The New Rochelle Planning Board met on September 22, 2026, at 12:00 PM for a regularly scheduled meeting. The meeting consisted of a public hearing portion for two applications and an administrative portion covering four additional items, including presentations, referrals, and a code amendment. Board members present: Isabel Cuala Marquez (out), Sylvia Hamer, Doug Houston, John Lancer, Kate Mercado (out), Christine O'Connell. Staff present: Deputy Corporation Counsel Jeff Bream, Commissioner of Buildings Paul Vaca, Director of Planning and Sustainability Kevin Cain, and Board Clerk Benito Saiha.
Good evening. Welcome to the uh September 22nd, 2026 Planning Board Meeting of the City of New Rochelle. There will be two portions to this meeting. The first portion of the meeting will be open to public comment. Applicants will be invited to the podium to present their application, and planning board members will then have the opportunity to ask questions of each application. Applicants will address each of those in turn. There will be then an opportunity for public comment. If any member of the public would like to comment, you will be given three minutes to do so. If you would like to comment, please fill out the white comment card and state your name and address for the record. The second portion of the meeting will address referrals and administrative items that are not open to public comment. Of course, you are welcome to stay during that portion of the meeting. Sure. Here. Isabel Cuala Marquez is out. Sylvia Hamer? Here. Doug Houston? Here. John Lancer. Here. Kate Mercado is out. Christine O'Connell? Yeah. And staff members with us today. Jeff Bream, Deputy Corporation Counsel. Paul Vaca, Commissioner of Buildings, Kevin Cain, Directing of Director of Planning and Sustainability. And myself, Benito Saiha, board clerk. Thanks, Mr. There are no minutes to approve, so we'll go right into the first item, first application. And this again, this is the public hearing portion of the meeting. They love the neighborhood and they love their neighbors. So that's existing. A new farmhouse style, two-story residence. I would, you know, talk about that a little bit. Um a James Hardy board and batten siding that um will be uh trimmed with AZAC trim for soffits, uh around windows, balasters, uh railings, uh, you know, uh anything of that nature. And um we're going to be using some real wood columns on the front and back porches along with composite decking, along with uh metal sanding seam roof on over the front porch, and uh um the uh eaves over the garage, the the small uh awnings over the garage, um double hung windows, and there's some 400 double hung windows, that's our standard, and uh it's I think uh asphalt shingle roof, like I said on the major part of the house, and uh uh uh anything else that's compliant to what we have listed here. So um we can go site plan wise we're following all the planning board and building uh building department rules with setbacks and uh uh protecting deep uh the highway signage and um anything else that's needed by the town, we are definitely you know doing everything we need to be doing here. So um landscaping uh and also uh you know, within a where within all of our setbacks, etc. First floor, open plan, garage, a nice open dining room, there's uh guest room and bath, second floor, uh the master bedroom, their son's bedroom, an office space, etc. Unfinished basement at the moment, and then finish it down the road, and let me see. Is that it? Yes, so uh storage area above the garage, nice large garage, uh opening to crestwood. We're cutting a new a new curb cut to custwood and uh putting a new driveway, uh asphalt with anyway, um trying to think of anything else that's really can you go back to the basement plan? Of course, of course. One, two, right, yes. Uh-huh. Okay. Um I know it's unfinished. And you said you may try to finish it in the future. Um you you might want to put escape well in now while you're building the home instead of having to go through that later.