Pelham Manor trustees propose allowing business, professional offices in B3 district; public hearing set

Village Manager Luft told the Pelham Manor Board of Trustees on Jan. 12 that the village is seeking to add Business and Professional Offices as a principal permitted use in the B3 zoning district, using language already applied in the B1 and B2 districts. The measure, described in the meeting as Local Law 1 of 2026, would exclude medical offices.

If adopted, the change is intended to allow vacant or underused buildings along the B3 corridor (between Canal Road and Hillside by Secor, per the transcript discussion of the earlier 2021 district re-establishment) to accommodate professional offices with minimal traffic impacts, Manager Luft said. Trustees indicated the district already contains buildings that could accommodate office uses and cited limited expected impact on traffic.

The board voted to set a public hearing for Monday, Jan. 26 at 8:15 p.m. The resolution text in the transcript references "Local Law 4 of 2025" as the item set for hearing; the minutes and staff materials should be reviewed to confirm which local-law number will be published in the hearing notice. The board did not adopt the law at the Jan. 12 meeting; the public hearing is the next procedural step.

Manager Luft said the change would replicate the same permitted-use language currently applied in B1 and B2 zones but would explicitly exclude medical offices. Trustees asked whether specific tenants had expressed interest; Luft said one building owner is working with a realtor on the vacancy and another property seeks to expand into currently empty space with professional offices.

The hearing will give residents an opportunity to comment before any final adoption. According to the transcript, the board intends to publish and hold that hearing on Jan. 26 at 8:15 p.m., and staff indicated they have worked with outside counsel in preparing the draft local law.