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Beacon, New York / Planning Board Training Sessions 2023 / 11 Jul 2023
Beacon, New York / Planning Board Training Sessions 2023 / 11 Jul 2023
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From YouTube: Beacon Planning Training 7 11 23

Description

Beacon Planning board Training Session from July 11, 2023

A

All right we're at 705. we'll start our Workshop portion of the meeting and then um proceed to our regular meeting at 7 30. For the workshop, we're going to hear from Mr Clark on a local law um being prepared by the city council they've asked us to review this local law, and this is to rezone 6 Commerce Street from our 1.75 to the CMS District.

B

um So this this came as a at a request from the owner of the property.

B

The city council does not have to entertain resulting requests, but they can if they want to, they decided after hearing from the applicant and our recommendation, they decided to go forward with a draft law and set a public hearing and refer to the county and referring to the planning board. So that's where we are.

B

This is a one parcel on Commerce state, which is one block off Main Street. You can see it on the map here. It's that little jog in the line. So this is the Central Main Street District, here's Main, Street and um one block off. Is this R1 7.5, 7, 500 square foot per unit residential district and then over here you can see, there's a transitional, District right sort of in between commercial and residential a little of both. So this property was previously a single family home.

B

It's a it's an Old, Second, Empire house, that's been redone and the owner would.

C

Prefer to use.

B

It as commercial, it's surrounded by commercial uses. His argument was that it's more in the CMS District than it is in the other one.

B

The only reason it was left in the R15 7.5 was that it was a single family house and single family houses aren't allowed in the CMS District. So the last time we redid the CMS District. This was.

A

Pulled.

B

Out into the R1 District, um but there's good arguments uh why this should be in the CMS District, just a contiguous properties are in the CMS District, that's not conforming to the R1 7.5 District. The square footage on this lot is.

B

Ariel, so you can see it compared to these 7.5 district houses to the South. It's much smaller. It's a third of the size for a legal lot in that District are.

A

You sure.

D

Slow.

B

um So it's a.

C

Very small lot.

B

um It um it's almost entirely: building has one parking space and I went there. You know I looked at it a few a month or so ago, when it was first put up now, it's completely different. It's been recited, it's yeah.

A

They've.

B

Opened up the area to the east of it as a sort of an open, courtyard, I'm, not sure, seems to I think they share ownership with the building in front of it. The old mechanic Bank the five-story building.

B

um It has some strange things. Otherwise, though it has a big dumpster enclosure on the corner there that wasn't there before I'm sure how that happened.

B

Behind Bank Square Northwest, though.

D

So.

B

Over here there's a big dumpster enclosure in the offense did, which wasn't the last time. I looked at it and I'm not sure how they did that with outside plan approval, there's no parking, but.

D

We have has been.

A

Working one way or the other, we have waiversity.

D

Parking spaces right now and that's where it's going towards so from that end, it's not even that significant of a change right and.

A

We have waiver capability.

C

Would it require if it had house if it had apartments and it would it require to have commercial on the first floor with the apartments above.

B

Because it doesn't based on Main Street the CMS District that faces on Main Street, it has to have a commercial footage on the ground floor, but not if it is in the back, so they could put two apartments in there. They could put a apartment in a commercial use on the ground floor. They could put all commercials in. They would have left a lot of flexibility.

B

It's not a very big house. No I, don't I'm, not sure what the interior stairs or anything like that is to use it as a commercial space. Upstairs.

A

Are there any other Parcels like this that might come along sometime in the future that you could pull into this as well or just sort of as a cleanup? The.

B

Only one I can think of that's in a honestly yeah, that is, is the building right behind the Holland Center, which is in the residential district or it's in the T District.

A

Transition yeah.

B

On that block um and I, don't know if you've been by that fascinating, but it's been greatly expanded.

A

Yeah there's some significant work going on.

C

There right but it, but it's still a single family house.

B

So it could be converted to it all.

B

At all, non-residential uses that are allowed in the D District, um but this this one I think, is an anomaly that has no real justification. If it's not going to be a single family.

A

Yeah I mean it seems, cut and dry. um How? How do you imagine we could be of best use to the council.

B

Well, the council wants a recommendation as to whether they should go forward with the resulting, so that would be would.

A

They do it without our. Yes,.

B

Input anyway,.

B

That's.

A

Very that's very thoughtful.

B

And so your recommendation means a lot to the Cubs.

A

Oh.

D

What do you think.

A

No, no.

D

I, like I, say just on its face, there's a good, logical consistency, argument.

A

Including.

D

It in the CMS District, based on where it's at geographically, if there's no reason considerate reason this is being presented from that zoning District in the first place. I, don't see why that change shouldn't be made.

A

Yep anything Randall, I, agree, yeah.

C

I agree.

A

I think they have a recommendation that this is a a logical, sound approach.

B

So um you want the attorney to draft up a positive recommendation to the council.

C

When we get to the this item on the regular swim, Workshop down.

A

So that'll make that part of the agenda pretty straightforward.

A

Love it and we have a whole 10 minutes to spare we're going to talk about.

D

I.

C

Have a uh off the wall, comment or question for um for for developments that have provided Recreation space Green Space in their um development? Is there any mechanism for the city to monitor the maintenance and upkeep of those spaces?

C

Thinking of the one in particular one East, Main Street has a small area on the South Side against the Hudson Valley Brewery that was provided as green space, and it's looking really sad. It's like yeah.

B

Can't be enforced.

A

Are you talking on the one East Main property adjacent.

C

To the tracks in the it's in the parking lot, basically like it's.

A

Oh in the back, okay I got you in the.

C

Back one East Main Street and it backs up against Hudson Valley Brewery, like there's a few benches, and a couple of trees were planted. It's on the south side of the parking lot.

A

So you're saying there's little little: upkeep maintenance.

B

There's very little happening there. The way these things generally work is that somebody gives notice to the building department that there's something wrong. It's some site plan non-compliance.

A

Somebody named Karen.

B

And uh look at the site plan to see what was supposed to be there, and if it's not there, then they can go to the other and let them know that they have to comply with them.

C

Okay, I'm not quite sure what was on the site plan, but it's not like the building inspector is driving around anymore.

B

And flying every.

D

Grass.

D

It's expensive.