Toll Brothers wants to build cluster development in Yonkers

Toll Brothers, the Fortune 500 company founded in 1967 and headquartered in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, wants Yonkers to approve subdividing a 5.03-acre property at 612 E. Grassy Sprain Road into 28 single-family lots with a separate lot to be used as open space plus an access road. The subdivision would set the stage for Toll to build a cluster development on the property.

In 2022, Toll Brothers reported revenues of $10.28 billion and net income of $1.28 billion.

Toll says it has a contract to purchase the property from the owner, 612 Sprain Brook LLC. Since 1981, the property has been used for the operation of the current owner”™s shipping business headquarters with business activities occurring around the clock seven days a week.

According to Attorneys David Cooper and Jaclyn Cohen of the White Plains-based law firm Zarin & Steinmetz, Toll is proposing that each of the 28 building lots would be improved with a townhouse-style dwelling unit ranging in size from 2,000 to 3,000 square feet. The dwelling units would be clustered in groups of two with zero-foot setbacks. In addition to the 28 building lots, there would be a lot of approximately 1.07-acre that would be used for open space with a stormwater management pond.

“The proposed project, including the overall design of development, would be in harmony with the character of the predominantly residential neighborhood in the surrounding area,” the attorneys said. “In addition, the proposed project minimizes potential environmental impact when compared with a conventional subdivision for this property.”

The attorneys pointed out that in 2019, after unsuccessfully trying to sell the property for about two years, the current owner submitted a plan to Yonkers for rezoning the property and building a cluster development similar to what Toll Brothers is proposing. They also note that there is an existing single-family townhouse-style development immediately adjacent to the property.

“Rather than having a number of 6,000 square foot single-family lots with individual driveways and houses, the cluster approach permits a series of zero-lot-line houses with access off a single center road,” the attorneys said.

They said that the road would be dedicated to the city and that the cluster development approach would limit the overall disturbance, reduce impervious surfaces and increase some buffer areas on the property.

Toll Brothers planned to make a presentation on the subdivision and cluster development plan to the Yonkers Planning Board at its meeting on Sept. 15.