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Planning Board OKs Tarrytown Honda Project

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. – Tarrytown Planning Board members unanimously passed a resolution Monday night granting site approval for the proposed Tarrytown Honda project after a heated debate with residents.

“This is going to be much better than if we let the status quo remain,” Planning Board member Ronald Tedesco said.

The proposed project also needs approval from the Board of Trustees and the Architectural Review Board before demolition and construction can begin.

The car dealership wants to tear down its existing building on South Broadway beside the Pennnybridge neighborhood. Tarrytown Honda then wants to construct a two-story building with 75,000 square feet of space that would include more room for mechanics and car storage.

Tarrytown Honda also has agreed to reduce the number of cars on the site. Owner Dwight Dachnowicz has leased a storage site in Rockland County where all car carriers will be directed to drop off vehicles. Cars would be shuttled to Tarrytown Honda as needed. Planning Board officials agreed to allow up to 10 car carriers to drop off cars at the dealership but only in emergency situations when the Tappan Zee Bridge is closed.

Tarrytown Honda also agreed to a no-left-turn sign and a no-U-turn sign at Walter Street and Sheldon Avenue that would prevent any traffic from the dealership, including customers test driving cars, from turning into the neighborhood.

Tarrytown resident Marissa Feind told village officials she hoped they would keep Monday's public hearing open because residents had a number of concerns that had yet to be resolved.

Board Chair Stanley Friedlander said he saw no compelling reason to keep the hearing open because the board had been discussing the project publicly for more than a year.

“A lot in my opinion has been changed,” Friedlander said, noting the many compromises Tarrytown Honda has made, including changing the building's exterior to stone and the Rockland County storage site.

Feind and other residents said the main issue was the building's size.

“It's too big for its space,” Feind said. “That's the bare bones of it.”

Tarrytown resident Alison Boldyrev said the site as currently proposed would be better for Route 119. She suggested officials work to make more improvements.

“Let's change this for the better,” she said.

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