Westchester planners recommend unified residential development ordinance to Smart Growth, seek stronger design rules

The Westchester Borough Planning Commission voted Sept. 30 to recommend that a draft unified residential development ordinance for the town center be forwarded to the borough’s Smart Growth committee and borough council, with conditions to strengthen building-materials language and to resolve technical site standards. The motion, made during the commission’s regular meeting, asked staff and a small working group to return selected mandatory design requirements drawn from the borough’s historic design guidance before the ordinance advances.

Why it matters: The ordinance would create a new "unified residential development" use for parcels in and adjacent to the town center. Commissioners said the rule could shape the size, materials and parking of future for-sale housing projects on several large in-town parcels — including the site variously described in the meeting as the Burger King/Rubinstein parcel — and could limit demolition or low-quality construction if material standards are enforced.

Commissioners and staff debated several substantive points before voting. The ordinance draft circulated in advance included a minimum tract size (1–3 acres in the draft), parking requirements, a requirement that at least one parking space per unit be inside a garage, dimensional rules (build-to line, setbacks, height-overlay exceptions), and references to the borough’s HEART historic-design guidance. Tom (staff) led the presentation and Aaron Luke (staff) read several draft provisions aloud, including…