2 New Apartment Buildings & A Bank Proposed for Larchmont

by Judy Silberstein

(February 8, 2005) A 59-unit apartment development on North Avenue, behind and parallel to Palmer Avenue, and a Commerce Bank on Chatsworth Avenue were on the table at the Village of Larchmont Planning Commission on Monday, February 7. For both projects, Monday’s hearing was only a first formal step in a review process that is likely to be lengthy.

North Avenue Apartments

The proposed apartment project, presented by Richard A. Esposito of Esposito Builders in Peekskill, would consist of two three-story buildings to be built on North Avenue behind and parallel to Palmer Avenue on a property currently owned by Frank Webers of Collins Brothers Movers, and used to park large moving vans. The main access to the apartments would be from the road near 2097 Palmer Avenue that runs between a shopping center (Guitar Center, Almarc, etc.) and the former Greenhouse Hair Salon.

An artist's concept of a proposed apartment on North Avenue shows parking under the building.

The buildings would look down on Interstate 95 and the Metro-North train tracks, but the developer said he would be requesting approval for a large wall to deaden the sound and block the view. There would be parking under each building and an improvement of the road that now runs parallel to the tracks.

Mr. Esposito had been to the Planning Commission with a similar proposal over a year and a half ago, but it has taken him a while to get the necessary easements from the Metropolitan Transit Authority, which owns adjacent property. When asked, Mr. Esposito said he had tried, so far unsuccessfully, to purchase the MTA land in order to erect three buildings and to improve the layout.

Moderate income housing units might be part of the package, the number to be worked out as the review process proceeds. This is likely to be a selling point, given that the Village of Larchmont has been under pressure for years to contribute “its fair share” of new affordable housing units to the area, and has so far come up with none.

Mr. Engel commented that, in this case, three buildings would be better than two. He explained later that the proposed buildings might serve as a noise barrier to protect nearby houses from thruway and train noise.

Commission members expressed some concern about access by emergency vehicles, such as large fire equipment that might need to pass through the underground parking garage of one building to access the other in case the alternate access was blocked. Mr. Esposito said he would make sure that the garage and road were adequate.

The site of proposed apartments belongs to Collins Brother Movers and is used to park vans

"I think this would be a direct enhancement of the area,” said Mr. Esposito. "It would be good for the commercial district, adding potential shoppers in walking distance to Palmer area stores, and for the surrounding community," he said.

Carol Conolly, owner of Discovering Me Nursery School, which overlooks the proposed development, concurred with Mr. Esposito. “I would be for it—we don’t get all the business down here,” she said. The neighboring properties are all commercial and front onto Palmer with limited or no view of the proposed development. Across the trough that houses the tracks and the highway is the site of another proposed apartment development

What’s next? The project will be subject to a full environmental impact review; Mr. Esposito will be developing further plans and amassing required documentation to make presentations before the various land use boards. The Planning Commission will ask to be the lead agency, so all findings and reports will channel back there.

Commerce Bank

The Commerce Bank would replace Dom’s Car Care, a gas station and auto repair facility at 107 Chatsworth Avenue on the corner of Franklin Avenue, one block down from Palmer Avenue. Sal Lagonia, attorney for the station’s owners, Nick and Dom Ianello, said Commerce approached his clients and they were now in very preliminary negotiations over a possible purchase of the property.

The gas station is next to a Verizon building and single family homes.

The gas station backs into the large brick building on Franklin owned by Verizon and has residential neighbors on the other side that front on Vanderburgh Avenue. Across Chatsworth are apartments and commercial buildings ranging from one to four-stories.

The site, owned by the Ianello family for 23 years, has functioned as a gas station for over 40 years, according to a long-term neighbor, Tom Connell. Current operations are from 6 am to 10 pm, 7 days a week. The bank’s attorney, Janet J. Giris, a partner with DelBello, Donnellan, Weingarten, Tartaglia, Wise & Wiederkehr, LLP, informed the Planning Commission that the bank would operate from 7:30 am to 8:30 pm.

A very preliminary sketch shows a Commerce Bank on Chatsworth.

The proposed bank would include a 29,000 square-foot building with two drive-through bays and six on-site parking slots. Commerce is looking into leasing 15 additional parking spots from the lot at 1890 Franklin Avenue, which would be sufficient to accommodate the bank’s employees.

Commission members were concerned about zoning and traffic. The gas station’s placement on Chatsworth pre-dates many zoning restrictions in the Village of Larchmont, pointed out Commissioner Ralph Engel. “You are violating all sort of zoning laws, including curb cuts, coverage, signage. I suggest you look at the zoning code,” he recommended.

Commissioner Chris Verni was more concerned about the drive-through bays. “Traffic driving around somebody’s house will not be desired,” he commented. Ms. Giris noted that Commerce “does not generate the same peak hour traffic” as other banks, because of its extended hours. “They like to describe themselves as ‘America's Most Convenient Bank,’ “ she said.

Neighbors are just starting to hear about the bank’s plans. Tom Connell, who lives on Vanderburgh Avenue, was reserving judgment based on the proposed building’s height. “It’s only one story now; if the building is high, I wouldn’t be too happy about it,” he said. But he was not opposed in concept, he said. “Quite honestly, they did a very good job on the Greenhaven bank.”

New Banks Joining Existing Banks

Mr. Connell was referring to the Commerce branch recently erected at the site of the Crab Shanty restaurant on the Boston Post Road in the Village of Mamaroneck. Another Commerce Bank is going up in Town of Mamaroneck, where the Castro Convertible store, vacant for a number of years, was demolished last Friday. Commerce, which has expanded from 97 banks in 1998 to 319 in 2004, has plans to build more than 55 facilities in 2005, 25 to 30 of these in New York and Connecticut, according to a recent press release. (See: Commerce News)

Demolition of Castro Convertible on February 3 made way for a Commerce Bank in Mamaroneck.

And Commerce isn’t the only banking concern expanding into the Larchmont and Mamaroneck area, which already has a number of existing banks. In Town of Mamaroneck, the new Commerce will be down the street from a new Webster Bank and across from a new North Fork branch and the existing Chase Manhattan Bank. (See: Pace of Change Revs Up on Boston Post Road ).The Bank of New York and Wachovia have Larchmont facilities a few blocks down the Boston Post Road. The Chatsworth Commerce would be within a block of a Bank of America, Chase, Bank of New York, Citibank and Wachovia branch.

It’s way too early to know exactly what’s in store for Commerce Bank in Larchmont. “Our development plans are preliminary at this point,” commented John Tolomer, senior vice president with Commerce Bank, via email. The bank does not yet own the land, and the architectural rendering displayed on Monday night was just for illustrative purposes. “Our goal is to cooperate with town officials for the mutual benefit of all parties,” he said.

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