French-American School Still Seeking Approvals For Fourth Campus

The (FASNY) is spilling out of its campuses in Larchmont, Mamaroneck and Scarsdale, and is petitioning the village to allow it to relocate 120 juniors and seniors to temporary spaces on 545 Waverly Ave. and 300 Fenimore Rd. in the Village of Mamaroneck.

The School announced its plans at an meeting, and was met with some resistance from nearby property owners who feared traffic snarls and danger from freight trains that run parallel to the location. In a board meeting, however, the School received unanimous approval from trustees to go ahead with relocating students to the two locations within the industrial zone.

Appearing before the Planning Board yesterday, David Cooper, an attorney for Zarin & Steinmetz, the White Plains firm representing FASNY, went over some of the revisions made to the original plan to accommodate concerns that were raised.

In order to widen a cramped lane that would only fit one bus, two feet of landscaped strip on Waverly Avenue was eliminated from the original plan and parking spaces were moved up to the fence line to allow additional access for cars.

And, despite initial concerns about congestion from buses and cars during peak pick-up and arrival times at the school, it appears that a class at nearby that runs from 7-8 a.m. will not conflict with the school’s drop-off period from 7:30-8:00 a.m., according to Cooper.

But planning board members were not so quick to voice an approval.

“I would like to get rid of the parking spaces between 300 and 545 and put landscaping there…I think it would be much better for kids being dropped off and kids walking from one building to another if there were not parked cars in the middle,” said board member Stewart Sterk about the potential safety issue posed by the plan.

“If we eliminate those spots that really limits what the landlord can do with the existing buildings,” said Cooper, adding that he doubted they would support the proposition.

Board Chair Michael Ianniello voiced a concern in a similar vein about the potential for buses to be backed up onto Waverly Avenue.

“We’ve shortened where the buses can stack up because the drop-off is so close now to the entrance,” he said.

Ultimately, the board stated that they were prepared to approve the site plan if the building inspector and/or Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) would interpret the code to permit the placement of cones or other temporary barriers on three parking spaces in question, said Sterk. If not, they strongly recommended that the ZBA issue a temporary variance to eliminate the three spaces for so long as property is used for school purposes.

FASNY is scheduled to meet again with the Planning Board on June 13 and will meet with the ZBA in July.