Public hearing held on planned restaurant
About a half-dozen community residents attended a meeting of the Consolidated Planning Board on July 21; a meeting where a public hearing was held on the proposed restaurant at 341 Main St. in Highland Falls.
That location is the former United Methodist Church, and Developer Rick Minicozzi isn’t planning to change the exterior of the building. He is, however, planning to add terraced parking on the front lawn of the church, and slightly reconfigure the current church parking lot.
Resident concerns at the meeting mostly pertained to that — traffic and parking. Neighbors of the property — O’Neill Court homeowners — asked about access of emergency and delivery vehicles using the narrow road leading to the former church.
Planning Board Chairman Erik Smith said both the police and fire chiefs in Highland Falls had been sent copies of the plan. Police vehicles wouldn’t have any access issues, but fire vehicles may. Smith, also a Highland Falls firefighter said he imagined that any incidents needing a fire truck at that location would be accessed from Main St. It was also noted that ambulances can access the property now, so that was not expected to be an issue.
After the hearing, Minicozzi and his project staff talked with board members and Building Inspector Phil Hannawalt about several issues, including Department of Environmental Conservation rules about bats and the plan to remove three trees from the south side of the property; potential problems from removing rock in the front yard (“we’ll be chipping at it, not blasting,” Minicozzi’s team said); the design of the walls in front of the church; and the addition of a one story kitchen addition on the north side of the property.
Minicozzi will return to the Planning Board in the near future with more project information, as requested by the board and its engineer.
