The Saugerties Village Board voted at its regular meeting on Monday, November 21 to act as lead agency in the study of a proposed change in the zoning code that would allow one-and one-half parking spaces for each two apartments in the central business district. The present law specifies one space for every two apartments.
Part of the application for lead agency status involves answering a series of questions on environmental factors in the zoning change application, most of which have little to do with the proposed change. Some of the questions were whether the proposed change would increase the intensity of land use or change the character of the community, whether endangered species would be affected by the change, whether it encroached on wetlands and similar questions that would have little effect on a parking regulation.
Given that the central business district is virtually entirely built up, with no space for new buildings, and that the existing buildings are “grandfathered in,” the new regulations won’t affect them. The zoning change will satisfy a group of residents who feel the existing law is too limiting. Should a large area open for new construction in the village, which would require the demolition of existing buildings, the law could affect new buildings, councilmen have agreed. But under the present circumstances, it is likely to have little or no effect.
At its October 17 meeting the board voted to hold a public hearing on the proposed change in the building code on January 3, 2023.
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