No. Castle Planners, Diner at Odds Over Parking Lot Entrance
The North Castle Planning Board last week told representatives for the Townhouse Diner to return with a revised plan to address safety concerns at the site of the North White Plains restaurant.
A dispute between the board and the applicant arose at the Mar. 12 meeting after Katherine Zalantis, the attorney for the diner, asked the board to remove a key condition from the approved site plan that would enable her client to obtain a permanent Certificate of Occupancy.
Zalantis said the state Department of Transportation (DOT) refused to grant the diner permission to paint an area in the state right of way in front of the establishment on Route 22. The condition was designed to attract the attention of drivers exiting the parking lot so they wouldn’t back up into northbound traffic on Route 22. There were also concerns that pedestrians could be endangered.
She said the diner, which has continued to operate under a temporary Certificate of Occupancy, made a good faith effort to convince the DOT to grant permission to stripe the pavement. However, the agency turned down the request because it was an unsatisfactory plan.
Zalantis said that a diner has been at the site for decades and is a non-conforming, pre-existing condition. Since all other conditions have been met, the Certificate of Occupancy should be granted. The temporary certificate is costing the owner $500 a month, she said.
“There was no curb there,” Zalantis said. “There’s nothing preventing people from backing out over that painted area. So to ask my client to restripe and do improvements to the entire lot that’s already been approved, that’s completely unfair and seems like you want to rehash issues that we addressed when you granted approvals in March 2017.”
Although the Planning Board granted the diner a revised site plan approval last March, last week it asked that the owner, Koutros Property, LLC, tweak plans and devise another solution to address the safety issue. The board, Director of Planning Adam Kaufman and the town’s engineer, Joseph Cermele, all maintained reservations about allowing the diner to move forward without safety improvements.
Cermele pointed to concerns raised by the town’s police department regarding traffic. The DOT also considers the area unsafe for pedestrians, Kaufman added.
Board member Michael Pollack said safety has been the key focus since the original application was received. The diner needed site plan approval because it installed a handicapped accessible ramp.
“Now you’re coming to this board and saying we’re not willing to do anything to address it, and that’s where I think we’re having a hard time,” Pollack said. “We can just give it because the striping wasn’t approved by DOT, and because DOT didn’t find the striping satisfactory, that dispenses with the concern and that dispenses with the requirement, and I can tell you in my mind it doesn’t. It has to be addressed in some way, shape or form.”
Project architect Joel Greenberg said while there are safety concerns police records show that there haven’t been accidents as a result of the current configuration.
The board broke for an executive session, then reconvened to inform Zalantis and Greenberg that it wanted to see some type of improvement.
“The Planning Board is utterly concerned about the safety of that site,” said Board Chairman Christopher Carthy. “We are concerned about the exit and entry of that site and we think it’s in everyone’s best interests to do whatever we can to enhance the safety of that site.”
Zalantis asked whether the monthly $500 fee could be reduced or waived. Board members said the Town Board would been to address changing or eliminating the fee.
The board approved a six-month site plan extension to give the diner’s representatives time to revise the plan.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
