A group of investors has been meeting with staff members of the City of Mount Vernon to discuss the possibilities for building townhouses on three sites. Lukas Herbert, the city’s assistant commissioner of planning, gave a briefing to the Planning Board about the concepts being developed for 113 Franklin Ave., 408-412 S. Seventh Ave., and 345-351 S. Ninth Ave.
Herbert did not name the investors but said that they owned the parcels of land. He did say that the investors are working together with Mount Vernon architect Shahin Badaly.
“We meet periodically with developers who have development concepts that they present to us .. to have staff look at their ideas and see if they conform to zoning or give them kind of guidance as to whether they should proceed with the application or consider changes,” Herbert said. “We met with a group that had three different proposals that are all very similar. All three of these will potentially come in as separate planning board applications although none of them have been filed yet.”
Herbert said that the objective is to develop the three vacant sites with new housing that is designed for ownership while fitting in with the existing zoning.
Herbert said that the site at 408-412 S. Seventh Ave. is two tax lots that add up to 10,000 square feet. It’s proposed to be developed with six one-family townhouses. He said the site is vacant. He said that a driveway would allow vehicles to be driven behind the townhouses for access to the garages.
He said that every townhouse would be of the same configuration, with the two-car garage on the lower level and the living room, dining room and kitchen on the first floor along with one bedroom and a bathroom. The top floor would have two bedrooms and a bathroom.
The site at 345-351 S. Ninth Ave. also is 10,000 square feet and is made up of four tax lots. It also would have six townhouses.
The site at 113 Franklin Ave. is one tax lot that is 0.63-acre and is proposed to be developed with 12 townhouses. There would be two rows of six townhouses each. A new interior roadway would be put in between the structures between to provide access to the garages. The townhouse design would emulate the townhouses on S. Seventh and S. Ninth. Herbert said that a portion of the land at 113 Franklin Ave. could be used for recreation possibly with a playground if the project attracts families with young children or reserved for open space.
Members of the planning board raised questions about parking in the neighborhoods and whether the driveways and garages would be adequate for townhouse occupants who owned two cars. They also expressed concerns about whether parking would be adequate for visitors arriving at the locations.
Herbert said that the development group wants to do something that fits the vision of the city and that if members of the Planning Board have any concerns to let him know so he can convey the comments to the developer “so they don’t appear with a project that you do not want.”
