Peekskill City Council Work Session Meeting - August 11, 2025
Peekskill City Council Work Session Meeting - August 11, 2025
The Peekskill Common Council held a work session on Monday, August 11, 2025, at 6:30 PM in the Common Council Chamber. The lengthy agenda covered 19 items, including a cumulative environmental study for waterfront development, the 2026 budget schedule, garage improvements, zoning amendments for parking and cannabis, and several municipal agreements and project approvals. Council members also provided liaison reports on community events and issues.
Waterfront TOD Cumulative Environmental Study
- Sarah Yackel, Principal at BFJ Planning, presented the scope for a cumulative environmental impact report on three city-owned parking lots east of Metro-North tracks. The study will examine 276 residential units, 11,000 square feet of commercial space, a 125-room hotel, and 372 parking spaces, plus two new lots under Route 9. The report follows a generic EIS process but is not a formal SEQR action. It includes 11 technical chapters covering land use, traffic, parking, stormwater, flooding (including sea level rise), lighting, aesthetics, community facilities, and socioeconomics. Traffic counts at seven intersections and parking counts on waterfront lots have already been completed. The draft scope (25 pages) is on the city website; public comments accepted until September 9. A public meeting will be held September 6 at the Senior Center, followed by a formal hearing before the Planning Commission on September 9. The Council expressed support for the comprehensive approach and emphasized the need to incorporate climate adaptation strategies.
2026 Budget Schedule and Public Hearing
- Comptroller Tony Tracy outlined the tentative budget process: department heads have received worksheets, the city manager receives the budget on September 1, and the Council gets it on October 1. Working sessions are scheduled for September 29, October 8, October 15, and October 21. The Council authorized setting a public hearing for the budget on October 27 and a final budget vote on November 10. Resolutions to schedule these dates will be prepared.
Garage Structural and Lighting Improvements
- Carol Samel presented design contracts for the Nelson Avenue and James Street garages. Structural repairs (staircase, drainage, etc.) design from WSP has a maximum fee of $247,600; lighting design has a maximum fee of $92,200. Council members raised concerns about undertaking lighting design before structural improvements and noted the prior Honeywell lighting upgrade. They requested a clearer scope that includes surface painting and coordination with structural work. The Council agreed to move forward with the structural design contract and asked for more detailed lighting scope before proceeding.
Payment in Lieu of Parking Text Amendment
- The Council set a public hearing for September 8 on a proposed payment-in-lieu-of-parking program for the downtown. The program would allow developers to meet parking requirements by paying fees instead of building on-site spaces. Proposed fees: $15,000 per space for conversions to residential, $30,000 for new construction, plus an annual $200 per space maintenance fee. Developers with projects requiring 40 or fewer spaces may opt in; those with more must provide 60% on-site and 40% via the program. Funds would go into a special account for parking and transportation improvements, subject to Council approval. The program is intended to support public garage construction and reduce variances.
Complete Streets Grant Application
- The Council authorized submitting a Westchester County Complete Streets grant application (50% match) for design and implementation of streetscape and pedestrian/bike amenities downtown. Applications are due September 19. The connectivity project will be the focus.
Civic Hub and Connectivity Project SEQR Determination
- The Council declared itself lead agency and issued a negative declaration for the Civic Hub and Connectivity Project (street improvements). The SEQR determination was approved.
1 Highland Industrial Park Special Permit
- The Council considered a special permit application from Westchester Sports Arena LLC for an indoor soccer training center (amusement use) in the M3 zone. A public hearing was held in July with three speakers. The Council expressed support and agreed to prepare a resolution for approval, contingent on a negative declaration from the Planning Commission at its next meeting.
Cannabis Regulation Update
- Carol Samel presented proposed zoning amendments to limit cannabis dispensaries and consumption sites to M, C1, and C2 districts, removing them from the waterfront and C3 zones. Other changes include reducing the parking ratio from 1 per 80 sq ft to 1 per 300 sq ft for dispensaries (keeping 1 per 80 for consumption sites), requiring a state license before local approval, and adjusting micro-business rules. Current statistics: four approved dispensaries (two open), one microbusiness approved, two in process. Sales tax revenue from two open dispensaries was $28,000 in Q1 2025; projected $126,000 for the year, rising to $170,000 with a fifth dispensary. Council members expressed concern about oversaturation compared to White Plains (5 dispensaries per 60,000 residents vs. Peekskill’s 5 per 26,000) and asked for tools to cap the number. The zoning change was seen as a step toward limiting locations.
Fleischmann Pier Change Orders
- Two change orders were presented, reducing the construction contract by $64,210.28, bringing the total to $5,015,615.82. The project is nearing completion; a punch list walkthrough is scheduled. The Council approved the change orders (resolution to be adopted August 18).
400 Main Street Development
- The applicant proposes 41 residential units in a five-story building (WF2 zone), requiring a Council special permit, a one-story height bonus, parking waiver, and lease of 21 spaces from a city-owned lot. The Council referred the application to the Planning Commission and scheduled a public hearing for October 14. Council members expressed concerns about the density and parking impact on nearby businesses; discussion included potentially requiring on-site parking instead of leasing city lots.
Westchester County Flood Mitigation Fund Application
- The Council authorized submission of an application for the Lockwood Drive culvert project, estimated at $2 million. The county program covers 50% of costs. The city plans to use $200,000 in CDBG funds toward the match and bond for the remainder. Council members confirmed the culvert is city property.
Hollowbrook Dam Assignment and Assumption Agreement
- The contractor (Contact Construction Technology Inc.) could not renew its insurance; a parent company (Escape Tech Landscape Technology Inc., dba Contact Construction) will assume the contract. The Council approved a resolution authorizing the assignment, with assurance that progress on the dam repair is satisfactory.
Police Agreements Renewal
- The Council approved renewal of the contract with the SPCA of Westchester for animal services and the 2025-2030 Intermunicipal Mutual Aid and Rapid Response Plan. No changes were made.
Letter of Endorsement – Town of Pelham EMS
- The Council agreed to provide a letter of endorsement (no objection) for the Town of Pelham’s application for permanent operating authority for EMS services. Chief Seymour explained the process; the endorsement has no impact on Peekskill. A resolution will be prepared.
Kiley Youth Center Property Transfer – Letter of Support
- The Council authorized the city manager to sign an environmental study for the Peekskill Housing Authority’s disposition of the Kiley Youth Center to a nonprofit entity. The study is required by HUD; the city’s support is part of the process to convert the property to a youth services hub using DRI and county funds.
Tree Ordinance Amendment
- The city manager recommended creating a Tree Board to oversee tree preservation, planting, and management of the tree fund. The board would include representatives from Planning, DPW, and the Conservation Advisory Council. The Council supported the concept and will consider a resolution at the next meeting.
Council Liaison Reports & Concerns
- Councilman Brian raised concerns about e-bikes and scooters riding on sidewalks and wrong-way, requesting age limits, helmet requirements, and enforcement. Council members also noted park maintenance issues (mugwort at Riverfront Green, litter) and praised police patrols. Upcoming events: Youth Bureau summer celebration (Aug 13), Swim for Life pool party (Aug 14), back-to-school giveaway (Aug 21), and various cultural festivals.
Key Outcomes
- Public hearings set for: Payment in lieu of parking (Sept 8), Budget (Oct 27), 400 Main Street (Oct 14).
- Authorized applications for: County Complete Streets grant, Westchester County Flood Mitigation Fund.
- Approved resolutions to be prepared for: Garage structural design contract, Fleischmann Pier change orders, Hollowbrook Dam assignment, SPCA contract, mutual aid plan, Town of Pelham endorsement.
- SEQR negative declaration declared for Civic Hub Connectivity Project.
- Cannabis zoning text amendment to be drafted and brought forward for public hearing.
- Referred 400 Main Street project to Planning Commission.
- Supported creation of a Tree Board (resolution upcoming).
Meeting Transcript
August 11th, 2025. We have quite a lengthy agenda with uh sixteen items and then an executive session for discussion of matters concerning the medical financial credit or employment history of a particular person, persons or corporation or matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal, or removal of a particular person, persons, or corporation. So at this time I'm going to turn it over to our city manager, Mr. Alexander. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Good evening. Good evening. Uh first up today, before we go into the regular part of the agenda, we have a presentation from uh and I'm gonna let uh Carol Samel introduce Sarah Yaquel from BFJ planning. So good evening, thank you. Um Good evening, uh Mayor and Council. Good evening. I just want to say a few words because I'll be up at this mic long enough this evening. Um to uh kind of give us some background and set the context for this. As you recall, we brought on BFJ planning to help us do the environmental review, the cumulative to study the accumulative potential for cumulative impacts of the development of the three sites at the waterfront. And um as a reminder, each of the sites will have to do site-specific environmental review. But the city wanted to take on this cumulative look so that we're uh supporting their environmental review. We will be holding a public hearing with the planning commission. We'll be presenting this to the planning commission tomorrow, and we'll be having an event on September 6th over at the Senior Center. Um, but this evening, what I wanted to introduce Sarah Yacole from BFJ Planning, who will go over the uh topic of conversation, which is the scope of our environmental review. We're not we haven't done yet done the study, but what will we be studying? So I want to introduce Sarah Yeko. I'm gonna open up the um PowerPoint here. Come on. Okay. Thank you. Thanks, Carol. Good evening, uh, Mayor, members of the council. My name is Sarah Yekel. I'm with uh principal with BFJ planning. It's very nice to be here tonight. Um we were retained back in the spring, and we have been uh working with uh the planning department on some preliminary pieces of this of this work, and we're here tonight because we have now officially uh launched this what we're calling cumulative environmental impact report. There is an outline of all of the items to be studied up on the city's website, and we're just gonna kind of walk you all and the public through sort of the purpose of this document and then the table of contents. Uh and we are kind of in a uh public review period right now where we are looking for public feedback on any items that the public would like studied in this report and anything that may be missing. Uh so just as an agenda, just quick overview. We'll talk about the project very briefly and then really get into what is this cumulative environmental impact report, what we're the purpose of it, and what we'll be studying. Again, uh my name is Sarah Yagle, and the principal of BFJ planning. I'll be joined in this effort by uh Emily Tolbert as project manager. We have a traffic engineer on the team, as well as our project planner, Nick. Uh, in this effort as part of the environmental review, we'll also be joined by Urbanomics, who specialize in socioeconomic and demographic analysis, and Ramble, who are specialists in infrastructure and climate adaptation, resilience, and sustainability. So as you are very well aware, um the the study that we are uh undertaking is looking at the waterfront transit-oriented development sites on three city-owned uh parking lots east of the Metro North Railroad tracks. Uh the city um and in your board specifically issued an RFEI or request for expression of interest for the parking lot redevelopment, and is currently as we understand it in negotiations with three private development groups and are looking at conditional disposition of those properties at some point in the future. Uh the study that we are undertaking is really looking at the cumulative impacts of those three developments together, combined with any other developments that are happening in the waterfront area. So kind of giving you all the full picture of what to expect when these come online and sort of w how they interplay with each other. So rather than each project at this stage, looking at only its impacts, we're providing that broader context so that when those projects actually come forward for individual approvals, you'll have that broader sense of okay, it's not just these units in this location, it's those units in this location plus all these other things. So broadly we're looking at 276 residential units across the three sites, approximately 11,000 square feet of commercial, uh 125 room hotel, and 372 parking spaces. The study will also consider the two uh new lots that are proposed under uh Route 9, and so those will will be in in play here as well. So, what is a cumulative environmental impact report? To be honest, that is a title I made up. We were originally in the RFP that went out for this project, was looking at doing a generic environmental impact statement under the state environmental quality review act. But in order to utilize seeker as it's called, you really need an action that has a dislike a discretionary action either before your board or the planning board.
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