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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Building a downtown
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among other uses, would be prohibited. Meanwhile,
uses that are special exception uses in the B-2 district
would be permitted, such as day care facilities, upper
floor apartments, hotels, restaurants and taverns.
The overlay is meant to implement the board’s vision
of a “sustainable, pedestrian-friendly, traditional downtown for the village.” The board hopes the regulations
will encourage development and promote “a vibrant
commercial environment providing an array of amenities, services and resources essential to the neighborhood and community shopping needs of the village of
Maybrook.”
Stach stated that in addition to the expanded options,
the village would also offer incentives for development,
from adjusting parking requirements to approving up
to four stories for the proposed structure. In return,
the applicant would have to install sidewalks, pay a fee
toward the provision of public parking by the village,
and reserve the rear portion of the lot for public use by
easement.
In this vision of Maybrook’s future, the downtown
area would have buildings close to the street, with 10-foot
wide sidewalks. Parking would be behind the businesses,
with potential for future development as part of a “downtown community facilities public improvement plan.”
The buildings would feature restaurants and shops on
the first floor, with apartments on the floors above.
Village Trustee Robert Pritchard stated that the
board is also looking into doing the initial EIS for the
sites, to make them “shovel ready” and more attractive to
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investors. The move would carry a cost, but would make
the area more attractive to investors.
“I think once we get this squared away, the doors will
be open,” said Leahy, after the board had discussed the
proposed zoning amendments and made changes.
Leahy said interest has been expressed in the village,
but the potential investors can’t move forward until the
moratorium on development is lifted. The moratorium
was just extended a few weeks ago for the village board
to complete its rezoning efforts.
Stach is to provide the village board with the corrected zoning amendments at their meeting on March
21 at 6:30 p.m. The village attorney will then craft the
proposed local law.
In other business, the village has been offered the possible donation of approximately 60 acres of land, which is
mostly wetlands. The board agreed to research the offer
and property before making a decision.
After spending several years in darkness, motorists
in Maybrook and Montgomery may have reason to hope.
The doused street lights at the intersection of Route
208 and Interstate 84 are to be inspected and hopefully,
repaired.
Leahy said on Monday that the lights have not worked
properly since the remodeling of Exit 5 in the town of
Montgomery several years ago. He expressed concern