Building Height, Assisted Living Addressed in P’ville Master Plan

Anna Young

After months of work by village officials and residents, the Pleasantville Village Board’s proposed updated Master Plan was met with mixed reaction from residents last week.

Representatives from the planning firm BFJ Planning of Manhattan presented the board and resident an updated draft during a Nov. 21 public hearing at Village Hall.

BFJ Principals Frank Fish and Susan Lavate are working with the village to preserve Pleasantville as an attractive and welcoming community.

“We want to clean up the town but keep that character that is Pleasantville,” Lavate said. “We want to establish Pleasantville as an authentic, eclectic American village.”

Officials are focused on refining Pleasantville’s downtown business community. One recommendation is increasing allowable building height in the A-1 zoning district from three to four stories under certain conditions.

Some residents last week opposed the concept of four-story buildings anywhere in Pleasantville, arguing that structures of that size are too large for the village and that it would create a canyon effect that would drastically change the view and block sunlight.

“I have been walking around this village for 40 years,” resident Rodger Pollack said. “Envisioning what the village might look like with these proposed structures in the plan doesn’t look eclectic or authentic.”

The draft plan proposes raising the permitted height of buildings from three to four stories in that have limited impact on adjacent residential zones. One option is to allow four-story buildings where the property is separated from a single-family residential zone by at least 150 feet or by a road or railroad. With rising demand for assisted living in Westchester, BFJ Planning suggested in the proposal the village could be well-suited for facilities in designated areas. Currently, assisted living facilities are only allowed by special permit in the Residence-Professional Office (RPO) zoning district.

BFJ is recommending the village consider allowing these uses, by special permit, in the business peripheral zones, which like the RPO district, are within walking distance of downtown and mass transit.

“Allowing assisted living in the peripheral zones outside the downtown core zone, could be the ideal area for assisted living,” Lavate said.

Assisted living uses in other districts, including single-family zones, may also be considered through the use of a floating zone or special permit from the village board.

Residents Eileen West and Bill Stoller agreed that an assisted living facility would be a valuable asset to Pleasantville, but said it’s not a use that should be included in a single-family zone or other residential areas. Both opposed an application for the United Methodist Church property on Bedford Road.

Discussions have focused on increasing the maximum permitted height for assisted living facilities from two-and-a-half stories and 30 feet to three floors and 38 feet; relaxing or reducing the floor area requirements for units, including eliminating the restrictions on bedroom mix; and reducing the minimum required parking from at least two spaces for every three units, plus one space for every employee on duty, to one space for every two units.

Another area of concern is making intersection improvements and more effectively managing parking for greater ease for shoppers and diners to improve circulation and attract more people to downtown. One suggestion is removal of the right turn lane from Memorial Plaza onto Manville Road to free up space for a pocket park. Also proposed is creation of landscaped medians along Manville Road and curb extensions at the intersections.

The village is seeking a grant to pay for right-of-way improvements along Washington Avenue to make the street more pedestrian friendly and improve vehicular circulation. The grant also adds four pedestrian crosswalks with curb extensions and medians along Manville Road and Edgewood Avenue.

Some residents shared concerns regarding the safety of children who walk to school, pedestrians and cyclists, saying that speeding is a problem that hasn’t been addressed.

“Safety is important and the town has tons of potential,” said resident Ryan Lamberg, a one-year Pleasantville resident. “But I’m not comfortable with my kids biking in the village.”

BFJ hopes to find ways to enhance a pedestrian and biker network.

Mayor Peter Scherer said the board will carefully weigh all the options.

“It is the job of the board to assess which of these plans going forward is realistic,” Scherer said. “It is our hope that this combination of efforts will reach some positive economic activity that will allow some of these other changes to be made.”

“In the end, we like this place the way it is, but recognize it’s not perfect,” he added.

The village board adjourned the public hearing and will accept written comment for two weeks.