Also: Garrison library pavilion approved
A White Plains company is seeking Philipstown Planning Board approval to turn a former auto repair shop on Route 9 into a gas station with a Dunkin’ and convenience store, a commercial building and a solar farm.
Misti’s Properties 3070 Inc. introduced on Sept. 19 a two-phase project for the 27-acre former Automar property at 3070 Route 9. (The service garage, owned by George Marden, relocated to Lake Peekskill.) Its initial phase calls for demolishing an existing 3,000-square-foot structure and replacing it with a 4,000-square-foot building shared by a gas station, convenience store and a Dunkin’ with a drive-thru.
According to the project documents, the station would have four gas and three diesel pumps. Misti’s is also proposing an 18,000-square-foot “flex” building that would have storage for contractors and a small office, with potential space for a loading dock and truck parking lot.
A second phase calls for the construction of a solar farm of unspecified size on the rear of the property.
Because eateries with drive-thrus are not allowed in the Highway Commercial Zone, Misti’s will need a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals. The project is also in the Aquifer Overlay District, which requires review by the Conservation Board and the state Department of Environmental Conservation of potential impacts to Clove Creek, which crosses the site.
Desmond-Fish library
The Planning Board on Sept. 19 approved an application from the Desmond-Fish Public Library in Garrison to construct an outdoor pavilion with an open area for events and programs, an enclosure to store used books for its annual sale and rooftop solar panels. It will be built in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and assembled on site, most likely by May, according to Anita Prentice, chair of the library board.
The library says the pavilion will fulfill two needs identified by patrons in surveys: a place to hold outdoor meetings and a community resource during natural disasters.
The timber-frame pavilion would measure nearly 2,000 square feet, with 1,350 square feet of covered space under a gray metal roof. It would sit immediately west of the parking lot, with a brick walkway with bollard lighting leading to the library. The design includes an uncovered patio space and dark-sky-compliant lighting.
“It grew out of a need before the pandemic, but especially during the pandemic, for outdoor covered meeting space,” Dede Farabaugh, the library director, told the Planning Board when the library introduced the project in May.
The south face of the roof would hold the solar panels, which would feed energy to a backup battery in the library. According to the project documents, the power would “support the community during an emergency by serving as a comfort station, providing clean restrooms and a warm space for people to gather.”
A 24-foot-by-24-foot section with a service window will house books for the Friends of the Desmond-Fish Public Library sale. This year’s event, which ended Sept. 4, raised more than $24,000 from the purchase of about 15,000 books and 2,500 CDs, said Prentice.
Hudson Highland Reserve
The Planning Board scheduled a public hearing for Oct. 17 on a request from the developers of the Hudson Highland Reserve subdivision for a special permit required when projects need to disturb steep slopes. Glenn Watson, the project’s engineer, said the disturbances would largely occur along the access road from Route 9.
The board, which gave preliminary approval to the 24-home subdivision in September 2023, also referred the project to the North Highlands Fire Department.
Its review is one of several outstanding conditions before Horton Road LLC can receive final approval from the Planning Board. Others include approval of a conservation easement agreement from the Town Board and approval of the bylaws and rules of the homeowners’ association by the Town and Planning boards.
I live close to the former Automar location being proposed for development. I am worried, along with some of my neighbors, about a gas station located there, given that there is a curve just south that could become treacherous when trucks, especially the large trucks that bring gas and diesel, are entering and leaving.
There is a BP station and convenience store and deli less than a half-mile north that has two entrances and sits on a stretch of Route 9 that has plenty of visibility, as well as a stoplight.
Perhaps the parcel owners will consider something else to do with the property — something less treacherous and perhaps something the community lacks and would benefit from having.