Zoning board approves variances for proposed 83 Campbell Avenue school

The Airmont Zoning Board voted to approve variances and county-review overrides for a proposed private school at 83 Campbell Avenue, a 4.21‑acre property, after the applicant reduced the building footprint and presented stormwater and parking plans.

The application, presented by attorney Paul Baum and engineer Rachel Barice for a school operator led by Rabbi Sam, asks to convert an existing single‑family property into a school limited to a maximum of 100 students ages 14–17, with a 22,883‑square‑foot classroom building and a separate 3,000‑square‑foot gym. The board approved area variances for lot width, development coverage and parking and voted to override selected Rockland County planning comments; the motion carried unanimously.

Board, applicant and neighborhood context

Baum told the board the project had been reduced from an earlier 25,842‑square‑foot design to 22,883 square feet at the planning board’s request and that the planning board had issued a SEQRA negative declaration. Rachel Barice of Civil Tech Engineering described the site and supporting plans, including an underground stormwater detention design the village engineer had reviewed. She said the lot is about 183,450 square feet (about 4.21 acres) and that the project retains an on‑site house to be used as caretaker quarters.

Baum said the school will operate with private vans for student transport and “no buses.” He said the applicant projects about 20 staff members with staggered on‑site schedules so that “there’s no more than 10 or 11 staff members present at any given time,” and said the project provides 31 parking spaces (29 for the school and two for residents). By the zoning calculation cited in the application, 114 spaces would be required under one method of the code’s table; the applicant argued that practical staffing and transportation patterns significantly reduce parking demand.

Neighbor concerns and applicant response

One adjacent resident, Jill Lerner, asked the board to reconsider sections of proposed perimeter fencing and said she valued existing wildlife and informal access across the property. Baum and Barice said the plan includes a landscape and screening plan, and that the submitted stormwater pollution prevention plan and tree/planting plan address runoff and buffering.

Board reasoning and vote

Board members discussed the planning board’s environmental review and the applicant’s engineering responses to county comments. The Zoning Board voted to override three Rockland County Department of Planning comments (labeled in the county memo as items 2, 6 and 7) after concluding the village engineer’s stormwater review and the applicant’s responses adequately addressed county concerns. The board then approved the requested variances for lot width, development coverage and parking. The motions carried 5–0.

What the approvals mean

The approvals allow the applicant to proceed with the site plan and zoning relief identified in the application; the approvals do not by themselves authorize construction permits. The applicant is required to comply with ongoing village engineering review, building‑code and permitting procedures before any construction or change of use is final.

Votes at a glance

- Variances for 83 Campbell Avenue (lot width, development coverage, parking): approved, vote 5–0. - Overrides of Rockland County Department of Planning comments (items 2, 6, 7): approved, vote 5–0.

Sources and attribution

Direct quotations and project details come from the applicant’s presentation by Paul Baum and Rachel Barice and from public comments recorded during the Airmont Zoning Board meeting. Neighbor remarks are attributed to Jill Lerner, who spoke during public comment.