Airmont zoning board grants variances for Saddle River Road house of worship, overrides county objections

The Airmont Zoning Board of Appeals voted 4-0 on Jan. 7, 2025, to grant variances that allow a proposed freestanding house of worship and an attached rabbi's residence at 454 Saddle River Road to proceed and to override several recommendations in a Rockland County Department of Planning letter, the board said.

The vote follows a public hearing in which the applicant presented site plans and studies, county agencies and local residents raised questions about wetlands, traffic and fire access, and consultants described revisions they will make to meet fire inspector and planning-board conditions.

The project is proposed on a 1.19-acre lot at 454 Saddle River Road in Airmont. The applicant seeks primary variances for floor-area ratio (FAR) and for parking spaces that would sit less than 10 feet from a property line. The proposal would accommodate seating for 88 women and 184 men, and the applicant says the design provides 45 parking spaces when 55 are required. The applicant requested a parking waiver and argued the FAR ambiguity in the village code supports a higher applicable FAR than some county reviewers assumed.

Dan Richmond, attorney with the law firm Zarin and Steinmetz, presented the application on behalf of the applicant and asked the board for an interpretation of the village code and approval of two variances. Rachel Dorese of Civiltech Engineering and Surveying PC and Joe Schwartz of Direct Building Solutions joined Richmond at the hearing and reviewed the site plan and technical…