Putnam Valley Schedules Hearings on Zoning Changes to Downtown
The Putnam Valley Town Board is taking action on some initiatives first discussed at a Putnam Valley Area Chamber of Commerce meeting this past spring convened in order to discuss ways the Oregon Corners business district could be beautified and improved.
Other initiatives already undertaken in order to clean up and manicure the downtown area have included the clearing of brush and landscaping by the town’s and the county highway departments and the repair of a large stone wall that was crumbling; a job that voluntarily undertaken by Maple Leaf Associaties, owned by Andy Tumolo, according to Town Supervisor Robert Tendy.
Earlier this year, Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell presented the town with a sign to announce the Putnam Valley downtown business district.
Two public hearings have been scheduled for next week in order for the public to make comment on two amendments to the town’s zoning code regarding the allowed size of business signage and the enclosure of garbage dumpsters.
The first public hearing on the dumpster enclosures will be held at 6 p.m., followed by a second one regarding signage at 6:15 p.m. at the board’s regular meeting on Wednesday, July 18.
At the Town Board’s June meeting, it was said that the proposed amendment regarding the enclosure of dumpsters arose from complaints that some commercial dumpsters were “eye sores” and some had become places for illegal dumping.
The consensus of the Town Board was to include language in the amendment to local law to require dumpsters that hold five cubic yards or more to be enclosed. They also agreed that the fee for permit to build an enclosure would be waved for local businesses.
It was Town Supervisor Robert Tendy who broached the subject of the allowable size of business signs at the chamber meeting last spring. At that meeting he said the town’s sign code needed to be eased to allow businesses to have larger signs, as the current restrictions made signs so small that they were not visible to passing motorists.
At their last meeting, Town Counsel William Zutt said that the restrictive sign code had resulted in a number of commercial property owners submitting many variance applications.
As it stands, town law allows a commercial property to have a 12-square foot sign.
The draft legislation includes language to raise that restriction to one square foot of signage allowed for every linear foot of building frontage, with a maximum of 80 square feet of signage.
“The larger the building, the more signage to be permitted…sSo, if you had an 80-foot-long building you would be permitted 80 square feet of signage. If you had a 150 foot long building you would be allowed 80 feet of signage,” Zutt said.
In addition, the amendment will allow buildings on a corner lot with double frontage an increase in the amount of allowable signage, from 80 square feet to a maximum of 120 square feet total for both frontages.
Every commercial building also would be permitted to have a one two-sided free standing sign with a maximum of 12 square feet on each side, if the amendment is approved by the Town Board.
“It represents a significant relaxation of current standards,” Zutt said.
There was little to no discussion among the Town Board members regarding the proposed changes and Tendy expected the same regarding the public hearings.
“I don’t think either of these is going to take much discussion,” Tendy said.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
