Proposal would bring 82 units to Main Street
A Fishkill church is making a second attempt at developing a senior apartment complex that would add 82 units on Route 52, about 2½ miles east of Beacon.
The Church of the Nazarene, which sits on Route 52 (Main Street) in the Village of Fishkill, in 2019 attempted to build a 112-unit, three-story facility on its 6½ acres for renters ages 62 and older. It would have also included a 13,200-square-foot child care facility but stalled after the Fishkill Town Board signaled it would not grant variances for the portion of the project that spilled into the town.
The development, called the Wesley Residence, also violated zoning laws that regulated building height, but village officials amended those rules last year.
A grassroots group called Keep Fishkill Beautiful opposes the project and scheduled a virtual informational session for 8 p.m. tonight (Feb. 4). Opposition has also arisen in Beacon.
“A lot of people are concerned about it,” Simone Williams, who owns the All You Knead bakery on Main Street, said this week. “The traffic [on Route 52] is terrible, and this is just going to add even more. As a business owner, I walk a fine line. I don’t like all the development that’s going on, but these people shop from me. But 52 is like a parking lot at certain times of the day.”
The revised proposal envisions a four-story, L-shaped building next to the church that would be nearly entirely within village boundaries, just past the I-84 interchange. It would include 52 one-bedroom and 30 two-bedroom apartments; the child care center has been dropped from the plans. There would be 138 parking spaces.
Village officials would need to rezone the site from residential to business for the project to proceed. According to the project website, between 10 percent and 20 percent of the housing would be “affordable,” although no details are given.
A 460-kilowatt fuel cell that project officials say has been vetted by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority would power the building.
During the Fishkill Town Board’s Feb. 2 meeting, Board Member Louise Daniele submitted a letter she had signed opposing the project. Noting traffic issues on Route 52, the lack of regulations of fuel-cell power and the impact on nearby homes, Daniele wrote that “numerous constituents” had asked her to urge the village to kill the project.
After the meeting, the other four board members, including Supervisor Ozzy Albra, added their signatures to the letter.
When the Rev. Pankey and the Church of the Nazarene in Fishkill start paying property taxes, then they can tell us they’ve responded to the community’s needs. Boasting about receiving an $800,000 state grant, when they pay zero taxes? Meanwhile, the state can’t even maintain Route 52, which is riddled with potholes, shoddy patching work and tar-filled cracks. Such a joke. [via Facebook]
As I told the Wesley group, the rents are way too high even for affordable housing. Section 8 people can’t afford more than $3,000 or more a month, even with utilities included. They are comparing regular rent cost, not affordable housing cost. We need a developer who can give us seniors lower rent and I hope this project does not go through. We don’t need expensive. We need reasonable. Thank you for hearing me out.