Pelham ZBA Nominated to Review Environmental Studies of Picture House Application

Environmental studies of plans for a new addition to the back of the Picture House Regional Film Center and interior renovations will be reviewed before the Pelham Village Zoning Board of Appeals if there are no objections from other interested governmental bodies.

ZBA members voted at their meeting on Wednesday (Nov. 18) to nominate the ZBA as the lead agency for the environmental review of the Picture House renovation project. The ZBA based its decision on the application for a special permit (for a new 98 seat theater), a zoning variance to allow a zero setback of the addition from Brookside Avenue and a zoning variance on parking requirements.

A notice that the ZBA has nominated itself to be lead agency for the environmental review will be sent to the Village Board of Trustees, Village Planning Board as well as state and county authorities; those units will have 30 days to object or allow the decision.

During this same period, the Picture House is expected to submit a new traffic study, a new civil engineer’s report on drainage and an updated letter of “no adverse effects” from the state because the Picture House has been nominated for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. All of these documents will be made available to the public after they are submitted to the Village. A copy of each plus any other documents related to the Picture House ZBA application will be available to the public at Village Hall. Also, the Picture House is exploring whether the reports can be posted to its web site (bandwidth issues are being studied). Copies of all documents are available for inspection at Village Hall during normal business hours and will also be available at the Pelham Library.

Assuming there are no objections to the ZBA taking the lead agency role, the next step in the environmental review process would occur at the ZBA meeting on Jan. 20. At that meeting, there will be a discussion of whether the ZBA will issue a “negative declaration” or require the Picture House to present further reports on possible environmental issues related to the project. Public comment will be heard at that meeting and there will be discussion by ZBA members.

At the Nov. 18 meeting, ZBA Chairman Ed Smith said, “This is going to go on for a number of months.” He said substantive discussion of the application for a special permit and variances will follow completion of the environmental review process.

However, the Picture House was allowed to give a brief presentation describing its proposed plans for the 5,650 square foot addition to the building. The original plans have been scaled back so that there will be only two theaters (not three) and a total of 407 seats instead of the originally proposed 450. A proposed multi-purpose room has also been eliminated from the new design.

Ray Beeler, a member of the Picture House Construction Committee, said the design changes mean that 130 parking spaces, instead of 14l would be required for the Zoning Code. A Zoning Code provision allows the Board of Trustee to waive parking restrictions if there is available space in a Village facility within 500 feet of the applicant. He said parking in the Village parking lot behind Village Hall is within 500 feet of the back of the Picture House building. He said the only setback variance is on the Brookside Avenue side of the new addition which would include 98 theater seats. It was said that number of seats is required to make that theater “economically viable.” (The existing theater would have 309 seats after other renovations in the main building.)

A10-foot wide sidewalk along the property line on Brookside Avenue has been added to the revised plan, at the request of neighbors.

The revised design envisions the current building’s painted facade be returned to its original brick. The two-level addition (theater on top, classrooms below) would have a cedar siding. Because of the size of the theater on the addition's upper level, the addition would be zero feet from the property line and therefore a variance to the zoning code (4 ft. setback) would have to be granted for the project to go ahead. An enclosed hallway would connect the addition to the main building.
The backyard setback would be within the zoning code and a screen of plantings is proposed along the back property line.

In addition to its ZBA application, the Picture House has already submitted a full Environmental Assessment Form (EAF) to the ZBA. Highlights include: the footprint would be on .31 acres instead of current .21 acres of the site and the grass area would be .05 acres instead of .15 acres currently and the building would be expanded by 19% with inclusion of the addition and new enclosed hallway;

Peter Rommano, a representative of a homeowners group from Brookside Avenue, Clovely in Pelham, Inc., asked that all documents related to the application be available to the public on some web site in addition to the paper copies at Village Hall and possibly the Town Library. A group of about 25 residents of the area near the Picture House also attended the Nov. 18 meeting.
 

This is part of the November 20, 2009 online edition of The Pelham Weekly.

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