Board Hears Pitch for Battery Energy Storage Revenue, Moves Forward on Animal Code Rewrite, Tweaks Winter Parking Rules

The Croton Board of Trustees held a wide-ranging work session June 24, taking up battery energy storage, grant applications, a comprehensive rewrite of animal-keeping rules, winter parking regulations, and committee governance.

Battery energy storage proposal Lindsay Audin, chair of the village sustainability committee, pitched the board on a potential revenue opportunity: hosting a commercial-scale battery energy storage system on village-owned land. The systems, roughly the size of the one already installed at the Croton-Harmon train station, store electricity when wholesale prices are low and discharge when prices spike — "buying low and selling high" in the electricity market, as Audin described it. Developers currently pay $30,000 to $40,000 per megawatt annually in site leases. A five-megawatt system on village property could generate $150,000 to $200,000 per year in revenue for the village, Audin said, plus a $50,000 building permit fee. The systems use lithium iron phosphate batteries, which he said have a strong safety record and are now subject to rigorous new state and national fire codes. Audin asked the board to appropriate $2,000 to hire a consultant to identify viable village sites near power lines with available hosting capacity and issue requests for interest and proposals. He emphasized that the process would take three to four months and that no commitment to install anything would follow — the goal is simply to determine whether an opportunity exists before hosting capacity on nearby power lines is claimed by others. The village already has a 3.5-megawatt BESS at the train station, which is not yet fully operational. In 2022, Croton was among the first communities in the region to adopt specific safety standards for battery energy storage systems. Trustee Nora Nicholson said the presentation felt "very well developed" for an early-stage concept and urged the board to communicate the process authentically to residents, noting that other municipalities have enacted moratoriums on battery storage. "I feel like this felt like the horse is out of the barn," {{quote:1893}} she said, adding that she wanted to ensure the board was not rushing to judgment. Pugh pushed back on that framing, noting that no residents had contacted the board with concerns about the proposal and that the village has two existing systems without controversy. Village Attorney Joshua Subin clarified that any project would still need to go through the planning board's special permit and site plan review process, and that as a municipal property owner, the board retains greater control than a private landowner would. The board voted to appropriate the $2,000 from the village's energy conservation account. Deputy Mayor Len Simon made the motion, with Trustee Stacey Nachtaler seconding. Grant applications Healy presented four consolidated funding application targets prepared by grant administrator Valerie Monastra. The board agreed to pursue three: A $425 million water infrastructure improvement grant could fund water main replacement on Harrison Street and Sunset Trail, with a 30% match. Superintendent of Public Works Frank Balbi has already prepared the engineering report for the project. A $28.75 million environmental protection fund grant could cover design and engineering for the community center at Gouvea Park. The village previously sought full construction funding through two grants without success; Monastra recommended breaking the project into phases. A $75 million water quality improvement project grant could fund relocation of the salt shed from its current location in a flood zone at the train station to a new site. The village allocated money last year to study the relocation. Healy said a Climate Smart Communities sidewalk grant was less practical this year because the village already has a county-funded sidewalk project underway on Municipal Place and South Riverside Avenue.

Animal code rewrite The board spent the bulk of the session discussing a comprehensive rewrite of the village's animal-keeping provisions, triggered by the Zoning Board of Appeals' struggle to interpret the 1931 code section that mentions fowl without defining it. Healy presented research from Cornell University, Penn State, the USDA, the CDC, and the Westchester County Department of Health on best practices for backyard poultry and pigeon keeping. The county and local health departments reported no specific concerns about pigeons, and the CDC noted that disease risks from backyard poultry are manageable with proper hygiene. Monastra, working with the village attorney, drafted proposed code language that would define domestic animals and farm animals separately, prohibit the keeping of farm animals as defined, and restrict permitted fowl to chickens and ducks — explicitly excluding roosters. The code would impose a 25-foot setback from property lines for coops in RA-5 zones and 50 feet in RA-40, RA-60, C-2, and LI zones — a fivefold increase from the current five-foot setback for accessory structures. No grandfathering would apply, meaning animals no longer permitted could not remain. Nachtaler argued for limiting permitted birds to hens only on smaller lots (RA-5, RA-9, RA-25), saying ducks can fly, are noisier, and create more nuisance potential in densely populated areas. She cited research showing Tarrytown restricts permits to hens only. Pugh and Subin pushed back on regulating by species versus using broader categories, noting the enforcement difficulty of distinguishing flightless from flighted birds. The board agreed to go forward with Valerie's draft as a starting point but did not reach consensus on whether to allow ducks on smaller lots. Nicholson also pushed to remove the word "fowl" entirely from the code to eliminate ambiguity. Nicholson also raised the possibility of incorporating a Briarcliff Manor-style table allowing farm animals like horses, goats, and sheep on parcels of two acres or more, rather than an outright prohibition. Healy said a zoning amendment would take approximately two months from introduction to adoption, including referral to the Planning Board and Westchester County Planning Board. Winter parking regulations Healy proposed allowing one-side-of-the-street daytime parking in the village's four business districts — North Riverside, Harmon, South Riverside, and Upper Village — from 7 AM to 7 PM during snow events, regardless of snow accumulation. Current regulations prohibit street parking once two inches of snow has accumulated. Overnight parking would remain prohibited to allow DPW to clear roadways. The change would come through a local law with a public hearing, likely in August. Healy said he would draft a letter to property owners notifying them of the change and identify which side of each business street would remain available for parking. Healy also said the village would remove certain sidewalks currently cleared by DPW from its responsibility, primarily commercial properties along South Riverside and Croton Point Avenue that were apparently added for commuter convenience. Owners of residential properties that were incorrectly on the DPW list will receive letters informing them of their responsibility starting next winter. Committee governance The board voted to convert the HART Committee from a standing committee to an ad hoc committee, allowing its members to continue serving on other committees without conflict. The committee would no longer be self-directing and would take direction from the board. Student member policy The board approved a policy for student members on advisory committees. Student members must be juniors or seniors in high school, reside in the village, and provide a recommendation from a school official. They would serve as nonvoting members with terms running September 1 through August 31. Nicholson successfully pushed to remove a GPA requirement, saying the opportunity should be available to students who are not strong academically. The policy would apply to all advisory committees except the WAC and VEB, which are created by statute. A parental acknowledgment would be required for students under 18.

Other business The board awarded the towing services contract to CNC Towing Inc., doing business as Lupicello Auto Body of Croton-on-Hudson, for the period June 1, 2026 through May 31, 2027. A nearly identical resolution had been adopted the previous week, but the village discovered the contract needed to reference the company's official legal name rather than its doing-business-as name.