Croton adopts cannabis pause and housing preferences, sets infrastructure borrowing limits

Croton trustees approved a six-month pause on cannabis-dispensary land-use applications and adopted affordable-housing preferences for emergency-service workers, medical-service workers and veterans at their June 17 meeting. The same meeting authorized infrastructure borrowing and sent a broader review of gas-powered leaf blowers to the Conservation Advisory Council. The cannabis and housing measures passed 5-0. Mayor Brian Pugh, Deputy Mayor Len Simon and Trustees Stacey Nachtaler, Nora Nicholson and Maria Slippen were present.

Cannabis zoning: a pause and a public process

Local Law No. 8 of 2026, introduced as No. 9, provides a six-month moratorium to review cannabis zoning. The adopted text exempts projects already under construction or with final approvals before its effective date, as well as transfers of existing businesses. It takes effect upon filing with the Secretary of State; the six-month clock runs from that effective date. Adopted measure Nachtaler welcomed the chance to reconsider the rules: “So this gives our village and the board an opportunity to take a step back and revisit the zoning.” Read 16:52▶ Slippen pressed for a visible process: “What can the public expect to hear from us next? How are we gonna do what we're doing on our end? What does that research look like? And then how are we gonna keep people informed about what's happening?” Read 18:46▶ Village Manager Bryan Healy outlined a tentative July work session and work with the attorney, planner and engineer on maps and state regulatory changes. The hearing reflected divided views. Ed Riely opposed allowing dispensaries and raised concerns about young people; Gwen Cianfaglione defended regulated dispensaries and described their age checks. An extension would require a board resolution at an open meeting. Resident Wesley Blount urged trustees to consider residents throughout the review: “I just want to be clear that we do this thoughtfully and really take into account, public opinions on this.” Read 35:22▶ Later, Nicholson clarified that the earlier ShopRite-area proposal had fallen through because of the applicant’s lease, rather than a village refusal.

Housing preferences include workers and veterans

Local Law No. 9, introduced as No. 5, gives qualifying applicants first opportunity for affordable units covered by the law: emergency-service workers first, medical-service workers second and U.S. veterans third. Income and other eligibility requirements still apply; the employee preference requires at least 12 months in the specified industry. The measure encourages further study of educators, without adding them to the preference now. Housing-law text Simon described the persistence behind the measure: “we kept going back and and working with the data and working with the law and making sure that all of the objectives that are necessary in the housing field could be met simultaneously.” Read 104:56▶ Village Attorney Lori Lee Dickson emphasized an important limit: “it's not a local preference.” Read 107:22▶ The board also made its environmental and waterfront-consistency determinations. This was adoption of the measure discussed at the April 8 hearing; its effective-date clause requires filing with the Secretary of State.

Bond authorizations set borrowing limits

Trustees approved 20 bond resolutions, numbered 127 through 146. These authorized financing rather than documenting completed construction or debt already issued. Healy explained why the authorizations could exceed eventual borrowing: “the bond resolutions, for the most part, are for the full cost of the project.” Read 99:56▶ He said the amounts provided protection if anticipated grants fell through, and pointed to state and county support expected for the South Riverside and Municipal Place sidewalk project. The authorized bond amounts included: Several authorizations were subject to permissive referendum. Separately, the board approved $90,500 for D&B Engineers’ Brook Street design work and an application for a $701,000 state hazard-mitigation loan. It also approved $4,323,840.70 in blanket purchase orders and $551,031.13 in vouchers.

Leaf-blower review and service contracts

The board referred a 12-point research request to the Conservation Advisory Council, covering enforcement, equipment costs, local conditions, stakeholder input and a potential phase-in for any recommended changes. The referral sought a recommendation; it did not enact a year-round ban. Research memo Slippen asked how the volunteer council would get the help it needed: “Because what we really want is to make the right decision based on the information they're giving us.” Read 51:04▶ The lawn-maintenance contract already took a narrower step: the $70,170 award to La Teja Contractors and Landscaping prohibits gas-powered leaf blowers on the contracted work. It also adds two months of service and the Gotwald Circle islands. New England Property Maintenance received the $46,000 tree-trimming and removal contract. Landscaper Jason Laguna described his own switch to battery-powered equipment: “The reason for this was to show that gas blowers are not necessary. And also for my own well-being too.” Read 131:34▶ Healy reported eight leaf-blower violations since June 1. Other agreements included a one-year roadside-towing award to Luposello Auto Body, supplemental EMT services from Mid-Hudson Ambulance District at $48.28 an hour, and a three-year agreement under which Buchanan pays Croton an annual $1,200 base charge plus overtime for dog-control services.

Dog-park requests and other business

Residents again sought later weekend dog-park hours and broader access. The discussion included differing views on neighborhood impacts and whether school-district residents outside the village should qualify. Anne Dimock described the difficulty of fitting visits into a busy weekend: “Saturdays and Sundays are busy days for a lot of people.” Read 138:02▶ Healy left the hours unchanged for the current year: “At this point, I don't think that I am planning to change the hours for this year.” Read 155:08▶ He cited construction in the area and said the issue would be considered in the next year’s review; access for school-district residents was a separate question for the board. Trustees also adopted Local Law No. 7 on prior written notice of street and sidewalk defects. The law requires paper notice to the clerk by hand delivery, certified delivery or overnight service, with proof of delivery; electronic reports do not satisfy that legal-notice requirement. This provision concerns notice for civil claims, rather than ordinary requests for repairs. Law text Healy reported that DEC had asked the village to delay resuming Gouveia Park work until September because of eagle-season restrictions. He also planned to replace the earlier environmental-review resolution after a change in state law. The board subsequently did so on July 1: Resolution 155-2026 classified the park work as a Type II action and rescinded Resolution 113-2026. July 1 meeting record He also outlined planned Cleveland Drive paving for the week of July 13 and livestream closed captioning costing $1,375 for the current year and $1,500 thereafter. The board appointed Corey Cummings to the Sustainability Committee through December 2028. The meeting adjourned at 10:07 p.m.