A proposal to convert a Chestnut Street property, commonly known as the 'Larry Fritsch building,' was greeted with enthusiasm by the vilage planning board Tuesday afternoon.

Planning board chairman Paul Kuhn called it a "terrific idea," but at the same time said it was "problematic."

The development proposal, called 'The Mews at 10 Chestnut," came to the board from the husband and wife team of Don Feinberg and Wendy Littlefield, former owners of Brewery Ommegang.

Littlefield, who commented that there is a shortage of affordable housing in the village, attended Tuesday's meeting for an advisory session with the to board hear feedback and concerns about their project. The plan would convert the former Smith Ford showroom and garage building into seven contiguous ground-floor residences of no less than 800 square feet apiece.

The property is located in an R-2 district which does not allow multi-family dwellings, Kuhn said.

But Littlefield said they would be townhomes with each separately deeded for the space occupied by the dwelling and the land beneath it. They would not, she said, be condominiums.

Currently the only other townhoues in Otego County are in Oneonta, according to Steve Child, director of the office of real property tax services.

"If they are truly townhomes, they are single-family dwellings," Kuhn said.

The proposal, he added, would have to comply with the minimum lots sizes unless they could obtain a variance. The village's zoning law calls for a minimum lot size of 5,000 square feet for single-family dwellings and with seven units it would require 35,000 square feet.

"My own feeling is that it could be viable if you had 35,000 square feet," Kuhn said.

The proposal encompases two parcels which form an L-shaped piece which has frontage on Chestnut Street and can also be reached by what is termed a "public lane" which runs west from Chestnut Street to the rear of the property.

According to records in the real property tax office the square footage of the two parcels totals approximately 20,000 square feet. Larry Fritsch, the owner of the property also owns another lot which runs from the public lane through to Pine Boulevard that consists of .32 acre or approximately 14,000 square feet.

The status of the public lane is unclear, but village DPW superintendent Brian Clancy said Wednesday morning that as long as he had been with the village they had never maintained the lane. It was always taken care of by the adjacent property owners, he said.

The public lane, Clancy explained, is part of Stagecoach Lane which used to run from the Susquehanna River to Pine Boulevard.

The brief outline of the project provided to the board said the proposal would include parking for no less than seven cars, but, Kuhn said, the laws requires more.

"You're probably going to have to have 14 spaces," he said, adding that it would be possible to seek a variance for the parking requirement from the zoning board of appeals.

"The idea is fabulous and meets the intent of the zoning law," Kuhn said.