Current Status:
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| We are pleased to announce that the neighborhood has won a great victory on Tuesday July 25, 2006. The Village of Ossining Planning Board rejected the plans of the owners of the AAA Auto Mall to build an additional building at 179 North Highland Avenue in Ossining, There was an appeal filled and the appeal was denied in October 2006. However, in the mean time, several issues associated with this property remain, please see below! |
| Thanks to everyone who attended meetings, wrote letters and supported the cause. It all paid off! |
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Enforcement Issues Remain:
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| The property owners of the buildings at 179 North Highland Avenue in Ossining, NY, that house the AAA Auto Mall, the Body Shop and potentially Hudson Valley Motorcycle Sales still have several conditions that violate Village of Ossining code. These violations now become enforcement issues that fall under the purvue of the Village of Ossining Building Department. Listed below are some of the issues that we will be addressing over the comming weeks. |
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Flooding Problem:
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| Flooding along Beach Road from the intersection with North Highland Avenue eastward to a point about 200 feet past the intersection with Sandy drive remains the highest priority for members of the Beach Road-Brayton Park Association. Basements, driveways and even Sandy Lane itself are damaged every time there is a significant rainstorm. This storm water run-off comes largely from the building downspouts and paved areas to the Northwest corner of the property at 179 North Highland Avenue and then runs onto the Beach Road surface. This situation is exacerbated by poorly designed catch basins, low curbing and the lack of any storm sewers on the first part of Beach Road, (from the intersection with North Highland Avenue to a point 150 feet west of where the Old Croton Aqueduct crosses Beach Road). |
| We've been told by the Village of Ossining officials that the problem is divided into several parts. The Highway Department engineer is looking at two parts of the problem. One, a solution to the problem of run-off surface water that exists at 179 North Highland Avenue, the AAA Auto Mall property, and two, the configuration of catch basins and curbing on Beach Road itself near the intersection with Sandy Drive. The third issue is the flooding problems associated with Sandy Drive itself that is now entirely in the hands of the Village of Ossining Coproation Council. |
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Rear Yard Violations:
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| The rear yard setback between the rear of the building and the rear property line abuts the S-75 Residential Zone along the edge of the property at #1 Beach Road. This space is supposed to be "an unoccupied ground area, fully open to the sky, between the rear lot line and a line drawn parallel thereto along the rear of the building, extending from lot line to lot line." according the Zoning Code Chapter 270-4, YARD, REAR. This area currently contains disabled automobiles, old paint thinner 55-gallon drums, a dumpster, discarded auto parts, and junk of all kinds. All of these things must be removed as mandated by the Village code. |
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Paint Booth:
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| Although the Paint Booth on the lower level at 179 Highland Avenue in Ossining exhaust ducts have been reinstalled recently, the unit is still not certified by the Westchester County health Department, Division of Air Cuality Control. In fact the paint booth has not been certified by since 2003! The paint booth spews toxic and noxious fumes whenever it's used. Violations have been issues in 2004 and 2006, but to date the unit continues to be used even though it has not been certified! |
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Access onto Beach Road:
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| Access from the property at 179 North Highland Avenue in Ossining creates hazardus condidtions. The gate onto Beach Road, at the north end of this area, is narrow and has a sight line to Beach Road blocked by an overgrown fence at the very edge of the driveway to the west preventing drivers of cars or trucks exiting onto Beach Road, through this gate, from seeing any traffic going east on the street until it's too late. Beach Road at this point is narrow and large trucks cannot make this turn at all and even mid size trucks often block Beach Road, for a time to having back up several times to make the turn exiting from the north side of the property, Chapter 270-17, A, (9), (b): "Entrance and exit driveways shall have an unrestricted width of not less than 12 feet, nor more than 20 feet; shall be located not nearer than 10 feet to any lot line; and shall be so laid out as to avoid necessity of any vehicle backing into any public right-of-way." This gate is far less than the required ten feet from rear lot line at the corner of the property and should be closed permanently. |
| At the northeast corner of the property, we would like to see a substantial cement curb constructed from the east end of the existing fence along the north side of the property to the edge the sidewalk along North Highland Avenue. Currently cars can exit from a current front parking area at the very corner of the property onto Beach Road from right behind a large screening tree and right next to the sidewalk without warning, creating a dangerous situation. This "exit" is a default driveway is too close to the front lot line and too close an intersection. There have been at least two "near collisions" as a result of this situation in the past few months. |
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Request for Complience:
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| The Beach Road-Brayton Park Association requests that the Village of Ossining Building Department addresses the above issues at 179 North Highland Avenue in Ossining. |