A Rye-based rental agency has proposed a site plan for a four-story apartment building located on the site of a former funeral home.
Elk Homes originally proposed the new apartment building in November 2015. O’Neill Funeral Home used to occupy the site dating back to 1945.
The apartment building would include 13 units, comprised of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, in addition to an exercise room.
Although this apartment building is not being marketed as an affordable housing complex, two of the apartment units will be rented at a below-market rate. According to Assistant Village Planner Greg Cutler, this means that the apartments will be rented at a rate of 30 percent of 80 percent of the area median income, but the housing is not considered Section 8 or public housing.
For example, in 2013, the area median income for Mamaroneck was $88,184. Eighty percent of that number is $70,547. Thirty percent of $70,547 is $21,164, and that figure is what the below-market rate would be for an apartment. .
The plan for the apartment building is currently in the site plan review stage. According to Cutler, the village of Mamaroneck Planning Board is requiring Elk Homes LLC to prepare additional renderings that show the proposed apartment building from different sides of the street before they move forward and near approval of the plan. Cutler added that some members of the Planning Board are concerned with the height of the building and how it would look from a street level viewpoint.
Bibbo Associates, LLP, an engineering firm out of Somers, will spearhead the land development and site planning, if the project is approved.
Also included in the plan were six parking spaces to be located on the site of the apartment building. Going forward, Elk Homes will, at least temporarily, remove those six spaces from their revisions to allow for more green space, according to Cutler.
Cutler added that any revisions made will also have to be checked by the Harbor and Coastal Zone Management Commission for consistency against the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program, a doctrine that dictates how land located by the waterfront is developed and maintained, before the board issues the final approval for construction.
A green roof plan is also proposed for the building, which would incorporate plants on the roof space of the apartment building. Cutler told the Review that those plants would help mitigate some of the storm water that collects on a roof by entering the storm water system at a slower rate, and in turn, mitigate flooding. Residents would be able to access the roof, according to Cutler.
In 2012, the village developed a comprehensive plan that was approved by the Planning Board that identified a need for more housing within the community, according to Gary Hirsch, chairman of Elk Homes. Hirsch told the Review that his proposal is consistent with that plan.
Hirsch said they will continue to revise and review the site plan, and will be back to discuss the plan further at the April 13 Planning Board meeting.
