Putnam Housing Corp. apartment plan to have public hearing 

A proposal to convert the Putnam County Housing Corp.’s former Carmel offices into three affordable, handicapped-accessible apartments is headed to a public hearing after securing the zoning variances needed for the project. 

The Carmel Planning Board agreed at its Aug. 13 meeting to schedule the hearing, marking another step forward for the project at 11 Seminary Hill Road. The proposal had been sent to the Zoning Board of Appeals last month because it required multiple variances under the town’s new zoning code. 

Architect Joel Greenberg, who represents the applicant and serves as president of the Putnam Housing Corp. Board of Directors, told the Planning Board that the ZBA had granted all the requested relief. 

“All the variances that [building inspector Ed Spadaro] mentioned have been approved by the Zoning Board,” Greenberg said. 

The nonprofit wants to convert its former first-floor office space into three one-bedroom, handicapped-accessible apartments that would be rented below market rates. Four apartments already occupy the building’s second floor, bringing the total to seven units if the project receives final approval. 

No expansion of the building is proposed, and planning consultant Pat Cleary said there are essentially no site modifications associated with the project. 

“There are no planning issues with respect to this,” Cleary said. “There are no site modifications.” 

The project required zoning relief because the building, constructed under the town’s previous zoning regulations, is now in the Hamlet Mixed-Use Center district and does not comply with several provisions of the new code. 

Among the issues were parking space dimensions, side-yard setbacks, parking aisle width, lot coverage, the number of parking spaces and a requirement for 2,100 square feet of recreation space. The site provides no designated recreation area. 

Although the ZBA approvals cleared that hurdle, Planning Board members continued to question Greenberg about parking and snow removal before agreeing to schedule the hearing. 

One concern centered on two parking spaces along Seminary Hill Road and whether residents could rely on them during snow emergencies or where two-hour parking restrictions apply. 

Greenberg said the ZBA addressed the issue by granting enough parking relief that the Housing Corp. does not need to count the on-street spaces toward its required parking. 

“They gave us an extra two-car variance so that all of our parking with the variance is on our property,” he said. 

Cleary later clarified that the variance effectively assumes there will be no on-street parking associated with the project. 

Board members also questioned how snow would be handled in the relatively tight parking area, particularly around an accessible parking space. 

Greenberg said the Housing Corp. has owned the building for about 42 years and would remain responsible for maintaining the property. He said the organization has its own staff, trucks, and plows and can remove snow from the site when necessary. 

The board also revisited concerns raised during its previous review about the lack of outdoor recreation space. 

Planning Board Chairman Craig Paeprer said he did not want to see tenants setting up barbecues or chairs in the front of the building, which sits near the roadway overlooking the reservoir. He said he considered it a safety issue and wanted the restriction to be made part of the approval. 

Greenberg said the Housing Corp. leases already prohibit tenants from barbecuing or engaging in similar activities there and agreed that the restriction could be incorporated into the Planning Board’s eventual resolution. 

The board also returned to the question of preserving the nature of the apartments if the Housing Corp. someday sells the property. Greenberg said the applicant has no objection to including a condition requiring the units to remain handicapped accessible under a future owner. 

The Housing Corp. previously told the board that the apartments would be intended primarily for seniors and people with disabilities and would rent for about $950 per month, with rents tied to affordability standards based on 80 percent of the area median income. 

Greenberg has said obtaining the town approvals is important because the nonprofit needs the project to be “shovel ready” to compete for grant funding. 

With the variances now secured, the Planning Board unanimously agreed to schedule a public hearing. The board could consider a resolution on the project after the hearing. 

“We’ll see how the public hearing goes,” Planning Board Chair Craig Paeprer said.