Developers propose outdoor scaffolding storage at 1 Lawrence Street; board presses on traffic and pedestrian safety

Developers for 1 Lawrence Street told the Greenburgh Town Board at a Feb. 11 work session that they plan to reuse a remediated, 11-acre industrial parcel for outdoor scaffolding storage and to stage up to 48 cargo or box trucks, while board members voiced concerns about traffic, pedestrian safety and stormwater.

The applicants—attorney David Steinmetz of Zann & Steinmetz and engineer Diego Villareal of JMC Engineering & Planning—said the immediate plan is outdoor storage covering roughly 110,000 square feet on about six acres of the site, with a 30,000-square-foot building shown only as a possible future phase. “We are here tonight to talk about 1 Lawrence Street,” Steinmetz said, adding that the property is in the General Industrial district and was remediated under DEC standards.

The proposal calls for two driveways off Lawrence Street, perimeter buffering and a parking area for about 48 staged trucks. Villareal said the team’s preliminary traffic analysis indicates only small changes in level of service at nearby intersections—“less than a 2‑second change in level of service at Sawmill and Lawrence” and roughly a one- to two‑second delay at the Sawmill River Parkway intersection—and that typical daily active operations would involve about 14–18 vans or trucks (roughly 28–36 vehicle trips), while ITE guidance for comparable uses shows 37–40 vehicle trips in the peak period.

“Those 48 spaces are storage and staging; they’re not a daily turnover of 48 vehicles,” Villareal said, noting that many vehicles would be parked on site and only driven to jobs as needed. Steinmetz added the use is an as‑of‑right industrial reuse rather than a commercial dispatch yard, and asked the board to let traffic engineers evaluate peak-hour impacts.

Board members did not accept the applicants’ traffic assurances as final. Nancy Cabulli, mayor of a neighboring village, said she was “concerned about what’s going to happen in the middle of our village” if trucks travel Sawmill River Road or local streets to access the Thruway, and she asked the applicants to quantify how often the parked trucks would be moved and whether idling would occur during loading. Villareal said the operation includes electric charging at the company’s existing facility and that drivers would be discouraged from idling; he also said the design was laid out with large turning radii to accommodate box trucks and, if necessary, tractor‑trailers.

Several trustees pressed the applicants on pedestrian safety because employees and shoppers using a nearby Rivertown Square bus stop must cross Lawrence Street. The applicants offered to study the right‑of‑way vegetation, sight lines, sidewalk crossings and potential pruning or sidewalk improvements and to coordinate with the town’s traffic engineer. Villareal said most proposed development would be outside the 100‑year floodplain and that the site plan will include stormwater management, subsurface drainage and pervious base where feasible.

The applicants also disclosed a potential later phase showing a 30,000‑square‑foot building but said construction of that building is not part of phase one. “We’re telling you about it because we want to be candid from the outset,” Steinmetz said, adding that the building could provide additional visual buffering.

The board asked the applicants to return with more specific evidence: a turning‑movement demonstration or video, a clearer trip‑distribution analysis showing likely routing onto the Thruway rather than through village streets, stormwater calculations, and enforceable operational commitments (for example, routes, idling limits and maintenance of landscaping and sidewalks). The presenters agreed to provide that information for subsequent review by town staff and the town engineer.

The work session closed the item without a vote; applicants were asked to supply the additional traffic and environmental materials before a formal site‑plan submission.