P’ville Denies Moratorium Exemption for Bank Building Redevelopment
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Owners of the former Chase Bank building at 444 Bedford Rd. were denied an exemption from the moratorium in a unanimous vote last week by the Pleasantville Village Board.
Michael and Alex Beldotti, the owners of the building, applied for a waiver that would have allowed them to continue with plans to redevelop the distinctive building and surrounding property while the moratorium is in effect.
The six-month moratorium that was enacted in January has paused development in Pleasantville’s Central Business District. It officially ends July 30.
The Beldottis claimed the pause on new development in the district would cause an economic hardship for them and the proposed mixed-use project.
A public hearing on the exemption was held last month. Two residents appeared in person, objecting to the exemption for developing the building on the corner of Wheeler Avenue and Bedford Road.
Before voting to deny the waiver, board members said they heard from several additional residents who opposed the exemption.
Ultimately the board’s decision held that the significant financial hardship the property owners claimed was caused by market conditions, not the moratorium.
The applicant’s lawyer, Jeffrey Gasbarro, protested the board’s decision at its Apr. 24 meeting. The resolution to deny the exemption had been included in the board’s packet and posted on the village’s website days before the meeting.
“I would submit that the moratorium is an obstacle directly exacerbating the financial hardship,” Gasbarro argued.
Gasbarro pointed out that the proposed development would allow the century-old former Chase Bank building to be revitalized. Chase, a longtime tenant, vacated the 3,000-square-foot ground-floor space three years ago and it has remained vacant.
“Imagine this former bank building on one of the most important intersections in the village, with its limestone being cleaned that would show it’s magnificence,” Gasbarro told the board. “And new housing would be a new place for people to live and enjoy being part of the Pleasantville community.”
The village’s Planning Commission earlier this year reviewed plans submitted by the Beldottis for the project, called The Landmark 444. The proposal would preserve the five-story bank building and add four other structures containing a combined 36 rental apartments, including 16 one-bedroom and 20 two-bedroom units, four of which would be affordable housing. One commercial space would likely house a retail store or professional office.
Before voting to deny the exemption, Mayor Peter Scherer and board members commented.
“We are not sitting here to suggest we are in favor or opposed to the project,” said Scherer. “I speak for myself and likely all my colleagues that the vibrant reuse of that property is a goal we all have. We are three months or so away from the end of this moratorium and most of the financial problems that exist (for the property) pre-existed before the moratorium.”
Extending the moratorium was not the board’s goal, Scherer added.
Although Village Trustee David Vinjamuri voted to deny the exemption, he said he was disturbed by the process that resulted in the board’s vote against the waiver.
“I want to apologize to you because you are in an unfortunate situation,” he said. “We have 7,000 people in this village and we rarely hear from 200 people about anything. But there is a small but loud minority and the reality is that when we hear from one interest group, we have to respond without knowing what other residents think.”
Vinjamuri said he agreed with the initial report by the village’s planning consultants, BFJ, that projected a potential build-out in the village business district in the next 10 years would have no significant impacts on the downtown.
“I hope you don’t give up on us,” Vinjamuri told Gasbarro. “This village will continue to try do the right things in the long term, such as build(ing) a solid economic base to welcome people of different races and income levels and try to create ways for children and parents when they’re not in their prime income levels to live here. You could be a part of that.”
Abby is a local journalist who has reported on breaking news for more than 20 years. She currently covers community issues in The Examiner as a full-time reporter and has written for the paper since its inception in 2007. Read more from Abby’s editor-author bio here. Read Abbys’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/ab-lub2019/
