Note: The next Board meeting will be April 28th – at the library.
Foothill rezoning. (See Town Board April 8, 2025) The developer presented a revised plan to rezone the site to allow for a multi family development of 14 units, down from 20 units, with 2 units set aside as affordable units. He also presented a comparison of how a 14 or 20 unit multi family development as well as a 7 unit single family development would impact the site.
As soon as the Board receives a packet from the developer, it will refer out the revised plan.
Affordable housing. Members of the Community Housing Board made a presentation on a proposed Affordable Housing Set Aside law that would require residential developments of 10 or more units to set aside 10% of the units to be sold or rented at affordable rates for people making 80% of the Westchester’s median income. The proposed law would update the town’s 2011 Affordable Housing Law that was repealed in 2016.
In her presentation, Housing Board chairman Sarah Wilson pointed out that while the town has approved 446 new housing units in recent years, not one of those units meets the county’s affordable standards. Had the town had a set aside law at the time, it could have resulted in 45 affordable units. She also pointed out that several northern Westchester towns have set aside laws and that Yorktown was an outlier when it came to requiring affordable housing for new developments.
While Supervisor Lachterman said he preferred a density bonus to a mandated set aside, Ms. Wilson explained that for a variety of reasons, the Housing Board preferred the set aside. He also raised other concerns about the proposed law, including whether requiring that some units be sold or rented at affordable rates would increase the cost to other people.
The supervisor’s concerns notwithstanding, the Board voted to refer out the law for comment.
Sign Law. Councilwoman Siegel outlined proposed amendments to the Zoning Code dealing with “temporary opinion signs” that she said were designed to address concerns that have repeatedly been raised by residents, especially about political campaign signs. Her amendments would limit the duration, size, location and type of sign. She explained that while the Zoning Code already has regulations for temporary tag sale and special event signs, there were no regulations for “temporary opinion signs.”
While Ms. Siegel suggested that the Board refer out the proposed law for review and comment, Supervisor Lachterman said he preferred to first get feedback from the town attorney as to what regulations he thought were needed and whether there was a First Amendment issue. Ms. Siegel said her proposed amendment, which she said were a starting point for a discussion, did not violate the First Amendment and noted that both the Town of Carmel and Town of New Castle recently adopted laws that limited the duration and/or size of political signs.
The Board is expected to take up the issue at a May work session.
Emergency medical services. (See Town Board April 7, 2026) In an item not on the agenda, Councilwoman Siegel expressed her concern that the Board was delaying acting on the request of the town’s two volunteer ambulance corps to proceed with a study of how Yorktown and Cortlandt could provide needed supplemental funds to both volunteer groups.
When Supervisor Lachterman, supported by Town Clerk Quast, said that nothing should be done until all the involved parties meet again in two months when they can discuss other possible funding options, Ms. Siegel reminded them that as it was clear at the March 30th roundtable that creating ambulance districts was the only viable option, there was no need to wait two months as there was no other options to consider.
She added that a draft study outline was sent to the roundtable participants on March 31st for their review and comment and that she received only one comment, and that supported the study.
No action was taken.
Recycling. (See Town Board, September 2, 2025). The Board adopted new fees in the Master Fee Schedule for leaf bags, recycle bins and bulk pick ups that were discussed last year but never formally adopted.
For a video of the meeting click yorktownny.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=2093