By Mary Marvin, Mayor of Bronxville

Jan. 27, 2021: I mentioned in last week’s column that much of the January Board of Trustees’ meeting was devoted to zoning code changes. The following is an elaboration of those code changes so that all residents are aware going forward should they be applying for certain building permits.

The overarching goal of the recent zoning changes was to adequately protect and preserve the unique physical characteristics of the Village’s existing neighborhoods, particularly at this moment in time when large scale exterior renovations and teardowns/rebuilds have attracted more attention in the Village.

Our greatest concern upon review was that Bronxville lacked an adequate review procedure for teardowns, rebuilds, and major exterior alterations compared to similar communities in Westchester.

The concern was heightened by anecdotal evidence suggesting that architects and their clients were becoming more sophisticated in designing new or modified homes in order to max out the size of the new construction. The net result has been an increase in the number of code compliant applications for very large projects, that despite their size and scope were effectively not subject to any meaningful Zoning and Planning Board review or approval prior to the January zoning changes.

To increase the concern, we learned that an increasing number of buyers were becoming aware that Bronxville’s zoning code was relatively permissive in this particular area vis-à-vis other nearby communities.

To resolve this, a zoning code review team was formed led by Village Trustee and former Zoning Board Chair Bill Fredericks and current Zoning Board Chair Stuart Mackintosh in collaboration with Planning Board Chairman Gary Reetz and the Village’s Building Department Supervisor, Paul Taft. The committee used the codes of Scarsdale, Larchmont, Eastchester, and Pleasantville as a reference, so honestly, far from being revolutionary, the zoning changes simply bring Bronxville into better alignment with neighboring communities.

The review was also timely in light of the recently completed Village Comprehensive Plan and the corresponding responses to the survey conducted in connection with the Plan, which confirmed broad support in the Village for strengthening zoning provisions.

When asked if preserving and promoting the special architectural character and appearance of the existing buildings in neighborhoods should be a priority for the Village, 73% of respondents said it was either the highest or second highest priority for the Village. 79% of respondents to the village survey noted that additional urbanization and crowding threatened the character of the Village in the long term. As a corollary, 62% of respondents favored putting some additional restrictions on house size.

The first change relates to tightening certain bulk and setback requirements and to create a design review process for major exterior renovations. Site plan approval shall now be required when there is a material alteration of an existing one family dwelling. “Material” is defined in several different ways: an increase in the total FAR of the dwelling by more than 30%; the demolition, removal or structural alteration of more than 50% of a one family dwelling’s total exterior walls; the demolition, removal or structural alteration of more than 50% of a one family dwelling’s total front yard facing exterior walls; increasing the existing FAR by more than 15% resulting in a one family dwelling of over 6000 ft. in floor area or any alteration or improvement to a one family dwelling that would result in a home of over 7500 ft. in floor area.

In addition, building permit applicants will now be required to give a form of early notice to neighbors at the same time they are submitting applications to the Building Department. Such a process would ensure that neighbors have an opportunity to express views at an earlier stage of the process rather than towards the end.

In the experience of the Zoning Board of Appeals, issues are often rendered moot once applicants have engaged with their neighbors. Hopefully, the results will be that all applicants, Village authorities and neighbors can now save time and expense if notice of potentially disruptive or contentious projects and their issues are resolved sooner rather than later.

In addition, many variances or approvals granted at the Zoning and Planning Board levels are subject to certain conditions such as the installation and maintenance of landscape. Neighbors will now be made aware of the requirements going forward as neighboring property owners have the greatest stake in ensuring that these conditions are met.

Finally, the Village Board voted unanimously to adopt an affordable housing amendment to the Village code. The new amendment requires that all residential developments in the Village of ten or more units created after the effective date of our law, (January 11, 2021) must have no less than 10% of the units created as affordable. In a development of 5 to 9 units, at least one unit must be affordable as defined.

For purchasing a home, the affordable standard is that a household must have any income that does not exceed 80% of the area median income for Westchester County. A rental unit so created will be deemed affordable when an income does not exceed 60% of the area median income.

The Village joined approximately 40 of our 45 municipal colleagues in the County who have passed this provision in the recent year and months. Passage of this code revision has been a major goal of both the County government and the new Biden administration.

These code revisions are the first of more to come as the Village Board recognizes, thanks to the incredible work of the review committee, that other items deserve additional review. Such ideas in the mix include the merits of creating a historical district, the addition of tree protection and replacement provisions, and the modification of Bronxville’s existing rules governing installation of solar power equipment.

Photo by A. Warner

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