New Paltz Village Planning Board members have a clearer idea about what they will need to review in regard to an outdoor cafe proposed for the site tucked away by the back corner of the municipal parking lot. That’s allowed to pinpoint areas they’d like to understand even better in the plans, such as whether patrons will be forced to wander through parking lots to get there, or will be afforded some kind of walkway instead.
Brian Keenan, the property owner, wants to convert the building that was formerly a laundromat and then a smoke shop into an outdoor cafe, with the outdoor seating to be put in what’s now the parking area for the business. Anyone arriving in a car will be finding a spot in the nearby village lot or along a nearby street; they’ll be paying for parking instead of getting it free of charge from the property owner. The seating area will be surrounded by plantings and a decorative fence and sheltered by a canopy that’s reminiscent of what one might find over the pumps at a gas station. Board member Rachel Lagodka remarked that the result will be to improve an area that “normally is where people go to throw up after drinking.” Part of what pleases Lagodka about the aesthetics is the fact that two very old trees will not be condemned, and instead will be allowed to continue living should the cafe be approved.
This is a building that already has commercial and residential uses, and it was not clear at first what approvals would be required. Village officials have settled on three special-use permits: one because it’s a mixed-use building, a second for the restaurant and a third for the proposed bar. The outdoor seating would be accessory to the restaurant use, with the specific requirements laid out in that particular permit. As this deals with an existing building and paved area, it is a type 2 action as it pertains to environmental review — the most cursory alternative.
Lagodka also would like to see pedestrian access more clearly defined for this space, as it’s several hundred feet off Plattekill Avenue with no sidewalk of any sort. Someone approaching from the street would have to walk through a parking lot, which increases the potential for pedestrian-vehicle conflicts. Lagodka suggested putting a walk alongside the retaining wall between Keenan’s properties and the municipal lot. Project engineer Andy Willingham proposed that installing stairs between the two lots would improve access for patrons using the village lot, but didn’t seem to be considering the possibility that someone might not arrive in a vehicle at all. This is the second time Lagodka has raised pedestrian access to the site, and it’s likely to be looked at again at a future meeting, when the application is addressed in more detail.
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