To the Editor,

Last week the Village Board began a discussion with residents about the Municipal Place Gateway area and the section of North Riverside Ave between Grand Street and just short of Prospect Ave. to the north.  Both are primarily zoned for commercial uses. It also includes the bottom of Brook Street.

At its first public input session on Thursday night, approximately 45 people heard, and participated in, a presentation by Buckhurst Fish and Jaquemart (BFJ), the Village’s Planning consultants.  BFJ presented an overview of existing conditions in these areas, including both current zoning, uses and geography.

There are multiple reasons for the Village to take a look at existing zoning from time to time:

1. NYS requires that municipal zoning be in sync with the community goals identified in their Comprehensive Plan.
2. Explore possible new opportunities for enhancing both business and living in these areas while ensuring that necessary infrastructure will be in place to support them including parking, walkability and ease of access to other neighborhoods and the waterfront.
3. Assess how the Village-owned undeveloped property, known as the Katz Property across from the CVS plaza, might best be utilized to enhance the area as well as the entire Village.

This is a discussion of possibilities but there are no current proposals.

While the presentation highlighted some possibilities, the idea was to get a conversation started and to provide some basic information to inform the discussion.  

If this discussion ultimately does lead to some zoning updates, one thing to be assured of is that any existing property that is currently legally non-conforming, will remain so; existing structures will not have to change.

The presentation is available on the Village website to watch in its entirety (click on Projects and Initiatives on the left side of the Home page).   A survey about residents’ views is also available on the website for residents to answer. The same survey is also being mailed to each resident. It can be answered online or by return mail.  The more people who respond, the better understanding there will be of how residents view the current village and what they would like to see occur in these two important areas.

There will be another input session in late May or early June, after the results of the survey have been compiled.  At that session, there will be specific discussion groups on various areas of the overall study area to elicit from residents more detailed expectations and concerns.

We hope that everyone will take a few minutes to answer the survey and also participate in this discussion as it moves forward. This is an opportunity to be part of defining and shaping the future of an important area of our Village.

Ann Gallelli

Deputy Mayor, Village of Croton

Ann Gallelli