Town considers adding allowable business uses
The intent is to attract more commerce to a 2.5-mile stretch of Kings Highway, north of Glasco Turnpike.
The Town Board is reviewing recommendations that would add dozens of allowable business uses to the Kings Highway corridor between Glasco Turnpike and state Route 212.
The discussion of changes to the town’s Industrial District and the Office/Light Industrial District was prompted by developers telling the town the corridor has too many restrictions under current zoning regulations.
“There’s been a number of businesses over the last ... two years that have expressed an interest in wanting to come in and relocate in that area, but because of zoning restrictions, they just couldn’t,” Councilwoman Leeanne Thornton said.
Speakers at Wednesday’s Town Board meeting said the exclusion of retail, in particular, from the Industrial District’s list of permitted uses is a disincentive to use property on Kings Highway.
Sal Mancuso, who owns a 33,000-square-foot building at 1133 Kings Highway, said developers are interested in being able to have retail sales in conjunction with manufacturing.
“I’ve had people who wanted to come in there and put in refrigerated coolers and produced dog food, then they wanted people to come in vans ... to buy it,” he said. “It’s considered retailing, [so] the answer is no. A guy wanted to do a chocolate factory, the answer was no.”
The recommendation for changes was made by the town Comprehensive Planning Committee, which proposed adding 52 uses to the 19 already allowed in the Industrial District and 25 uses to the 33 currently permitted in the Office/Light Industrial District. The piece of Kings Highway where the changes would take effect is about 2.5 miles long.
“The result of the revisions ... would be to allow retail, service, office and similar uses in addition to customary industrial uses in the I and OLI districts,” the recommendation states.
But, the committee cautioned, “care should be taken not to divert uses to these areas which would weaken the traditional retail centers in [other] districts and the village of Saugerties. One technique that could be used is to limit the maximum floor area of certain uses in the I and OLI districts.”
Uses that currently are prohibited but would be allowed in both districts under the proposed revisions include:
• General merchandise stores.
• Boat dealerships and yacht clubs.
• Drinking establishments.
• Self-storage units.
• Antique and merchandise shops, bait and tackle shops, and gift shops.
• Cemeteries and mausoleums.
• Campsites, rooming houses and boarding houses.
• Funeral homes.
• Amusement and recreation services.
• Ski areas and skating rinks.
• Nursing and personalcare facilities.
• Schools, colleges and libraries.
• Religious institutions.