An application for a site plan review to install a new driveway and parking area at 42 South Chestnut Street in new Paltz was met with praise if not approval during a meeting last week of the Village of New Paltz Planning Board.
The applicant, Bassam Serdah, was before the Board seeking approval of a new driveway and an 18-foot-by-54-foot parking area, which will include six 9-foot-by-18-foot parking spaces for the five-bedroom house dubbed Prospect Estates. The new driveway exiting the property at Mohonk Avenue will replace a current driveway at South Chestnut; that will be abandoned and replaced with a seeded area.
The site plan, designed by Tillson-based architect Lee A. Frizzell, also includes planting a row of Savin juniper trees along the new driveway and parking area as separation between Prospect Estates and a neighboring property at 10 Mohonk Road. The 10 Savin juniper trees would be 3-feet tall at planting, with an expected growth to between 4-6-feet at maturity.
Serdah said the Savin juniper trees came about during a discussion between Frizzell and the neighbor, Ed Burke.
“Lee already talked to the neighbor and that’s what they agreed on, planting every five feet,” Serdah said.“And that will block the whole side of the driveway close to the neighbor.”
Burke attended the meeting virtually to express his approval for the plan.
“I think the applicant has done a good job in trying to appease my concerns,” Burke said. “I don’t want to have him break the bank. I think the three-foot high junipers will grow in nicely over the next couple years and we will achieve what I was looking for, just not having to look at all those cars. So I appreciate him being willing to accommodate me, and I’m looking forward to seeing the project…I think at the end of the day, it’s a win for everybody.”
The revised plan with the added screening is currently before the Ulster County Planning Board, which next meets on Wednesday, October 5, one day after the next meeting of the Village of New Paltz Planning Board. Chairman John Litton said he hoped the County Planning Board will have their comments ahead of the Village Planning Board’s meeting scheduled for Tuesday, October 18.
“That’s gonna set you back, however we’re trying to get this moving as far as possible,” Litton said. “We have already authorized the drafting of a resolution of approval. We’re just waiting for the Ulster County Planning Board comments, and once we get that I think it’s going to be smooth sailing.”
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