An appeal looking to override a temporary moratorium on residential development in the village of Larchmont was given the green light by the Board of Trustees.
The property in question, located on Larchmont’s Douglas Lane, was allowed to continue forward with the demolition of a privately owned property that was caught in a net cast by the village’s temporary moratorium.
“For an applicant to appeal to the [Board of Trustees], one must be able to show a hardship, and, in this instance, the property owner was able to show that hardship in an appeal without thwarting efforts of the moratorium,” said Larchmont Village Clerk Justin Datino. “They don’t have a home they can rebuild and they’re in a position where they needed a new home.”
Unlike other projects, including the controversial proposal looking to tear down and subdivide a historic property located on 40 Ocean Ave., a proposal from David and Lisa Spielvogel—the property owners of 3 Douglas Lane—did not look to add multiple homes to its existing lot.
According to the appeal filed by the Spielvogels, the home was purchased with the original intent of renovating the existing structure. However, after cost estimates and the project’s scope exceeded expectations, the owners opted to tear down the existing structure in place of a building a new home.
Among the problems found during inspection were rusting sewer pipes, a leaking roof, rotted wooden beams, and deficient windows that caused difficulties with heating during the winter months.
While the owners had waited for the original six-month moratorium to expire, a three-month extension of the moratorium led the homeowners to request the appeal.
“When the moratorium was enacted in January, we were just about ready to submit plans, but we believed the six months would give us time to work out some details,” the appeal states. “The three-month extension, however, will most certainly cause hardship to our lives and our plans.”
An original moratorium enacted by the village was set to expire on July 15. However, after the Board of Trustees determined that the village would need additional time to complete its analysis of zoning and planning codes prior to potentially revising them, a three-month extension was approved.
The impetus for Larchmont’s moratorium can be traced to 2015, when the potential demolition and subdivision of the historic 40 Ocean Ave. property in favor of multiple homes on the same lot sparked residents into action.
A subsequent round of heated public hearings led to the enactment of the village’s current moratorium, which bans the tear down and subdivision of residential properties villagewide.
According to Mayor Lorraine Walsh, a Democrat, the village continues to make headway on a revamped set of zoning and planning laws meant to curb what many residents and board members have deemed excessive development of historic properties in Larchmont.
Datino said the village is currently mulling the degree to which storm water runoff and flood mitigation impacts zoning and planning, as well as possibly giving the Planning Board additional authority in the land use process. “[Larchmont] has been productive thus far, but it’s hard to say for certain [the outcome of the laws] until discussion comes to a point,” he added.
Among the topics of discussion are new floor-area ratio requirements and what level of development or alterations would trigger a negative determination under new site plan laws.
After the village board’s approval of an extension in July, the moratorium is set to expire in mid-October, marking nearly a full calendar year of no residential development in Larchmont.
