Too Close for Comfort?

Fishkill proposal draws concern from Beacon

Beacon residents and officials are concerned about a proposal under review by the Fishkill Planning Board to build a two-story, 51,500-square-foot self-storage facility on the outskirts of the city.

The proposed site is 1292 Route 9D, a partially wooded, 4.7-acre tract on the east side of 9D, between Van Ness Road, which is in Beacon, and Interstate 84. It is bordered by the eastbound I-84 ramp to the north, residential neighborhoods to the south and, on the other side of Route 9D, the Southern Dutchess Country Club.

The project was proposed in June 2022 by Nidal Hassen, a broker at JonCar Realty in Beacon at the time.

The 30-foot-high structure would be constructed 200 feet, or twice the required distance, from Route 9D and would contain 333 self-storage units ranging from 4-by-6 feet to 10-by-24 feet. About 4 acres have already been or are proposed to be cleared, with about 1 acre as a wooded buffer.

If approved, it would require a special-use permit from Fishkill because the site is in a restricted business zone, which does not permit self-storage facilities.

Customers would access the facility from 9D through a right-turn-only entry, with a tree-lined driveway leading to the building. A traffic study submitted by the applicant argues that the project is “not expected to result in any changes to traffic operating conditions” at seven nearby intersections and would not cause “significant impacts to the surrounding neighborhoods.”

But Beacon City Council Member Molly Rhodes, who represents the adjacent Ward 1, said more than 20 constituents have contacted her to register concern about traffic.

“It’s both a safety concern, particularly about how moving trucks will negotiate unfamiliar side streets, and concern that having these vehicles on residential streets will be inconsistent with community character,” she said.

She said several residents expressed reservations because their children play or ride bikes on neighborhood streets where they don’t have sidewalks.

Mayor Lee Kyriacou sent the Fishkill Planning Board a letter in October asking the town to investigate alternative entries. “The access route for visitors traveling southbound on Route 9D is circuitous and, in reality, will likely result in customers making illegal left turns or dangerous U-turns,” he wrote.

He also suggested that using residential streets such as Dutchess Terrace and Rock Hill Road for through-traffic going to the storage facility is “inconsistent with best practice and would have a negative impact” on those neighborhoods.

The Planning Board determined in August 2023 that the project could result in significant adverse environmental impacts, which required the applicant to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS). After receiving a draft EIS in July, the board held a public hearing in September. The board is waiting for a final EIS from the developer.

Liz Axelson, a consultant hired by the Planning Board, noted during its Oct. 10 meeting that there are two nearby facilities — 9D E-Z Storage and Prime Storage — in Fishkill’s general business zone, “where they belong.” 9D E-Z Storage is a half-mile from the proposed site.

Axelson said a restaurant or small hotel or bed-and-breakfast would be more appropriate. “The assertion that the proposed self-storage would complement any of the nearby uses is not well supported, in my opinion,” she said.