Yorktown weighs zoning change for indoor recreation at JV Mall

The Yorktown Town Board discussed amending the list of permitted uses in the Jefferson Valley Mall zone to allow indoor recreation businesses at its May 19 meeting.

The proposed change comes as the owner of the former Sears site at the mall has pending leases for part of the second floor for child-centered attractions, including laser tag, virtual reality and ninja-style activities. Additional possible uses for the remaining first-floor space include golf simulators.

Town officials said the issue arose because the proposed businesses would require long-term leases, which are not currently permitted under the zoning code. Some existing recreation-related businesses in the mall operate under temporary leases.

The Town Board appeared supportive of the use and said the town attorney will work to draft a law. Councilman Ilan Gilbert asked about defining the use.

Amusement center is defined in the front of the zoning code, but indoor recreation is not defined, according to provisional director of planning Robyn Steinberg.

The Planning Department was directed to develop an appropriate definition and standards for “indoor recreation uses.”

The applicant told the board that lease agreements had already been negotiated before the zoning issue was identified and asked officials to move quickly on the proposed zoning amendments.

The town attorney will work to draft a law, which will have to sit on the desks of the board for seven days before coming back onto the board’s agenda, according to Supervisor Ed Lachterman, who said at the meeting that, assuming the town attorney is able to get a draft by the end of this week, it could come back at the first meeting in June.

The law would be referred out to relevant boards and agencies for comments. A date for the public hearing would likely be set at the June 2 meeting for sometime this summer.

“It wasn't easy to find the right people to invest millions of dollars in a project like this,” the applicant said. “We understood that this can be approved under accessory use, so after we signed the lease, this came up as a hiccup ... I'm just asking, whatever we can do so we can make sure they don't disappear.”

Councilwoman Susan Siegel said the town hears them.

“You've got our interest in our support,” Siegel said. “We just have to work out some details.”