From left to right, the vote was no (Trustee Aleena Olivia), no (Deputy Mayor Jim Ramus), yes (Mayor Jim DiSalvo), yes (Trustee Jen Gargiulo), yes (Trustee Peter Carroll). And with that, the Village of Highland Falls amended its zoning ordinance to allow for a few first floor apartments on Main St. in mixed-use commercial buildings. Commercial use will remain Main St. facing, and be at least 50 percent of the ground floor space. Buildings must still have off-street parking for apartments.

The board took the action on September 8, after two long public hearings on the topic, and more public comment that night. DiSalvo also answered a few questions from the public on the topic, and noted that the original version of the amendment to the local law had some slight adjustments made to it after both Consolidated Planning Board and Orange County Planning comments.

From the local Planning Board, Chairman Erik Smith was the first to speak at last week’s meeting, noting that the change does not, he expects, change the residential impact on the village’s infrastructure. That had been a contention of some members of the public.

“Our infrastructure was designed for about 5000 people – our current population is about 3600,” he said.

Jim Titolo, who also sits on the Planning Board, also spoke, saying that he was “very much in favor of the modification”.

“We’ve been discussing zoning changes for four, five, six years,” Titolo said. “We need to take a big step into our future. We are all tired of what we see on Main St.. This is your opportunity to fill your promises of change to us. This will create new commercial space and apartments. It will help support other local business and encourage our neighbors on Main St. to fix up their buildings. It will say to taxpayers, ‘I hear you and I see what you want’.”

He went on to add, to the board members, that a no vote on the proposal “suggests you think we don’t need additional tax revenue” among other things.

Andrea Kelley, who owns Bean & Barrell with her sisters, said all she hears is that “progress is needed and wanted in our community”. She noted that she has also heard some valid concerns from residents and board members, but said “stalling on this isn’t going to help anyone” and reminded all that there are safeguards in place to protect against many of those concerns.

Highland Falls resident, and town councilman, Michael Leahy has spoken against this particular zoning change several times, last week adding that the Village Board should “fix the brown water first” before looking at anything else.

One resident brought up social media posts and comments about reasons not to make the zoning change. DiSalvo called much of that ‘noise and nonsense’.

Once the public hearing was finally closed, the board adopted a SEQRA resolution noting there is no environmental impact of the resolution – every project that comes before the Planning and Zoning Boards has its specific environmental impact investigated at that point.

When it came time to vote on the zoning amendment, Trustee Olivia still made several points and asked several questions – she said she would like to see data proving there is a housing shortage in Highland Falls, if that’s the reason for allowing additional apartments. She also asked if there is a plan in place to “get back the commercial space” eventually, if needed on Main St.

“We’re too small for this,” she said. “I just haven’t heard where this is a good idea.”

Deputy Mayor Ramus said he worries that removing potential commercial space “leaves us stuck in the same situation we’re in now, where everyone still goes over the mountain to buy their groceries.”

Trustee Gargiulo’s comments were that by making the change “we’re giving developers an opportunity to use every square foot of their building to generate revenue, and generate tax revenue for the village.”