Planner Jan Johannessen to draw up the proposed language. Diamond Properties has signed a lease with ShopRite to open a 70,000-square-foot supermarket in its property at 333 N. Bedford Rd. The market is currently located a little more than a mile away in Bedford Hills.
For the proposal to advance, developer Jim Diamond must obtain a zoning text change from the Village Board because a supermarket is not a permitted use on the property, which is zoned Light Manufacturing.
However, the board should first explore what other types of businesses should be allowed at the site before they decide whether to grant the change, said Trustee Karen Schleimer.
Singleton said the board could also allow the Planning Board to approve ShopRite with a special permit.
Mayor Gina Picinich said village officials should not wait until the Comprehensive Plan update is completed to review the ShopRite proposal and other potential projects proposed for the site.
Diamond has previously said that without new tenants at the complex, which contains about 600,000 square feet of space, the vacancy rate would fall to 57 percent by the end of the year.
On another issue related to the property, Picinich said she supported eliminating the membership requirement for the Grand Prix New York go-kart facility. Grand Prix also contains a bowling alley, an arcade and a restaurant.
“Family entertainment is good for Mount Kisco,” Picinich said.
Grand Prix could be a bigger draw for people from outside the village if the membership requirement was discontinued, she added.
Schleimer said if the board decides to revise the zoning text for ShopRite and drop Grand Prix’s membership requirement Diamond Properties should be forced to complete a traffic study. She said there is potential for a traffic increase, particularly on weekends.
The Planning Board would be responsible for reviewing the environmental impact that those changes could cause, including traffic, Singleton said.
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