Febraury will kick off with an action packed Planning & Zoning agenda.
(Click here for agenda with Zoom link. The Tuesday, Feb 1 meeting starts at 4:00pm).
The agenda includes a revised plan for Greenwich Plaza, which is first on the agenda. Back in 2019 an application for a major renovation of the property from Arch Street to Steamboat, and south of the property, was withdrawn when the applicant and the town couldn’t come to an agreement on air rights over 2 Steamboat Road. In the intervening years, the pandemic wreaked havoc on the already struggling Bowtie Cinemas, and they closed permanently. The new application hinges on getting rid of the theater building and creating a restaurant and pocket park that connects to the train platform and renovates storefronts to the east of the station and removes the ticket booth to bring in light and have a big, bright waiting room. (See also: After Air Rights Scuttled 2019 Deal, Greenwich Plaza Submits New Plan without Movie Theater)
Another well anticipated application is for 125 Greenwich Ave where the idea is to add two stories to the top of the Putnam Trust building for a three unit 8-30g affordable housing development. Built in 1925 in Classical Revival style, the building is now home to Shreve Crump & Low. (See also: Pre-Application Submitted for 8-30g in Two Additional Floors atop Shreve, Crump & Low Building)
Also on the agenda are the town’s DPW improvements for the Glenville Road and Glenville Street Corridor. Specifically the application is for a Final Site Plan to make revisions to the approved redesign of the corridor through the Federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program, to reduce congestion and improve air quality.
The idea is to reduce emissions to help meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act, provide wider lanes, improve traffic signaling, add new sidewalks and curbing, realign crosswalks at critical intersections, add on-street parking and related road improvements on the corridor from Glen Ridge Road to Weaver Street.
A new pre application is for a 40 ft x 40 ft tent in the parking lot of Chabad Lubavitch at 6 Lincoln Avenue. Per the narrative, the proposal is to install a 40 x 40′ tent on the rear portion of the property at 6 Lincoln Avenue.
The tent would be used for outdoor services on Saturdays and for Hebrew school on Sundays.
“It’s anticipated that approximately 25 people would attend the Saturday services and 15 to 20 children would use the tent as part of Hebrew school on Sundays,” the applicant says in their narrative. The applicant’s plan is to use the tent during the pandemic while indoor gatherings and services continue to be limited.
Parking for those driving to services would be accommodated at Chabad’s parking lot at 75 Mason Street. No other activities will be occurring during the time the Saturday services and Sunday Hebrew school will be conducted.
Both buildings owned by Chabad – 75 Mason and 6 Lincoln – are for sale as a development site.
Currently the Chabad has permission dating back to 2017 to operate a preschool at 6 Lincoln Ave
Chabad Pre-School Approved by P&Z to Move from YMCA to Lincoln Avenue Aug 3, 2017 with an agreement that included a condition that parents drop off staggered in 15 minute intervals, and turn around behind the building so they don’t back out into traffic on Lincoln.
Chabad Pre-School Approved by P&Z to Move from YMCA to Lincoln Avenue Aug 3, 2017
Yet another interesting application involves the Binney Park scenic loop. Greenwich Dept of Public works, the applicant, has made an application for alteration or improvement of the designated Scenic Road to replace sidewalks, curbs, and ramps within the portions of Sound Beach Avenue and Wesskum Wood Road.
Up at 1141 King Street, there is an application for cluster housing.
The idea is to create a conservation cluster subdivision with five detached houses, a greenhouse, shed, and a tennis court.
The subject parcel is a 19.1385-acre flag lot on the east side of King Street, bordered on the east by property owned by the Audobon Society property, to the north by the Convent of Sacred Heart, to the west by Greenwich Woods nursing home and two single family homes, and to the south by the Chieftains Conservation Subdivision.
The applicant is proposing to remove an existing house and barn and to develop the property in a cluster approach with five detached dwellings each with a pool and patios, and a community green house, shed and tennis court. The property is a flag lot with an existing driveway with 33’ accessway on King Street. The proposal includes the widening of the driveway from 12’ to an 18’ with a gate.
Previously when this application appeared before the P&Z commission, the proposal was for six homes.
And…. there is a proposal for an 8-30g residential complex on a flag lot behind the People’s Bank on the Post Road in Riverside. The address is 1143 East Putnam Ave. The proposed four story, 20-unit “set-aside development,” would had six units, and 30% of the total unit count, would be affordable per the state affordable housing statute.
The commission previously discussed this application in May 2021.
Pre-Application for 20-Unit 8-30g Development on Putnam Ave Flag Lot in Riverside May 10, 2021
Note: The new pre-application for a six-story, 110 unit, 8-30g affordable housing development from the Tranfos for Benedict Court and Benedict Place is not on this agenda