Hudson Valley Islamic Community Center

SBL: 15.11-1-17.1
Location: 3680 Lexington Avenue
Contact: Site Design Consultants, Al Capellini , Joe Cremele
Description: Update on improvements to this site.
 
June 22, 2009, work session
Discussion of Site Plan
This property has been in use for over 3 years as a religious institution under a special use permit.  When the permit was granted, it was agreed that the applicant could occupy the buildings and get its operation up and running, but would need to come before the Planning Board for an approved site plan.  That's what is happening at this time, however there have been no changes in the site since the current owners have moved in.  The applicants questioned the need for a public hearing.  Mr. Flynn favors a public hearing as a means to hear out all objections and to fully disclose what is being planned.  In the end, action on this application was held over until Planning Board Chairman David Klaus was available to participate and possibly sign the site plan.

July 13, 2009, work session
Al Capellini, the applicant's attorney, advised the board that since there had been no changes in the site plan, the applicant felt that a public hearing was not necessary. He explained that the pending actions on the site included stripping the parking area, denoting handicapped parking, providing for a break-away gate at one entrance and installing signage. All these actions, he said, were discussed when the applicant came before the board several years ago. He added that fire and safety improvements had been made to the building and that the building had passed all inspections in November, 2008. In response to a question from Mr. Flynn about traffic issues, Mr. Capellini said that traffic was only an issue on a few holidays and that the police have been able to help out on those occasions. The board decided that as the current request simply memorialized what was already there and had been approved that no public hearing was needed. Mr. Capellini said, however, that the Building Department wanted something in writing from the planning board. There was a brief discussion of whether the Center was entitled to a special permit by right as a religious use or whether it needed board approval for a special permit as an educational use. Attorney Karen Wagner will research the issue and the board will consider whether a resolution should be voted on at the next meeting.

September 14, 2009, work session
Joe Riina, the site planner for the Cente,r reviewed the building's usage log and types of activities. The busiest time is Friday when about 60 people come for prayer, followed by a fellowship gathering of about 100 people. About two times a year, on special holidays, the site has about 600 people and about 200-250 cars. Town police and the center's own staff have been able to handle the traffic on these days without any problem. During the three years that the center has been in operation, there have been no complaints from adjoining property owners.

The issue of whether a new special permit was needed was raised again and the board's special counsel, Karen Wagner said that a new permit was needed as the original one was for a school and the building is now being used as a church. Mr. Flynn noted that there shouldn't be any problem obtaining the new special permit. Mr. Tegeder noted that even religious institutions, which are allowed uses by right, typically have their site plans go through a review process with the board issuing an approving resolution.

Ms. Wagner and Ms. Crispi also asked questions about whether the building was ever used for weddings or other special banquets that might also involve a larger number of people than usual.

Mr. Klaus advised the applicant to prepare a written plan of how it handles traffic for the center's special holidays and also to begin work on the special permit application.

November 23, 2009, work session

A Public Information Hearing is scheduled for December 14, 2009. 

 

The site overflows its parking capacity by about 140 cars, twice a year on two holy days.  In the past, the extra cars were parked on the grass on the site.  This has been adequate since cars come and go throughout the day, rather than arrive and leave all at once.  As part of the special use permit, the applicant has police officers directing traffic, but usually traffic conditions don’t warrant the police presence for the whole day.  Ms. Wagner, PB attorney, asked how the number of extra cars was determined.  Mr. Capellini said it was just an estimate by the applicant.  Mr. Tegeder pointed out that the special use permit would need to be revisited if the congregation grew significantly.

 

Ms. Wagner asked about how the rental of the site’s banquet facilities (as seen on the applicant’s website) would impact parking.  There is adequate parking for these events.

 

Ed Ciffone, a Yorktown resident, questioned why a tax-exempt organization such as the Hudson Valley Islamic Community Center should be deriving income from renting banquet facilities.  Both the Planning Board and Mr. Tegeder pointed out that this site has been owned by tax-exempt organizations for a very long time and that Mr. Ciffone should use the opportunity of the Public Information Hearing to ask his question.

December 14, 2009, Public Information Meeting

Mr. Klaus explained that the site’s use was not being changed, but that the site plans do not accurately reflect what exists on the site. So it is desirable to “memorialize and formalize” what is actually there. Mr. Capellini explained that in the past, religious use of a piece of property was “as of right”, but now religious institutions in residential zones require Planning Board review. This property has a long history of religious use under different owners, spanning the time in which this change in review requirements occurred.

Mr. Riina described interior renovations being done in the 46,000 sq ft, one story main building, including upgrading fire alarms and suppression systems. Externally, the Lexington Ave. parking lot entrance closest to Strawberry Rd will be replaced with an emergency access gate, leaving an entrance further south along Lexington Ave. and one on Strawberry Rd.

Parking during weekly events and the congregation’s two high holy days was described. The site has 190 parking spaces, but there are 140 overflow spaces on the grass, which is enough to accommodate the 600 peak attendance on the high holy days. The Center has its own security personnel to supervise the parking lot traffic on these days, a practice approved by the Yorktown Police Department. A trustee of the Islamic Center ran down a list of the weekly activities and special events and the numbers of people attending each. The two high holy days are by far the largest events at around 600 attendees, but these people arrive as families and not all at once, so the site’s parking is adequate.

There being no questions from the public, the Public Informational Meeting was closed.

 

March 22, 2010, work session

Description: Modifications to existing site plan for community center.

A public hearing was set for April 12, 2010.  Ms. Wagner asked if, as per the Islamic Center’s web site, space would be rented for catered banquets, since this might impact the parking requirements.  Mr. Capellini didn’t know, but suggested the question be asked of the representative of the Islamic Community Center at the public hearing. 

 

May 10, 2010, regular session

 

Description: Amended Site Plan & Special Permit for a Place of Worship. 

The Planning Board was ready to make the necessary declarations under SEQR and approve this amended site plan and special permit, except that a letter had been received at the last minute from the Westchester County Planning Department concerning the necessity for bike racks as part of the site plan.  Planning Board Attorney Wagner said she hadn't seen this letter and suggested the approving resolutions be put off until the next Planning Board meeting so she would have a chance to review it.  Mr. Flynn said that, although the County letter appeared to be “boilerplate” and not applicable to this project, he agreed at on advice of Counsel the approval should be postponed. 

Mr. Capellini, attorney for the applicant, and Mr. Ziat Ramaden, public relations officer for the applicant, pointed out that the points made in the County letter did not apply to this situation and that they had fully expected to get approvals tonight.  Mr. Ramaden said that the organization has in the process of refinancing and did not want to jeopardize their  30 day mortgage commitment by delays.  Ms. Wagner pointed out that the Planning Board met again in two weeks, so there was plenty of time.  Nevertheless, Mr. Flynn introduced the resolutions to declare the Planning Board lead agency and make a negative declaration of environmental impact under SEQR and the resolution to approve the amended site plan and special use permit.  The Planning Board approved all the resolutions.       

 

 

 

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