19 village residents turned out to talk about the Master Plan
Saturday morning’s Village Board public hearing started out much like many Village Board meetings have in recent years — with bickering and back and forth commentary between board members and the audience.
The hearing topic was the draft plan of the Highland Falls’ Comprehensive Plan, a document that’s typically updated every five years or so. The board has been working on the update for several years now, and at a recent work session — where public comment is not allowed on it — promised a public hearing would be held soon. It was held, on Saturday at the Senior Center, and 19 community residents attended. Eight of them spoke, once the initial back-and-forth settled.
The early exchange was because residents told the board that the latest draft of the plan being posted on the village website just a day before the meeting was not acceptable. It was asked if the board could summarize the changes that were made in the most recent draft — and while they did not, they noted that they would leave the public hearing open, and schedule another one within the next few weeks to listen to more comments.
As that was being hashed out, with Trustee Dr. Melanie Guerrero saying “You’re wasting the public’s time, because no one had read it yet,”, Trustee Jim Ramus called for calm, noting that most of those in the room had, in fact, been at the board’s work session meetings and had a general idea of what was in the revised plan.
“This is your time to give us your suggestions and tell us your concerns,” Ramus said. “We know you are concerned citizens, and we want to hear what you have to say.”
And when the board settled down to listen, people spoke.
There were a few people in the room who had spent time in the hours before the meeting reading it, namely Consolidated Zoning Board of Appeals Chairman Jack Jannarone, and the village’s Jim Titolo. Both came with prepared remarks.
Jannarone, who served on the Steering Committee appointed by the board in 2023, addressed concerns about specific zoning changes the board has made in recent years, as well as several that are expected once the Comprehensive Plan is complete. He suggested not going the route of ‘incentivized zoning’ as suggested as a possibility by Deputy Mayor Jim DiSalvo at a recent work session.
“A village this small does not need this,” he said, “and I believe it could lead to all kind of lawsuits.”
Jannarone also said he personally disagrees with those who have requested more high density zoning (for instance, taller buildings on Main St.) in the village, saying he believes that would end up leaving residents in more established neighborhoods “to pick up shortfall” when high density zones don’t generate a great deal more in taxes.
Finally, he advised the board that there is quite a bit of “erroneous” data in the plan, noting “ancient history” like the long-ago planned Old Guard Hotel on Rt. 9W.
Titolo disagreed that more high density housing — “properly done”– would hurt the village.
“Nobody is coming here to build 35 foot high buildings,” he said. “There has to be potential return on investment for a developer to come here.”
Titolo continued: “We have taken baby steps for 50 years, we can’t take baby steps any more,” he said. “Look at where we are at. Saturdays after football games Main St. is empty. We have to push the envelope, and in doing so, remember that nothing is written in stone. If it doesn’t work, we can change it back.”
A final comment of Titolo’s was that Highland Falls “needs to tell the world that we are open, and having a Black Friday sale!”.
Both Jannarone and Titolo drew applause from the audience for their honest comments. As did Jason D’Onofrio, a Fort Montgomery business owner.
“This is not rocket science,” he told the board, adding: “Nothing changes if nothing ever changes.”
He lobbied for more studio and one bedroom apartments and encouraged board members to go to Nyack, Beacon, Cold Spring and Haverstraw and look at the revitalization that’s gone on there.
“This town should be bustling all year because of the cadets,” he said. “We should be the gem between Albany and New York City. Be thankful that West Point is there. Until you embrace that, we are on life support.”
Several others spoke as well, including Olga Anderson, who encouraged the board to address potential future flooding in the Comprehensive Plan — “where are our vulnerabilities, and what are we going to do about them?” she asked.
Ron Malecot also said he believes the village needs to allow some higher density development. “We can’t sustain our village with what we have,” he said. He also encouraged “doing something for ourself instead of trying to rely on grants for everything”.
Two residents of the Pellwood Lake area, Sharon Guy and Norm DeYoung, were on hand to make sure the zoning of their part of the village would be returned to residential only — they were assured by the board that it will be.
Town Deputy Supervisor offered some history of local development, noting that through the years “Highland Falls has been boxed out, and that’s going to continue to be the future of Main St.”
The updated draft plan, 116 pages, is available to view at www.highlandfallsny.org. From the home page, scroll down to ‘Special Meetings’ and click on ‘Updated – Final Draft – Comprehensive Plan’. On Saturday, Feb. 17, at 9:30 a.m. in the Senior Center another work session will be held on the matter; Deputy Mayor DiSalvo had suggested that.
