The Yonkers Planning Board has approved plans to rebuild a strip of local stores at 671 Yonkers Ave. that was destroyed by a four-alarm fire on Jan. 12, 2021. The first Yonkers firefighters who arrived on the scene of the early morning blaze found the one-story building engulfed in flames.
The building at the corner of Yonkers Avenue and Seminary Avenue housed a food market, dry cleaner, computer repair company, nail salon, laundromat, and an insurance office. Fire officials reported on the day of the fire that employees at the food market were at work when smoke detectors went off. It was believed the fire began in the laundromat.
The remains of the building were demolished and the site cleared.
The applicant, AC & Sons, headed by Anthony Cosica, sought approval to construct a new one-story building that will have six retail spaces at ground level and a basement. The basement would be used for storage and building mechanicals. The building would measure 5,905 square feet and occupy the same footprint as the old one, which had stood on the site for more than 70 years. There would not be on-site parking, as was the case with the former building. Plantings would be put in to help screen the building from residential buildings at the rear.
The Yonkers Zoning Board of Appeals previously had granted variances for the building to have an insufficient front yard and not providing parking.
