Anthony Cabrara harbors an American dream. He purchased a rundown foreclosure property from Orange County with a hope of turning it into a viable investment property. But it will take more than blood, sweat and tears to turn this dream into reality. Last week he asked the Walden Village Board for help.
Cabrera, new owner of the business property at 36 Orange Avenue, appeared before the Walden Village Board last week with his representative, Engineer Thomas Olley, to request a zoning amendment that would allow him to add one or two apartments to the top floor above his building in addition to the one that’s already permitted under the present zoning. Without it, he said, he’ll never make it.
Olley said his client recently purchased the 110-year-old, two-story building, has completed exterior renovations and has already received site plan approval from the planning board to restore the downstairs office and retail uses in the first floor. But the current zoning (B-3) only permits one apartment on the top floor above the retail space. To make the space economically viable, they’d like to divide the apartment space into multiple units.
“I came to the village with the idea that it was a great village to invest and to do business,” Cabrera told the village board. “I put all my savings to this building until now. I also got a mortgage to finish up this building that’s been sitting there for so long. And I thought that it would be a great idea for renovating this building for the community.
Unfortunately, if I don’t get two more apartments there, the building is going to go back to the county because I’m not going to be able to pay the taxes, I’m not going to be able to sustain the expenses that a building required. So you can see the retail sector right now is going through (hard) time and without the support of you, at some point the building might go back to the county. As it was before. And all I need is the support of you.”
Olley told the village board the first floor, once the home of an auto dealership, has 1785 square feet. The second floor is much bigger, extended into the hillside.
“But the second floor, if you do the math, is 3230 square feet, which far exceeds any apartment,” Olley said. “You can’t really rent out a 3000 plus square foot apartment. So the applicant, the owner of the property, is petitioning the board to change the zoning designation for this property to multi-use.”
The engineer asked the village board to change the zoning of the property to MX, which would allow more than one apartment, subject to planning board approval. It’s not a stretch, he added, because the MX zone exists directly across the street.
While the board appeared sympathetic, there were some concerns.
“Parking is going to be a big issue for me because there is no parking there,” Trustee Becky Pearson said.
She noted that the site plan shows parking along the ramp leading to the adjacent garage and wondered if parked cars would have to back down the ramp to exit the property.
Yes, she was told.
“So you can’t back out on a state road,” Pearson said. “How does that work? It is an existing condition of the property. Not with the two apartments. Maybe for the business, but not when you’re adding two apartments.”
Pearson also wondered if a change would be considered spot zoning.
Village Manager John Revella interjected that it would not be considered spot zoning because the MX zoning exists across the street.
“It’s contiguous to the zoning,” Revella said.
It was also suggested that the new property owner should go to the village Zoning Board of Appeals.
“It’s their right to come to this board,” Revella said. “Just so you know, it’s not like they have to go to zoning board. Don’t get that wrong. They have the option to come to this board. That’s right. It is easier to come here because they’d get denied this is the only Board that can change the zone.”
Trustee Patricia Maher supported the plan.
“Well, I definitely understand the parking concerns and the additional cars in that area because as you come this is as you’re heading out of town, it is a little bit of a blind curve coming that way. So I do see the concern there. But I would be all for moving this to mixed use. We need more rentals in the village of Walden,” she said. “I recently just tried to help a friend of mine find a rental and it was almost impossible.
We have someone who’s willing now. I think the ultimate goal here is to have longstanding commercial and to fill those storefronts, which I think is also something that we all want to see happen here. So for me that just makes sense. In order to sustain the rentals and the businesses in that property, you do have to have more apartments on top. So if we could find a way to make the parking less of a safety concern, I would be completely for having this move forward.”
Mayor John Ramos agreed.
“Mr. Cabrera, I applaud you for using your ability and adaptive reuse of an older building. Since 1906 the building has been there, and I praise you for your vision. And we do need rental apartments, newer ones,” Ramos said. “And I know that the two three apartments, if you’re going to get three, are new, and they are productive for families that are coming into the village of Walden. I think the Planning Board’s got some homework to do in the issue if it goes past the state, and I think they’re well off, especially with the engineer, to find solutions to issues.”
The board, by a 4-3 vote, authorized the village attorney to draft a local law t0 change the zoning from B-3 to MX. It is expected to be introduced at a future meeting, at which time a public hearing will be scheduled.
“I’m not trying to be a troublemaker for the village. All I’m here for is to make sure that this building become a great resource for your community. And I’m putting my savings for that reason. So I’m trusting this village without knowing the village, and I’m putting my savings into it,” Cabrera said. “All I’m looking for is that we work together to figure out a way of this, become a permanent resource for the village and become where people could work and live in the village.”