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Planning board approves 454 Saddle River Road synagogue plan, overrides several county GML objections
Summary
The Airmont Planning Board approved the site plan, special permit and requested GML overrides for 454 Saddle River Road LLC after hearing technical reviews from Nelson Pope and other agencies and receiving multiple letters. Board set conditions to comply with agency letters and to resolve any outstanding county highway concerns.
The Airmont Planning Board approved the site plan, special permit and a set of requested overrides of Rockland County’s GML (General Municipal Law) comments for 454 Saddle River Road LLC at its Jan. 23 meeting.
Applicant counsel Dan Richmond (Zarin & Steinmetz) and Rachel Barris (CivilTech Engineering & Surveying) presented the application for a freestanding place of worship with an accessory rabbi’s residence on a 1.19-acre lot in the R-50 district. The application had previously received a negative declaration under SEQRA and yielded ZBA variances on Jan. 7, 2025. The board reviewed multiple agency comment letters, including Nelson Pope traffic memos (June/July/August 2024 and a December 13, 2024 memo finding the revised traffic study acceptable), Rockland County highway correspondence (including an Oct. 21, 2024 letter), Rockland County Health Department letters, Veolia willingness-to-serve evidence and Ramapo DPW comments.
Counsel asked the board to override specific county GML recommendations (items 1, 7, 12 and 13 in the county GML letter dated 09/24/2024) citing subsequent technical responses and review memos that the applicant submitted. The board’s consultants (Nelson Pope) had concluded in a December memo that the revised traffic study adequately addressed prior comments and that the project would have minor traffic impacts in the study area. County highway had sent a follow-up email saying it had not had time to review a newer letter; the applicant noted the county’s new comments were substantially the same as prior letters and that Nelson Pope had already reviewed the updated traffic materials.
After discussing outstanding review items (including drainage agency jurisdiction questions and the possibility of a county follow-up letter), the board approved the site plan, special permit, and GML overrides as described by counsel, with conditions that remaining agency comments be resolved and that final building and utility approvals (Veolia willingness-to-serve, sewer capacity/flow-metering conditions and building-inspector reviews) be satisfied prior to final sign-off. The vote was unanimous.
