Town sets hearing on Gateway Area rules
Town Board members have scheduled public hearings for March 1 for adding a proposed Exit 18 Gateway Area to the comprehensive plan and extending by 120 days a moratorium on new projects for that section of state Route 299.
The sessions are to begin at 6:30 p.m. in the community center at 3 Veterans Drive.
Under the proposed revisions, new land-use regulations would be drafted for a 230-acre area encompassing about 46 properties for about a mile from the east edge of ShopRite Plaza to about the town line with Lloyd.
A draft report stated that proposed regulations were needed to “ensure the New Paltz Exit 18 Gateway Area gives a sense of ‘arrival’ to visitors, commuters and locals alike, reflecting the unique natural resources and cultural assets of New Paltz, including New Paltz’s small town, rural character.”
The Gateway Area would primarily cover the town’s current B-2 Highway Business Zoning District and the I-1 Light Industrial District, and add three additional categories that are variations of the B-2 zoning rules. It would also cover several properties in an R-1 District near the state Thruway toll plaza.
“In general, these areas should remain primarily commercial in nature, with some appropriately scaled and integrated residential development in the mixed use and hamlet subareas,” officials wrote. “The three subareas would differ mainly in terms of the design characteristics desired in each.”
Current zoning has property on either side of state Route 299 listed as the B-2 business district from the municipal line with Lloyd, with the exception of an R-1 district for several properties near the state Thruway toll plaza. On either side of the B-2 district are combinations of light industrial and agricultural designations.
Town Board members in April set a nine-month moratorium on new development along eastern state Route 299 after some residents objected to an application to construct a CVS pharmacy and Five Guys Burger and Fries restaurant at the intersection of state Route 299 and North Putt Corners Road.
The moratorium put a halt to application reviews for special permits, area variances, use variances or subdivisions except for residential development of five units or less and non-residential structures of 2,500 square feet or less.