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Home My WebLink About2025-4-21 900 King Street Westchester County Planning Board Referral File RYB 25-001 Westchester County Planning Board Referral Review Pursuant to Section 239 L, M and N of the General Municipal Law and Section 277.61 of the County Administrative Code Kenneth W. Jenkins Westchester County Executive 432 Michaelian Office Building 148 Martine Avenue White Plains, New York 10601 Telephone: (914) 995-4400 Website: westchestergov.com April 21, 2025 Christopher Bradbury, Village Administrator Rye Brook Village Hall 938 King Street Rye Brook, NY 10573-1226 County Planning Board Referral File RYB 25-001 – 900 King Street Amended Site Plan Approval Dear Mr. Bradbury: The Westchester County Planning Board has received a site plan (dated February 20, 2025) and related materials for a proposed amendment to a previously approved site plan application to redevelop a 17.77- acre former office site located at 900 King Street (NYS Route 120). The application proposes to construct an age-restricted residential community as a Planned Unit Development (PUD) consisting of the following components: • 126 one-, two-, and three-bedroom units within a four-story independent living facility, located in the center of the site; • 85 units of assisted living and memory care in a four-story structure northeast of the independent living facility; and • 20 three-bedroom residential townhouses in the western portion of the site All of the units would be age-restricted to residents 62 years of age or older, with 13 independent living units and 1 townhouse set aside as affordable affirmatively further fair housing (AFFH) in accordance with the Village Zoning Ordinance. Vehicular access to the site would be from two driveways connecting to Arbor Drive, with an emergency access drive leading from the parking lot of the neighboring firehouse. 249 parking spaces are proposed throughout the site, with 126 located in a basement garage under the independent living facility, 58 located amongst various surface parking lots, 40 located within the townhouse garages, and 25 spaces land-banked around the site. The existing office building on the site would be demolished. This application has been under consideration by the Village since 2017, and the original site plan was adopted by the Planning Board on June 24, 2021. The County Planning Board has participated in the review of this proposal under the provisions of Section 239 L, M and N of the General Municipal Law and Section 277.61 of the County Administrative Code throughout the SEQR process and the application’s previous approvals, with our latest comment letter pertaining to the original site plans dated August 2, 2021 (RYB 21-002). We note that the proposed amendments include architectural additions, an additional outdoor amenity area, and loading area and utility structure upgrades. The applicant also proposes to add a second garage space for each of the 20 townhouse units, and the reconfiguration of the townhouse layouts. We offer the following comments with respect to the amended site plan: Referral File No. RYB 25-001 – 900 King Street April 21, 2025 Page 2 1. Affirmatively furthering fair housing (AFFH). We note that the previous site plan enumerated the affordable AFFH units proposed on the site. However, this current application does not list the units to be set aside as affordable. We note that while the approved site plans conformed to the Village’s affordable housing regulations with respect to total affordable AFFH units, the townhouse component would only have one unit set aside as affordable AFFH, representing only 5% of that unit type. We recommend that the applicant reaffirms the number and location of affordable AFFH units within the proposed amendment plans. We also reiterate our previous comment that the townhouse portion of this proposal should include at least two affordable AFFH units to be consistent with the County’s Affordable Housing policies, which state that the 10% affordable set-aside should be distributed evenly within all proposed housing types. 2. Sidewalk network. While the site plan shows a substantial internal sidewalk and trail network that connects to sidewalks on the adjacent Village and School District properties, there is no proposed sidewalk connecting the site to the King Street sidewalk. The applicant should continue the sidewalk down Arbor Drive to King Street in order to provide safe pedestrian connections throughout the neighborhood. 3. Stormwater management. As the proposed site plan includes subsurface stormwater quality and retention infrastructure, we point out that subsurface methods of stormwater management can be of diminishing effectiveness over time if not properly cleaned and maintained. We note that a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan has been established. The Village should ensure the continued operability of this stormwater management system into the future to prevent the system from being clogged with sediment, and in turn force a higher amount of stormwater runoff into the Village’s storm drain system. We appreciate the utilization of pervious paving within the emergency access drive, and encourage the applicant to explore additional at-grade stormwater management solutions that treat runoff on-site wherever possible, such as green roofing, or the installation of vegetative rain gardens. 4. Construction within a regulated stream/wetland buffer. We note that the updated Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan discusses changes to the proposed construction within the on-site wetland buffer areas. We note the regulations for stream and wetland permitting through the NYS DEC have recently been updated. The applicant should submit a Parcel Jurisdiction Determination application to NYS DEC to identify any required permits for the proposed project. More information can be found at the NYS DEC website: https://dec.ny.gov/nature/waterbodies/wetlands/freshwater-wetlands-program/freshwater-wetland- jurisdictional-determination Referral File No. RYB 25-001 – 900 King Street April 21, 2025 Page 3 5. Transportation demand management. While we appreciate that the applicant proposes to land bank a portion of the parking spaces, we note the total parking on-site is proposed to be increased through the enlargement of the townhouse garages. The County’s Transportation Demand Management Toolkits provide strategies for municipalities, employers, and developers to reduce the need for single-occupancy vehicle commutes, which could help the applicant avoid the economic and environmental costs of including excessive parking on the site. We recommend that the Village and applicant review these Toolkits to determine whether additional parking on the site is truly needed. 6. Bicycle parking. We note that a bicycle storage room included in the approved plans is no longer indicated in the amended site plan. We recommend that a bicycle parking room again be included within the proposed building for residents and employees. As electronic bicycles have become a popular form of transportation and recreation among senior citizens, a building of this size should include storage space for bicycles and e- mobility devices so that building tenants are not forced to store and charge these devices in their apartments. We note that there is a fire risk associated with the batteries of non-UL certified devices, particularly when tenants charge them with extension cords. Due to the fire risk that these devices represent, having a centralized, sprinklered storage facility with appropriate outlets for charging is the best way to prevent fires and accommodate this form of transportation to and from the building. In addition, the applicant should provide bicycle racks for visitors near the building entrance. 7. Green building technology. We encourage the applicant to include as much green, or sustainable building technology as possible within the proposed development. We note that no indication has been provided towards the utilization of the rooftop. We recommend that the applicant consider incorporating a solar array or a green roof in order to provide further environmental remediation within the site. In addition, the Village and the applicant should give consideration towards the provision of electric vehicle parking capabilities within the proposed parking garage. Please inform us of the Village’s decision so that we can make it a part of the record. Thank you for calling this matter to our attention. Respectfully, WESTCHESTER COUNTY PLANNING BOARD Bernard Thombs Chair, Westchester County Planning Board BT/mv cc: Blanca Lopez, Commissioner, Westchester County Department of Planning Paul Januszewski, Vice President - Project Executive, MTA Construction and Development (TOD)