Bed and Breakfast Downtown; Open Studios; Garbage Fees; Tattoo; Noise Rules

Peekskill Considers Bed and Breakfast

People are interested in opening up a Bed and Breakfast in the downtown district of Peekskill, said City Planner Anthony Ruggeiro.

Current law only permits Bed and Breakfasts in the waterfront district, but the inquiring entrepreneurs want to be in the downtown, Ruggiero told the council.

At Monday night’s meeting, the group discussed what the difference would be between a B&B that only serves breakfast, a “boutique hotel/B&B,” and a B&B that includes a separate restaurant business attached.

The council was supportive of the exploring and redefining the city’s current definition of a B&B and possibly allowing them to be located in the downtown. The current definition is more along the lines of a room and board type business, which the council did not feel would be appropriate in the downtown.

Ruggiero said he will look at the difference between different types of B&B businesses and bring historic maps of the city back to the council for further discussion.

What do you think of a possible B&B in Peekskill? Tell us in the comments. 

Also at the March 19 work session:

BAN for DPW

The acting city manager told the council that they would like to go for a Bond Anticipation Note (BAN) for $1,445,000 worth of DPW needs. They need $600,000 for trucks, $422,000 for roof improvements and $500,000 for tax certioraris. Acting city manager Brian Havernek said he plans to do the BAN at the end of April or beginning of May.

Havernek said that two older BANS are being paid off this year and the mayor asked for details on how much would be paid off.

Business hours, noise and zoning changes

The council discussed holding a public hearing on an ordinance change regarding business hours and noise.  The changes include:

• Indoor sound produced and heard in nonresidential districts may be heard beyond the property line until 1 a.m. on Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eves, the same as on Thursday through Saturday evenings.
• Indoor sound produced in the downtown and waterfront 2 districts may be heard in residential zoning districts until 1 a.m. on Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eves.
• Indoor sound produced in nonresidential districts other than downtown and waterfront may be heard in residential zoning districts until 10 p.m. on all nights.
• Jackhammers, rockhammers and blasting equipment may be operated in residential zoning districts only between 9 a.m. and 3 pm. Mondays through Saturdays ,except for city or utility emergencies.

To read more about the zoning changes read the PDF attached to this article.

Tattoos

The city council discussed holding a public hearing on their proposal to lift the tattoo ban in the city and allowing tattoo studios in certain districts only, excluding the downtown where tattoo artist Patrick Conlon wants to open a studio. Read more on that .

“People will have the opportunity to address 1. Repealing the ban. 2. Where the business should be established and 3. Being in favor of repealing the band and wanting them anywhere,” Mayor Mary Foster said.

Open Studios

Director of Economic Development James Slaughter told the council the city will be runnings this year. The event has been run by the Peekskill Arts Council in past years. It is an event that brings tourists to the city to view artist work and gives artists without galleries in the downtown and opportunity to showcase their work in more visible areas. This will be the 15th year Peekskill hosts an Open Studios.

The event will be held on June 2-6 from 12 to 5 p.m. at five primary locations: the downtown studios, The Hat Factory, WCC, the artist co-op building’s two vacant apartments, and the Youth Bureau will be used as a backup location, the council decided.

There is a $25 registrations fee. The council discussed advertising the event with Hudson River boat tour companies and with banners along the Hudson train line.

Condo Garbage Collection Fees

The council discussed proposed increased collection fees for city pickup from certain condominium complexes. On March 29 from 7 to 9 p.m. in City Hall the city will hold a meeting with all Home Owner Associations and property managers to discuss the collection fee. “Our intent is to lay out all the information to explain where we started, where we are and where we are trying to go,” Foster said. “But also to provide assurance that we have not upped the rate for garbage pick up in 9 years.” Read more about the condos affected and the fees involved in the PDF attached to this article.

Several other city agenda items were discussed during this meeting that are not reported on here. To read about those visit the city website here to find more information, including the full agenda.