HoehmTown Happenings: Clarkstown To Hold Public Hearing On Temporary Building Moratorium

Preserving and protecting our quality of life and natural resources while allowing for responsible development has always been a top priority goal of my administration. Achieving this is a challenging and delicate balancing act that often elicits strong and passionate opinions from all sides of the equation. In the time since I took office, the Town has acquired and dedicated over 40 acres of land for parks and open space. Among the highlights of our preservation efforts are the creation of the West Nyack Hamlet Green & Firefighter Memorial Park; a new connection to the Long Path through land acquisition for the Bear Swamp Preserve and Nature Trail in Valley Cottage; a Community Garden and greenspace in Central Nyack; a new natural turf sports field at the Kings Park complex in Congers; and the recent passing of the Community Preservation Act, which calls for the Town to develop a new preservation plan. At the same time, Clarkstown has been a desired location for increased commercial development and residential growth. To ensure we set ourselves up for a sustainable future, it’s a good time to pause and review the zoning regulations of the present.

There are many state-level steps and requirements for a municipality to implement a Community Preservation Act, and the fate of Clarkstown’s will ultimately be determined by the people through a voter referendum at a future date. In the meantime, the Town will continue to move through that process by appointing a new “Clarkstown Community Preservation Board.” This Board will work with town staff to develop the new preservation plan, which will likely necessitate substantive changes to the Town’s existing zoning regulations. In order to provide a cushion needed to thoughtfully review and enact potential zoning changes and ensure that future development is consistent with the Town’s long-term planning goals, the Town Board is seeking to establish a temporary building moratorium. The proposed moratorium would apply to virtually all development in the town, including multifamily development, large scale subdivisions, and commercial/industrial development, such as AI data centers, which have the potential to negatively impact the Town’s transportation network, environment, and public safety.

In addition to the goals set forth in the Clarkstown Community Preservation Act, the Town will seek to implement its new zoning regulations based on other recent developments and studies. These include infrastructure limitations and recommendations identified in the Routes 303 & 304 Safety and Sustainability Study, the Town-wide traffic signalization and safety study, other various studies of the Comprehensive Plan, and recent changes to the State Environmental Quality Review Act. Land use board applicants would be prevented from seeking approvals before these new regulations are put in place, protecting the public interest and welfare while amended zoning laws are adopted.

The moratorium is proposed for a period of six months following the adoption of a local law, and may be extended by an additional period of up to six months by resolution of the Town Board upon finding of a need for such an extension. Case law dictates the duration of a moratorium must be reasonable and limited to the time needed to draft or update comprehensive master plans or zoning laws. Excessively long or indefinite pauses can be challenged and invalidated by courts as unconstitutional “takings” or improper land-use restrictions.

Small scale subdivisions and commercial/industrial projects under 5,000 square feet, which are unlikely to result in significant traffic impacts, as well as projects within the Nanuet Hamlet Center, which has already been studied for future transportation improvements and is the site of the Town’s only commuter rail station, would be exempt from the moratorium.

I encourage our residents to come out and express their opinions on the future growth of our town. A public hearing on the proposed moratorium will be held at 6:30pm on September 15th in the Councilman John R. Maloney Auditorium of Town Hall, 10 Maple Avenue, New City.