Nyack’s Village Board threw their support behind the Riverspace Downtown project at last night’s meeting. Discussions also included appointing a task force for the project, as well as conversations about Main Street improvements, a new community center and noise ordinance issues.
Riverspace Task Force — The Mayor announced that he appointed a new task force to work with Riverspace on its proposal for a major redevelopment of the Main Street “superblock”. On the task force will be Jennifer Laird White, Steve Knowlton, Doug Foster, and one person yet to be named.
Riverspace Resolution — The Board unanimously passed a two paragraph resolution supporting the concept of the Riverspace development. Trustee Richard Kavesh stated that he had a conversation with co-artistic director Elliott Forrest concerning the development plans. Kavesh said that he stated he felt the project was way out of scale and was too big for the Village. He envisioned something more like Pleasantville’s Jacob Burn’s Film Center “West”. He said Pearl River would be a better location for a large development like those in the plan.
Community Center — Trustee Louise Parker brought up the idea of a community center, saying that the Board has begun discussions on the issue over the last six years but it keeps getting dropped. The Board discussed the issue but no action was taken.
Main Street Improvements — The Board passed 3-2 (Kavesh and Parker opposed) a resolution authorizing the bonding of $50,000 for engineering studies/plans for the Main Street improvements. Once complete, the Village will be able to use $180,000 of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for the construction, which is estimated to cost $2 million.
The Board discussed to help pay for the increased debt by raising parking meter rates by ten cents an hour. That resulted in a separate resolution that failed 2-3( Kavesh and Shields voting in favor).
Noise Ordinance — Resident David Reese later brought up the issue of the noise ordinance and how it is being enforced by the police, resulting in shutting down musical events at establishments such as the Hudson House and Casa Del Sol. Many venues are stopping musical events as a result. Mayor Shields mentioned that there will be a meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 9am between the Village Board, the Chamber of Commerce, and police to discuss the matter.
