Members say two development plans must improve

The Beacon Planning Board pushed back on Tuesday (Jan. 11) on the design of a three-story building proposed for Main Street and asked where all the cars would go if a former church becomes a performance venue. 

The board took issue with the revised design of 364 Main St., the former Citizens Bank site, saying its reduced frontage looks “dingy” and wouldn’t fit well with adjacent buildings. 

The developer is proposing retail on the ground floor and 20 apartments on the higher stories. Cars would enter the site through a narrow driveway on its east side and exit through a parking lot in the rear. An addition to the building would be set back on the west side with benches and landscaping in front of the building. 

On Tuesday, however, Planning Board members called the design uninspired. “It’s actually going backward,” said Kevin Byrne. “It doesn’t seem to be improving.”

While the landscaping in the proposal meets the city’s minimum requirement of covering 10 percent of the site, “there’s nothing beautiful about this application,” said Chair John Gunn. With the historic Salvation Army building to the east and the 1937 U.S. Post Office across the street, Gunn said the developer should feel an obligation to improve that section of Main. 

“They’re meeting the letter of the law, but they’re not doing anything to enhance their community,” he said. 

The board adopted a “negative declaration,” on Tuesday, which means that the project won’t adversely impact the environment. A public hearing on the site and subdivision plans remains open for the next meeting. 

Planning Board members also questioned a development group’s plans to convert the former Reformed Church of Beacon building on Route 9D into an event space with restaurant and bar but less than a third of the required parking spaces. 

The developers said they are waiting on a final determination by the building inspector but the uses proposed for the site could require as many as 119 spaces. The plans provide for 31. The rest, they said, would come from a combination of nearby public lots, the Metro-North station and perhaps an as-of-yet unapproved proposal to the City Council to restripe and add spaces to sections of Wolcott Avenue. 

The Reformed Church of Beacon
The Reformed Church of Beacon (Photo by C. Rowe)

In addition, the 30-room hotel planned for what had been the church’s parsonage and the event/restaurant space will not require parking at the same time of day, eliminating some of the need, said project attorney Taylor Palmer. 

Gunn was skeptical of the patchwork strategy. “All best-laid plans can have unintended consequences,” he said. 

The project will likely end up before the Zoning Board of Appeals, where the developers will seek a waiver for at least some of the parking requirements. 

Board members also expressed concern about the proposed uses, including as a music venue, and potential impacts on neighbors. “That’s not the [level of] intensity that property has been used for” in decades, said Karen Quiana. 

Gunn said the developers must “narrow and focus” their application before the Planning Board can schedule public hearings.

Behind The Story

Type: News

News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

Simms has covered Beacon for The Current since 2015. He studied journalism at Appalachian State University and has reported for newspapers in North Carolina and Maryland. Location: Beacon. Languages: English. Area of expertise: Beacon politics

2 replies on “Beacon Planning Board Pushes Back”

  1. I like pushback for better planning but certainly don’t agree with building more parking. We need people driving less in the Hudson Valley and better infrastructure for mobility. It would be nice to see leaders encourage institutions and cultural centers to promote the use of trains and Beacon buses. [via Instagram]

  2. I happened to catch a Planning Board rebroadcast on TV from Feb. 8 at 2 a.m. regarding a proposed project that all Beacon residents should know about, because it has the potential to impact the quality of life for those residing in the area of Wolcott Avenue and Route 9D, where I also live nearby.

    A developer is proposing to build a 350-seat event venue and a 30-room hotel and restaurant/cafe on the site of the historic Reformed Church of Beacon. Anyone familiar with the parking situation in Beacon would immediately see the first problem with this proposal: It seems obvious that the area cannot sustain such a large influx of vehicles, especially on weekends when most events are held. Where are these event attendees going to park, and what will this fresh influx of vehicles do to the already congested roadways?

    No one could seriously believe the developer’s comment that the events and the restaurant/cafe will not operate simultaneously to avoid parking strain on the area. Additional considerations include the noise factor (especially with new housing complexes on either side of the church), and the additional strain on our septic and water system. Most residents would certainly agree that an already crowded residential area such as this is not an appropriate location for a venue that would increase traffic, noise and an additional strain on Beacon. We need to be made aware by our planning and zoning boards, why this is even being considered at this location.

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