Beacon committee's plan would prohibit self-storage, drive-thrus

The Beacon City Council is expected on Monday (Feb. 10) to begin its review of a draft law that, if approved, would ban new self-storage facilities and businesses with drive-thrus on Fishkill Avenue (Route 52).

The proposal is part of a first batch of recommendations for the busy thoroughfare generated by the Fishkill Avenue Concepts Committee, a citizen workgroup assembled by Mayor Lee Kyriacou a year ago. The council in November asked the group to present "quick fixes" while the committee works on more detailed recommendations for the mile-long stretch from Blackburn Avenue to the Town of Fishkill line near the Industrial Arts Brewing Co.

The City Council will likely fine-tune the draft on Monday before scheduling a public hearing and sending the proposal to the Dutchess County and Beacon planning boards for review.

Existing businesses in the corridor would be exempted. There are no drive-thrus on Fishkill Avenue, but the Planning Board will hold a public hearing the following night (Feb. 11) on a proposal to convert 420-430 Fishkill Ave., the former site of the Healey Brothers Ford dealership, to a Dunkin' coffeehouse with a drive-thru. The building also would have other commercial space and three apartments.

If the Planning Board approves the Dunkin' proposal, it would be regulated by whatever zoning is in place when a foundation is poured and "something substantial has come out of the ground," City Attorney Nick Ward-Willis told the council during its workshop on Jan. 27.

During that meeting, J.C. Calderon, who chairs the Fishkill Avenue committee, introduced four recommendations, although the law being discussed Feb. 10 will only include the first two:

1. Prohibit self-storage facilities, which provide minimal employment and do not contribute to "vibrant corridors."

2. Prohibit drive-thrus, which are inconsistent with the committee's "pedestrian-scale vision."

3. Reduce the minimum front-yard setback for new development in the corridor from 15 feet to 10 feet, and require parking spaces to be located behind, underneath or to the side of a building. If to the side, parking should be screened by a low wall or landscaping.

4. Prohibit gas stations, car washes, vehicle sales or rental lots and auto-repair shops, while allowing existing auto-related uses in the corridor to remain as non-conformities.

The committee is expected to make other recommendations that could include the creation of a Fishkill Avenue zoning district. Calderon noted that the interim suggestions, particularly No. 4, were not unanimous among the nine committee members, although he suggested some of that could be attributed to a misunderstanding about existing businesses being exempt.

Natalie Quinn, the city's planning consultant, told the council: "There's a thought that these [gas stations, car washes, car dealers and auto-repair shops] are viable business options that provide services to members of the community, and they have to be located somewhere, and this may be one of the last corridors in the city that allows some of these uses." She said, in some cases, the opposition could be boiled down to: "Many people own a car that needs repair at some point."

Beacon Planning Board members have also expressed concern with the fourth recommendation, Quinn said, because auto-related ventures are "what the market is currently providing" for available lots on Fishkill Avenue.

Pam Wetherbee, who represents Ward 3, which includes the corridor, said she favors banning drive-thrus because of the emissions and traffic they create. "We're going to have a rail trail," she said, referring to Dutchess County's study of a dormant line along Fishkill Creek, "and to have emissions happening right where people are walking in nature seems to go against itself."

But she and Kyriacou each said they would move deliberately on No. 4 because much of the corridor is autocentric. "I don't want to be in the situati...