Planning Board weighs in on zoning proposals
The Wednesday (June 7) meeting of the Cold Spring Village Board continued the public hearing on proposed zoning updates to the village code.
Mayor Kathleen Foley said that responses to 145 additional questions posed by residents have been posted at coldspringny.gov. The hearing was opened April 26.
On Wednesday, the Planning Board, as part of comments it submitted June 5, suggested that the 12-acre former Marathon Battery plant site on Kemble Avenue remain as industrial but with a planned mixed use overlay to be added through special permit. The current proposal is that the industrial designation be eliminated.
Foley questioned the recommendation, stating that if the zoning remains industrial, the overlay would only be an option for a developer who might simply proceed with an industrial use. Ted Fink, the village planning consultant, said the intent of the update is to bring the code into compliance with the comprehensive plan, as required by state law. That plan, he said, calls for Marathon be zoned for mixed use.
The Planning Board also suggested adding a flood overlay district for the riverfront, although Foley said that, like the suggestion from a resident that higher buildings be allowed in flood-prone areas, such issues would be better addressed in the next update to the comprehensive plan.
Scenic Hudson, in a letter, supported a proposed zoning change for the West Point Foundry Preserve, which it owns, from industrial to parks and recreation. It also suggested that museums and cultural uses be allowed within the preserve and asked for flexibility in the potential adaptive reuse of buildings there.
The hearing remains open, including for chapters that deal with noise and signs.
In other business…
■Tara Flagler is spearheading a Family Fun Day to celebrate the Fourth of July. On July 1, a parade will proceed from West Street up Main to the lawn at St Mary’s Church, where there will be carnival games, a bounce house, music, food trucks and vendors until 4:30 p.m., followed by a violin performance at 7 p.m. West Point will hold its annual fireworks that evening. Volunteers, vendors and sponsors can call Flagler at 845-337-0236.
â– The board approved an agreement with Putnam County as part of a new police radio system. The Cold Spring Police Department will receive eight portable and five mobile radios, as well as a base station, in a county initiative funded primarily with state grants.
â– The sloop Clearwater will dock at Cold Spring from June 23 to 25.
