This article was updated at 11:40 p.m. on Jan. 9.
The Rye City Council is considering a six-month building moratorium on multi-family and non-residential development projects.
After an initial discussion at Wednesday night’s meeting, the council — in a unanimous vote — set a Jan. 21 public hearing to further debate the matter.
Mayor Josh Cohn described the proposed law as only affecting “a limited number of districts” and “particularly the central business district.”
Councilman Josh Nathan, a Democrat who helped spearhead the legislation, said the moratorium would only apply to large projects and not impact the lives of single-family homeowners.
The measure, if approved, is intended to give the council time to evaluate whether the city’s current zoning laws should be amended to preserve aspects of the community’s character that make it so attractive, according to Nathan.
“Now the community has an opportunity to discuss this,” the councilman said.
Very large development projects in Harrison and Port Chester, and the approval of two three-story mixed-use buildings on Purdy Avenue in Rye have raised concerns among some that the city’s current zoning code does not adequately address large-scale developments.
Nathan said he does not have a preconceived notion of what changes there should be to local zoning law.
“My interest is in preserving the historic nature of Rye,” he added.
Rye has not updated its comprehensive master plan since 1985, but is set to launch a multi-year effort to do just that. The moratorium is intended to “protect Rye’s core assets,” while the master planning process is taking shape this year, Nathan said.
The proposal also contains a waiver process to allow developers that have projects that would be “caught up” in the moratorium the opportunity to appeal to the council to have the city’s land use boards review or approve their projects, or issue building permits, according to Corporation Counsel Kristen Wilson.
Once the public hearing is closed, the City Council is expected to vote on whether to pass the moratorium.