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SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y. Developers working with the Salvation Army on a new community center and chapel in Sleepy Hollow say they don't need an additional 41 parking spaces that are required in the zoning code.
The Salvation Army wants to build a 15,000-square-foot chapel and community center on the Frank's Chevrolet site in Sleepy Hollow and tear down its existing Tarrytown chapel for parking and landscaping. The complete project would last about eight months.
Zoning codes would require about 80 parking spaces, but developers are asking for 41.
Developers say an additional 40 parking spaces are not needed because a majority of their clients live in the neighborhood and walk to their facility.
Church services bring an average of 80 people to the chapel, but usually fewer than 10 cars, developers said. Christmas and Easter services usually attract about 120 people. A community food pantry attracts about 200 families, but they all walk to the center.
The Salvation Army plans to keep its existing chapel open during the construction of a new center on the Frank's Chevrolet site next door and then tear down the old chapel once construction is complete, engineer Michael Stein said. The proposal means there would be an overlap of about 60 days with limited parking available. The Salvation Army is willing to double-stack cars and hire an attendant during that time, developers said.
Developers pointed to other religious buildings in the area, such as White Plains' Calvary Baptist Church, that have limited parking because congregants walk to services.
Zoning Board members agreed to postpone a possible vote on the project until their November meeting to research area projects with similar parking situations.
The proposed expansion also would need approval from Tarrytown before construction could begin.
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