P’ville Village Board Expected to Decide on 70 Memorial Plaza Appeal
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
The Pleasantville Village Board is expected to decide on an appeal Monday evening from the developer of 70 Memorial Plaza regarding an Architectural Review Board decision concluded that the building’s rooftop mechanicals failed to meet standards of appropriateness.
Earlier this month, Fred Daniels, the attorney for Pleasantville Lofts, LLC, which has virtually completed the mixed-use project, argued before the Village Board that the ARB wrongly used personal preferences rather than evidence-based factors when it denied approving the plan on Oct. 11.
Daniels said the ARB’s denial under the village’s statute needed to demonstrate that the appearance of the rooftop equipment would have a negative effect on the community such as a detriment to desirability or property values or the development of the surrounding area.
“It has to be based on, in essence, a review of what impact that aesthetics issue has on the community,” Daniels said. “It’s not a question of someone’s opinion, if it is not exactly what it could be in the best sense of aesthetic review. But what has to be shown is that what’s there is creating a negative impact on the community.”
Last month, Planning Commission & Architectural Review Board Chair Russell Klein stated that while Pleasantville Lofts has mitigated some of the visual impact, the equipment remained “inappropriate” and “detrimental to the surrounding area.”
Daniels said his client complied with the ARB’s requests to paint the AC units and hood for the trash chute black as well as cover up the manufacturer’s stickers on the mechanicals to make them appear less obtrusive. However, they no longer want to spend time and money making additional.
“Now, the (ARB) chairman referred to the statute to say it had a negative impact on the community,” Daniels said. “But that’s all that was said, and the votes that were taken, problems ensued with it, so the resolution to amend the plan was voted down.”
The ARB voted 4-1 to deny the Pleasantville Lofts resolution.
At the Nov. 13 Village Board meeting, Village Attorney Jennifer Gray concurred with Daniels’ assessment of the statute. However, the Village Board has to determine whether any of the three standards to deny can be applied in this matter.
“So one of those three features has to be present, there’s a detrimental impact to one of these three things, due to significant design features,” Gray said.
The statute also calls for the Village Board to make a determination within 30 days of the filing of the appeal, which put the deadline at Nov. 23 – Thanksgiving Day. Mayor Peter Scherer asked the applicant to extend the time to allow the board until its Nov. 27 meeting to make a decision. He said it would be best if the board had the two weeks review the facts and make its best decision.
Furthermore, there were only three board members who attended the Nov. 13 meeting.
“We will take action on the 27th and I expect five of us to be there,” Scherer said.
After a brief talk with a member of the development team, Daniels said his client was willing to wait until this Monday for the Village Board’s decision.
Pleasantville Lofts representatives had previously said they had hoped to have the building open with tenants having moved in by November.
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/
