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AutoNation scales back Mount Kisco Jaguar/Land Rover plan; public hearing continued
Summary
AutoNation presented a reduced sales‑only plan for 299 Kisco Ave, removing 41 Kensico Drive and shifting service operations to its Norm Avenue (Bedford) facility. The Planning Board heard technical questions about parking, vehicle stacking and surfacing and continued the public hearing to Oct. 13 for further detail and staff review.
AutoNation representatives told the Mount Kisco Planning Board Sept. 8 that they had substantially revised a previously proposed Jaguar/Land Rover development at 299 Kisco Avenue, scaling a formerly larger sales‑and‑service project down to a sales‑only facility and removing 41 Kensico Drive from the filing.
Jan K. Johannessen, the village planner, said the applicant had pared the program so that “there is no service occurring at 299 [Kisco Avenue]; it’s a single store building, sales building,” and that vehicles would be transported to a Norm Avenue site in Bedford for servicing and then returned to Mount Kisco for customer pickup.
The applicant’s attorney, David Steinmetz of Zarin & Steinmetz, said AutoNation and the manufacturer partners had ‘‘reexamined’’ operations during the pandemic and concluded that separating sales and service would meet brand and business needs while reducing the Mount Kisco site’s footprint. Project engineer Paul Sysak presented a conceptual site plan showing about a 10,000‑square‑foot sales building, on‑site customer and employee parking, a vehicle storage/display area and decorative entrance surfacing favored by Jaguar/Land Rover.
Board members raised operational and traffic concerns. Member Michael Bonforte warned of the risk of car queuing: “I don’t want to say intermittently and once in a while but a consistent buildup of cars lined up for service on Kisco Avenue” could obstruct traffic if on‑site stacking proved insufficient. The applicant said brand data and porter operations reduce that risk, and that loaner and stored cars would be primarily housed at the Norm Avenue site and brought over as needed.
The Planning Board and village counsel discussed how to administratively separate the Kensico Drive property from the 299 Kisco application. Staff agreed to meet with the applicant to determine whether a reapplication or merely an administrative bifurcation was required.
The public hearing was continued to Oct. 13, 2020, to allow the applicant to supply construction details, surfacing/ stormwater specifics, and further refinements to development‑coverage and parking calculations. The Board asked applicants to show parking breakdowns, surface treatments for outdoor storage, and clearer queuing/staffing procedures in the follow‑up submission.
What happens next: Staff will meet with the applicant to confirm whether 41 Kensico will be formally withdrawn or require separate filings; applicants plan to file the Bedford service site in the coming weeks.
