Planning Board Considers Easing Downtown Parking Requirements

The Scarsdale Planning Board met on September 29 to consider new parking regulations that would ease the way for restaurants to open in the Village. Currently, Village Code requires one parking space per 75 square feet of space or one parking spot for each three seats in a restaurant. The parking requirement for retail stores is half that amount and the Code makes it more feasible for retailers to open than restaurants.

In response to vacant storefronts downtown, the Village Board of Trustees passed a resolution in August requesting that the Planning Board review the Code, and if warranted, prepare a recommendation to amend it.

At the meeting, Village Planner, Liz Marrinan presented a report on the current situation and a comparison of Scarsdale’s code to eight nearby towns with more vibrant downtowns. She also provided information from the Institute of Traffic Engineers with their standards for parking. She found that Scarsdale, Mamaroneck and Ardsley have the most restrictive parking requirements, and Rye, the least restrictive.

She made the following recommendations for how the code could be changed:

• Decrease the parking requirement for restaurants to one space for every 150 square feet of rentable space, which is the current requirement for retailers.
• Decrease the parking requirement to one space per 100 or 125 square feet of leasable space and give the Planning Board the power to waive the requirement on a case-by-case basis.

The importance of making a change was highlighted by comments from property owner Doug Karp who owns the space previously occupied by Waterworks as well as other stores in a strip along East Parkway and Spencer Place. He reported that since Waterworks vacated the property last year he has had virtually no inquiries from retailers about renting the 3,000 square foot space, but many from people wishing to open a restaurant there.

A restaurant of that size would now require 20 dedicated parking spaces, as the current code does not allow for shared use of parking spaces, even though the spaces are utilized at different times of the day. The current code allows for cash payment to the Village in lieu of spaces, but this cost is prohibitive, and in Karp’s view, the requirements have prevented a restaurant from leasing the space.

Furthermore, Karp reported that the real estate taxes on the space continue to rise, and with no tenant in place, the property value has declined. If he is unable to lease the space ultimately he will need to grieve the taxes which will not be good for the Village.

Members of the Planning Board asked Marrinan to find out if the less restrictive parking requirements in other villages are working and requested an expert opinion. In addition, they wanted to see what other professional organizations recommend for downtown parking requirements.

Beverly Sved, who chairs the Planning Board asked Marrinan to gather the additional information and prepare a draft of an amendment to the Code for the Planning Board to consider at their October meeting.

In other business, the Planning Board approved an addition to the gas station at 865 Scarsdale Avenue as well as the addition of porticos at Hitchcock Church for the Greenacres Avenue entrances and landscaping work to improve drainage.  The agenda item concerning a fence between the Quaker Ridge Golf Course and a Brittany Close home was held over.