Food-truck owner would like to set up near Dockside
The Cold Spring Village Board on April 16 discussed a request to operate a food truck on private property at the entrance to Dockside Park from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., five days a week.
Mayor Kathleen Foley said that while Chapter 71 of the Village Code offers some guidance regarding licensing, it is not specific to food trucks and “is silent on private property requests.”
Foley said she expects other, similar requests but feels the board is “ill prepared” to review and license such operations. “We need to be mindful of mitigating impacts in residential areas,” she said.
Trustee Eliza Starbuck asked about the possibility of approving the request while regulations are drafted. “It’s a residential parcel and it’s for eight hours a day, five days a week,” Foley said. “It’s not someone requesting to put a food truck inside Dockside [a state park managed by the village]. It’s private property and neighbors need to be considered.”
The board asked the village attorney to draft a resolution for a six-month moratorium on issuing food-truck licenses. Foley said the time will be used to draft regulations that take zoning and impact mitigation into account. “There are lots of possibilities to do food trucks really well,” she said.
In other business…
■ The board passed a resolution supporting Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne’s sales tax sharing plan, which would include towns and villages receiving a minimum annual share of $50,000.
■ The sloop Clearwater will offer a free sail for Cold Spring residents at 5 p.m. on May 3. The boat has a capacity of 45 passengers; parties will be limited to a maximum of five. Village residents can reserve space by emailing the clerk at [email protected]. There also will be two Tiny Pirate sailings for Cold Spring children ages 2 to 4, accompanied by an adult, on May 13. The sailings are part of a barter between the village and Clearwater, which will be allowed to dock for more than the usual number of dates in April and May while its dock in Beacon is being repaired.
■ The board renewed an agreement with Munistat Municipal Financial Advisory Service, which advises municipal governments and school districts on debt management and securities offerings, such as issuing of bonds for capital projects.
■ State Assembly Member Dana Levenberg and Sen. Rob Rolison will be asked to sponsor legislation allowing the village to renew its occupancy tax on hotel rooms for a period of three years. The current legislation expires July 21.
■ At the Wednesday (April 23) meeting, Richard Othmer Jr., the Kent highway superintendent, proposed sharing services among Putnam villages and towns. A county-wide agreement would do away with “ridiculous amounts of paperwork,” he said. The proposal will be reviewed by the village attorney.
■ The board adopted budgets for the 2025-26 fiscal year, which begins June 1. The general fund budget totals $3,662,088 and includes a levy increase of 2.7 percent, the maximum allowed under a state-mandated cap. The water and sewer system budgets total $931,451 and $720,883, respectively.
■ The board approved spending $3,735 to have Central Hudson replace 43 streetlights with LED fixtures. The utility estimated the LEDs will save the village $4,230 annually in electricity costs.
■ The board approved a request from Barber and Brew for a waiver on the 30-day notification required to upgrade its wine license to include liquor.
■ John Costilow presented the EFPR Group’s independent audit of village finances for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2024. The audit found no breaches of Government Auditing Standards and EFPR issued a “clean opinion” on village financial practices for that year.
■ The board waived fees associated with a May 3 memorial at Dockside Park in honor of a village resident who recently died.
The story about the poor fellow who has the temerity to want to run an actual food truck on the sacred lands of the Village of Cold Spring and is being made to jump through hoops to do so reminded me of why I no longer have a business on Main Street.
My heart goes out to any entrepreneur who thinks they can thrive and make money in the most business-unfriendly place in the Hudson Valley.
You would think that the Village board would welcome this fellow with open arms and do everything they could to help his business, but no, that’s not the way these enlightened bureaucrats work.
Instead they will use every law, regulation and mandate to keep him from opening and anyone else who might think of doing something in that line.
As I have said for many years, my town of Putnam Valley and others in the county would do anything to have a wonderful Main Street like Cold Spring’s.
It is inconceivable that not only do the powers that be in the Village not appreciate all the businesses that help keep their taxes low, but they do everything in their power to discourage and thwart them.
I think I just found another definition of “insanity.”
This is at least the third time since 2019 I can remember a discussion of food truck permits that has gone nowhere. A six-month moratorium will do nothing. Street vendors are a common amenity that I have seen in practice around the world.
We are not a snow globe. I find it hard to believe that a 19th-century business model will upend our delicate village ecosystem. Instead of kicking the ball down the field another six months to hypothesize on the effects, why not grant a six-month permit to this single vendor and study the impact? It is time Cold Spring starts saying “yes.”
Thanks to the Cold Spring Village Board for pausing the food truck. For sure, things must be reviewed. Using a residential property for a business that could create more traffic and litter is a bad idea. We have zoning for a reason. I would not want to see it next door to my house.
Home use for businesses is a good idea as long as it’s passive. The existing restaurants and food venues are paying huge rents and the costs of complying with laws to do business. Is it fair to those who are doing it right?
It’s a rubbish idea, i.e., bringing more refuse into Dockside which already has overflowing pails all summer. I’m trying to think of a worse location than the corner of North and West, but I’m non-plussed.
The area is already overrun by people and trash. The plot of land where the food truck is proposed should be made into park land, not an unsightly, busy and smelly food truck lot. Those who think this is a great idea need to accept trucks in front of their houses. Focus energy on improving the problems of the area (trash, traffic) not making them worse.
Few people are there whenever I go to Dockside, even on busy weekends. I am actually shocked at how few people. Most tourists are on Main Street and walk down Fair Street or 9D.
During the pandemic, a local business owner approached the Village Board about a food truck permit. They were wary of its proposed location on Main Street and Chestnut, and I advocated it be placed in front of my house, where there was more space. The permit was never issued.
I don’t understand why everything has to be so difficult in a small village like ours. If it’s an empty residential lot, why can’t the board vote to issue a temporary permit so Cold Spring can test pilot a food truck this summer and see how it goes while regulations are being drafted?
Food trucks in the village are certainly not a new idea, but we know many restaurant owners do not want the added competition (and the former Village Board had a reputation for protectionism). This is not a tax issue; food trucks would pay permit fees and taxes, but mediocre restaurants should not be the only ones privileged to sell food because they were here first. Competitive food options improve local businesses and keep residents in town. It’s disappointing that in 2025, we still have to go outside of our community to ride bikes, run on trails and find a variety of places to eat. I know I do not just speak for myself when I say many village residents are tired of the finger-wagging, the can-kicking, and the lack of creativity to solve problems. We want to live here, not just sleep here.
Our mayor and the trustees work very hard, and they all do a great job, often thankless. But in politics, a process is almost always designed to support a desired outcome. So, like the Fjord Trail, it will be interesting to see the board’s position on food trucks after the “moratorium” in six months.