Architects of an urban renewal project aimed at revitalizing the village of Mamaroneck’s industrial area will push forward with drafting a resolution to adopt a more inclusive set of zoning laws, considered the biggest hurdle for the grandiose plan.
According to the chairman of the Industrial Area Advisory Committee, IAC, Andy Spatz, the committee, which has already developed initial renderings and proposals for the area, is currently drafting a resolution to change zoning limitations in the area, allowing for a greater swath of businesses to move in.
“We’d like to open the door,” Spatz said, “add additional uses that would be permissible in the area.”
and according to committee chairman Andy Spatz, a resolution do just that is already being drafted.
Rendering courtesy RePLACE Urban Studio
Among the new businesses Spatz and the IAC would like to see enter the industrial area are restaurants, art galleries, offices, breweries and other entertainment-based establishments.
The industrial area—which is located in Mamaroneck’s historic Washingtonville neighborhood—is currently zoned under the category M1, which only allows for manufacturing and industrial businesses and warehouses.
In order to alter the zoning, Spatz said that the committee may look to its primary consultant, rePLACE Urban Studio—which was chosen in an RFP process to create the first proposal—to help draft a proposal for the zoning change that would be presented to the village Board of Trustees.
However, according to Village Manager Richard Slingerland, any resolutions altering zoning laws are usually drafted in-house using the village staff.
Already, Spatz said, the committee is contemplating events in the industrial area to help introduce residents to the zone’s potential.
Among the events, he told the Review, could be a food truck fair that showcases vendors from around Westchester County and the surrounding areas.
Spatz described this type of event as “low hanging fruit,” adding that only a permit—not a zoning change—would be required to carry out a showcase of that nature.
While the IAC’s crosshairs are firmly fixed toward the future, Spatz said there has also been special consideration to preserve the businesses that are currently there, like Chatsworth Antique and Consignment.
According to Joan Meehan, who co-owns the longtime Mamaroneck antique warehouse on Ogden Avenue, while the announcement of the committee’s plans for the area gave her pause, she said that it might also benefit her business.
“It may be a great thing,” she told the Review. “The more traffic you bring to a place, the better.”
According to a report released by the IAC in January, the area currently boasts 700,000 square feet of property that could be redeveloped and repurposed for other uses.
Among the benefits of the industrial area, according to the study, is its proximity to major forms of transit like Interstate 95 and the Mamaroneck Metro-North Railroad, which could help businesses looking to attract customers from other parts of the region.
However, drawbacks of the area loom for businesses looking for stability. According to the study, Washingtonville is among the most affected areas in the event of severe flooding.
Many of the buildings are located within a 100-year flood plain—floods that occur about once every century—meaning they run a much higher risk of incurring costly property damage.
While a number of provisions in the committee’s proposal would look to mitigate the effects of flooding—such as implementing rain gardens and raising some structures—a proposed $75 million flood mitigation project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could prove a major victory.
According to federal projections, which suggests large-scale dredging of the Mamaroneck and Sheldrake rivers, as well as the construction of more than 7,500 feet of retaining wall, the plan could decrease main floor flooding of structures in the village by 86 percent.
Whether or not the urban renewal project will come to fruition is a different story, however, according to Spatz. He told the Review that even after the resolution is drafted—which he hopes will happen in the fall—the zoning change proposal must be vetted by the Board of Trustees and proper land use boards.
