Melbourne Subdivision Request Would Create Zoning Deficient Lots
- Mamaroneck Observer
- 9 hours ago
- 3 min read
by Meg Yergin -
The owners of 308 Melbourne Avenue returned to the Planning Board (PB) on January 7, 2025 seeking changes to the PB’s conditional approval for the subdivision of their lot. Last April, the PB approved the subdivision request dependent upon the completion of several conditions, including the installation of a new driveway and stormwater infiltration system on Lot 1.
In April, the PB told the property owner that although it approved the plan with these conditions, it would not formally sign and file the plat with Westchester County until the conditions had been met. Until the plat is filed, the subdivision is not recognized by Westchester County. See HERE.
Decision Regarding Village-Owned Tree Thwarts Driveway Plans
The property owner returned to the PB because the Village refused to remove a tree on Village property that the applicant claimed was unhealthy. Because the tree is remaining, the property owner cannot fulfill one of the conditions of the subdivision approval. That condition is to build a new driveway on Lot 1 to provide the off-street parking spaces required by the Code for the existing home. See HERE. Currently, the existing home uses a driveway that stretches across what would become the second lot after the subdivision.
Request to Remove New Driveway Requirement
The property owner’s attorney, Paul Noto, asked the PB to approve the subdivision without a new driveway, with the understanding that an easement for sharing the existing driveway would be obtained from the future owner of the second lot. In essence, Noto asked the PB to approve a subdivision request that will create a zoning noncompliant lot as an easement has not yet been obtained.
In addition, Alicia Moore of AKRF (the Village’s consulting planners) informed the PB that the Code requires driveways to be 5 feet off the property line. As a result, the revised plan to utilize the existing shared driveway stretching across the new property line would result in making both lots zoning non-compliant.
Village Law Requires Both Lots to be Zoning Compliant
Village Law 7-730 requires that each lot on a sub-division plat must comply with all local zoning ordinances at the time the subdivision is approved. The PB is not permitted to approve a plat that creates a zoning non-compliant lot. This is not a “we would like it to be compliant” request as described by Chair Seamus O’Rourke at the meeting, but instead a legal requirement.
Village Law 7-730 also states that the property owner can go directly to the Zoning Board of Appeals to request variance approvals to make the newly formed lots zoning compliant.
Neighbors’ Flooding Concerns
Melbourne Avenue has a history of frequent flooding. During previous hearings regarding this subdivision request, many neighbors voiced their concerns about the impact the additional development will have on groundwater displacement in the neighborhood. See article HERE.
Some neighbors also spoke out about the potential loss of mature trees anticipated with the development of a newly created lot. At the PB’s April 15, 2025 meeting, Beverley Sherrid, Chair of the Village Tree Committee, estimated that seven mature trees would be lost with the construction of a home on the new lot. She said that mature trees mitigate flooding and that it takes 30 years for new, smaller trees to provide the same benefit.
Next Steps
The PB has asked the Building Department for a Zoning Letter of Determination for the applicant’s revised plans. The PB will then open a public hearing on the matter.
The next meeting of the PB is scheduled for February 11, 2026. The agenda for this meeting is not yet available.
