Esopus adopts mixed-use zone
TownBoardmembershaveadopted arule to allow developers to increase the numberofresidential units for commercial projects.
Town Board members have adopted a Mixed Use Overlay Zone intended to allow developers to increase the number of residential units for projects that have a commercial component.
The zoning change was approved during a Town Board meeting last week, with Supervisor Shannon Harris saying after the session that the update is expected to be immediately used on a property on U.S. Route 9W across from Town Hall.
“It’s mostly marketrate apartments and retail below with some public space,” she said.
Officials expect to get a presentation next month of a plan for 10 to 15 units on a vacant 2.2-acre parcel owned by Blue Stone Realty LLC.
Under the proposal, the floating zone would be used in the Broadway Commercial District, with a minimum lot size of 20,000 square feet, and the section of the General Commercial District between River Road and Dick Williams Lane, where the minimum lot size would be 43,560 square feet.
Projects for Mixed Used Overlay designations could not consist of more than two buildings, with one of the buildings having a mixed-use component. Commercial use would be limited to 7,500 square feet in the Broadway Commercial District and 4,500 square feet in the General Commercial District.
Applicants with approved mixed-use projects would be required to have a minimum of 8 residential units per acre in the Broadway Commercial District and would be allowed one additional unit for every 5,445 square feet of lot area. The projects would be limited to 80 percent of the lot area.
Projects in the General Commercial District would be required to have at least 6 units per acre and would be allowed one additional unit for every 7,260 square feet of lot area. Projects would be limited to 50 percent of lot areas.
Developers could also get a 20 percent increase in the number of residential units if at least one of the units is reserved for renters that meet eligibility requirements.
A 10 percent increase in the number of units would be allowed if the project incorporates “high quality urban and pedestrian-scaled design elements” that include “attractive architecture that will enhance the surrounding neighborhood, placement of parking lots behind buildings, provisions for pedestrian connections between public sidewalks and parking areas, and public outdoor space adjacent to public sidewalks.”