A Roslyn commercial space will soon have residents instead of retail.
The Village of Roslyn Board of Trustees on Tuesday unanimously approved a change in zoning for a former barn at 17 Lumber Road from commercial retail to residential. Owner and Roslyn resident Kevin Dursun said he plans to renovate the space into five two-bedroom duplex apartments.
Dursun said he originally planned to put six rental apartments in the space, a vestige from the former Roslyn lumber yard, but has since changed the number of units to five to make the apartments less tight. No official construction plans have been submitted to the village for the specifics of the apartment dimensions, Dursun said.
“The scenario is very difficult to rent the space as retail because there’s not enough parking, and we didn’t want to stress the village with a bigger parking scenario,” Dursun said.
Dursun said approximately 36 parking spots will be reserved for apartment residents and their guests. In regard to the village’s regulation about natural light in bedrooms, Durson said he would replace some of the back wall with glass sliding doors or windows to bring in more light.
“In order to get light into the bedrooms, which is by code, we have to, on the second floor, we’ll have glass. It’s pretty simple,” Dursun said. “The structure itself will be the same structure. If anything, we will decrease it to make the patios to let the light in.”
Trustee Craig Westergard said he understand Dursun’s market-driven decision to change the space to residential, and Mayor John Durkin agreed.
