Yorktown Refers 1st Overlay District Project To Planning Board

YORKTOWN, NY — The first application that would utilize Yorktown's new zoning overlay has been referred to the town's Planning Board.

On Tuesday, the Town Board referred an application by Underhill Soundview LLC that proposed to convert a former school campus to a mixed-use development, according to a news release.

Underhill Soundview is seeking to transform the former Soundview Preparatory School campus at 370 Underhill Ave. into a development with 148 residential units, 11,000 square feet of commercial space and an adaptive reuse of the property's historic mansion.

The application will undergo a review by the Planning Board which will include a public hearing about the proposal.

The Town Board's referral, which is not an approval of the project, was made after it submitted the proposal to the Westchester County Department of Planning. That agency recommended referring the application to the town's Planning Board.

Yorktown's council members vote in December to adopt overlay district zoning for two business hamlets. The creation of overlay districts in the Yorktown Heights and Lake Osceola business hamlets will, according to town officials, encourage the creative redevelopment of functionally outdated properties, a greater flexibility of permitted land uses and visually harmonious streetscapes.

Supervisor Matt Slater said he was looking forward to the Planning Board's meticulous review.

"I believe that the overlay district will be a great economic catalyst for our community," he said.

Soundview Preparatory School was a private school for grades six through 12. It closed in early February 2020, the Journal News reported.

The school opened in 1989 and closed due to declining enrollment and lack of financial resources.