The Rye Planning Commission is considering a proposal for a five-unit townhouse development on Theodore Fremd Avenue, amid backlash against the proposed building moratorium in January.
This comes just two weeks after the Rye City Council formed a downtown development committee to advise on potential construction in Rye’s Central Business District. The city Planning Commission has reviewed the initial proposal for the three three-story townhouse, which does not comply with the city zoning code.
While Rye’s zoning code only allows for two-and-a-half stories, Harfenist, Kraut & Perlstein, the developers, are requesting permission for three full stories, which the Planning Commission did not approve at their March 11 meeting.
“We couldn’t approve it because as proposed, it would require variances,” said Planning Commission Chair Nick Everett. “So we asked them to do more work and come back and show us additional work.”
The proposal was put before the Planning Commission a month and a half after the City Council rejected a proposed moratorium on downtown development, which developers said would damage downtown development and halt projects already underway.
Large developments in Harrison and Port Chester, along with the approval of two three-story mixed-use buildings on Purdy Avenue in Rye, have sparked concerns that the city’s zoning code may not sufficiently regulate large-scale projects in the Central Business District.
The Theodore Fremd townhouse developers want to tear down the three-story, four-unit multifamily building on the 16,000-square-foot property in order to build the five-unit multifamily building. Each unit would feature a garage, exterior parking space, a private backyard, shared open space, and rooftop deck access.
While the Theodore Fremd developers did propose an alternate plan that is zoning compliant, they argue that the non-compliant plan “makes for a more attractive development than an alternative zoning compliant design with all exterior parking,” according to the proposal.
The proposal requires code exceptions for exceeding the allowed floor area and reducing side yard setbacks. These changes would allow for larger units with enclosed parking, but could reduce open space and increase building mass near property lines.
Everett said that it’s very early in the application for this proposal and that the developers may alter the plan for consideration at the next Planning Commission meeting.
“We can’t approve things that don’t comply with existing zoning, so they would have to go get a variance, or several variances in order to do that,” Everett said.
