Planning Board Meeting
Good evening. I'd I'd like to like welcome everyone to the village of Croton on Hudson planning board meeting for Tuesday, 10/13/2026. We have two new business items on on the agenda, but one of them is not present. I don't believe the Rebel Studio Croton. So we're gonna skip over that one. The second item that's a new business item is also a almost in house sort of thing. It's amending a zoning chapter. And so that's really a discussion amongst the board and and so we're gonna skip down to the people that are here. For an old business item, best dispensary near me, 370 South Riverside Avenue, final signage approval with VEB recommendation. You guys wanna come up and tell us about your application.
Good evening, chair, members of the board. Pleased to be back here again. We were last here in April where we received site plan approval subject to certain conditions. We've complied with every single one of those conditions and we recently issued our TCO. We are back here now to get our signage approved so that eventually we can get it constructed and we'll actually have signage outside of the store that we're gonna open up without without signage, initially. And, we filed the site plan application. We appeared, at the DEB who, made some recommendations. We understand they're just recommendations and we're here tonight in support of the application that we filed. With me tonight is our signed contractor who's gonna provide testimony as it relates to any specific questions that the board has, as it relates to this time. Alright.
So as I understand it, the VEB's recommendation was essentially, and I'll just kinda shortcut it, to basically have something more similar to what was done in the Tarrytown store, which is a placard type sign, I guess, that comes off the building and of a certain size with lettering that has the name larger and then the cannabis dispensary smaller. And and your application is different than that. And so...
Yeah. Respectfully, we are in compliant with this code. Tarrytown has its own code, and we are here in the village of Croton on Hudson. And our application that we filed is compliant with your sign regulations. And we've been a great partner to date, you guys have also been great. And we respectfully request the application be approved as submitted as it's compliant with the code. The, Tarrytown sign is also, like, a temporary type sign, the final signage, and it more... And I I think we did get a memo,
Yeah. It is compliant with the village. We're... Can... There are questions about the the lighting that you might wanna ask about.
The opinion was that, I mean, LED lighting and It's absurd. Neon lighting are substantially
the same. That's absurd. I don't know what else to to say about that. If they're not, you know, there's LED lighting all over the state, for multiple cannabis dispensaries. If it were the same, the OCM would shut everybody's signage down. And so, respectfully, I disagree. And I think that OCM, the office of cannabis management, who's responsible for that sort of enforcement, would also disagree with that. And if if it were an issue and we were to put up that signage and then get a violation from the state, we would have to come back before you to amend that because the state would have fined us and told us that we can't have that sign. So I think that while the opinion of the BEB is that it's similar, the state would ultimately have that authority over that decision.
signage that Yeah. I did actually bring lighting that Yeah. I did actually bring some photos and just just to kinda reassure you, LEDs are used in all modern signage today. Anything that's illuminated, and that includes channel letters, light boxes. So there are some other signs in town that do... That are channel letters. They are they are illuminated with LEDs.
See the gas station across the street? Are signages, LED signs, and it's lit up and it's huge and it's much more intrusive than anything that we are proposing.
Essentially, what we're proposing is something that you would see at like a Woodbury Commons. It's a high quality, high class. The background of the sign is opaque. So, the only part that's illuminated is just the lettering, and it creates a very nice, glow. I actually took a couple photos of this... Of a sign that we have, in the shop in production if you'd like to look at it. But all of... Pretty much 90% of the signage at Woodbury Commons is this this style of sign. It has a nice low luster finish. It's all, you know, aluminum. It doesn't rust. The acrylic, you know, it's like an architectural type look that has, raised acrylic lettering, and that's the only part that's illuminated. So it's a it's a very high quality looking sign, you know, in terms of its look. There's no light bleed really because of the cabinet being opaque and the light only passing through the letters. So there's not a lot, there's no light bleed really.
And it could be fully controlled with color temperature and light level.
Are you saying there's no bleed that comes above the sign to the apartment that's above? That's right. Yeah. Everything,
There's not a huge amount of bleed like there would be with a traditional light box sign where the whole face of the sign would be illuminated. And so, you know, it would illuminate the whole area in front of it. Your words, you just said there's not a huge amount implying there is some bleed above the sign. Well, yeah. I'm saying just the lettering itself is the part that's illuminated. So the actual background of the sign is not illuminated. So it's not like a traditional light box where the whole background of the sign would be illuminated projecting light outward. Right. Is there a way to prevent light bleed above the plane of the top of the sign so that it's not impacting the apartment above? It it would... There would be no impact above it or below it. It's... If there's not enough... It's an enclosed box? It's an enclosed box. It's fully opaque. No light spills out from the No. No. There's no light spill at all. It's completely contained.
And in the picture that you guys have here Yes. So there's this sign above the doorway.
The projecting sign. Projecting off of it. Mhmm. Is this also meant to be illuminated? Correct. Yep. Same style. Exactly. Yep.
No. The, the one on the side. If you can see over the sidewalk, there's a project... A projecting hanging sign there. And we'd make that in the same style.
And just to clarify, they did revise that. So it complies. They got the 36 inch total projection you can see on the screen now. Is that our code? Yes. To code. Originally, they had, I think, 55 or 56 inches, but they changed it to this now. I see.
So we got some really good research done by our BEB on these signs. And in fact, you know, this is the way the process is supposed to work. Where they highlight issues that they might see in signage and send us as a recommendation. And, you know, we take those recommendations under advisement. One of the things they were concerned about was the LEDs being 6,000 Kelvin. And in fact, one of the members of VB apparently went to the factory in Ossining where the signs could be made and saw the six... What a 6,000 Kelvin sign would look like and thought that was really bright. That's brighter than the sun. Okay. Hold on. We're... This is this is us talking up here. There's not... It's not a public forum right yet. So is is that the intention for it to be thousand Kelvin? Or... I mean, whatever the... The the the 6,000 Kelvin does not address the brightness. It addresses the color temperature. Okay. Is that what the intention is? 6,000?
Well, to accurately reproduce colors in a logo, pure white is the best, light source to backlight.... Is what you're saying. That's what we would suggest, but it is adjustable. But in this case, because it's got some color to the logo, if we did like a warm white, it would affect the coloring of the logo slightly. Right.
So in our engineer's letter about what we should be aware of about this application, he mentions that. Note that one of b b's concerns was illumination of sign. Village code states that all light sources of... For illuminating signage shall be shielded and not be a source of glare. This shall be confirmed and we begin that conversation. Also, village code gives the planning board authority to request an illumination plan, as well as ability to regulate the number placement intensity and hours of illumination of all light fixtures used for signage. So we're aware that's our mandate, our purview. And that's kind of why I brought up the Kelvin number in relation to the intensity matter. So I looked what other communities are doing our area as as far as signage, LED signage. And we... And our books, in Croton, we don't have any numbers that that are attached to it. But looking at at the neighboring communities
that some of which have adopted this dark skies restrictions on on lighting, town of Cortlandt has a max of 2,700, town of Bedford, 2,700 to 3,000 k, Briarcliffe Manor, 3,000 k. Town of Ossining, 3,000 k. Newcastle, 3,000 k. Town of Salem, 3,000 k. So that's where our neighbors are. That... That's where our neighbors are with this. Like I said, we don't have anything anything anything on our on our books that that specify lighting limits. But this seems to be where all the surrounding communities are going, and perhaps someday we'll have a dark skies regulations in place here as well. So, you know, knowing that the sign is not the largest... Large sign that you have in front of your building, a smaller sign, What's your sense on bringing that down to something more in line with what's what's becoming standard in the area?
So 6,000 would be standard for, like, a channel letter, or light box, like I said, with any kind of logo or illumination that needs to be reproduced with color. And that's that's pretty much standard across the board. Anything under... That's basically a pure white light. Anything warmer than that would be... Start to get yellow. And 2,700 is yellow. It is... It would look yellow.
Can you explain what that does to the difference between the white... The bright white light you're talking about inside the box versus the dimmer yellow light in... Because all this is contained within the box. I think it's something that it's important to reiterate that it's not gonna be it's not gonna go outside the box. It's within. And so the brightness can't shine through the colors of the sign in the manner in which I think we're concerned about here and the brightness. So that white bright light is contained within a box, and then there's green and orange channel letters that the light has to shine through. And it can't be lit up without that, so it's not gonna be as bright as the concern is. On top of that, we're not planning on keeping the lights on after hours. So, hopefully that maybe that could be a condition and that satisfies the board that we're gonna shut the lights off at night,
unlike some of the other stores on the street that might keep them on. And so hopefully that's a happy medium that when we leave, we just turn them off. Yeah, this would be installed most likely with a timer and that would go off, you know, with specific hours that, of operation. So that would be automatic.
But again, I just wanted to, address the, issue about the brightness versus the color temperature. They're two separate issues. So you can have a bright sign at 2,700 Kelvin as well. Let's say you can have the same brightness at 6,000. It's just the color the color of the light. Mhmm. So 6,000 is is basically just a pure white light. If you get above that, there are LEDs that are above that that are 7,200 that start to get a little bit, you know, funky looking, bluish, maybe. But this is a pure white light, and the the acrylic itself is also a very pure white itself. So it's... You know, it can be done with either other... Either color temperature. It's just... It would be the intention, and I think it would just be cleaner with this type of logo and this type of lettering,
to have the... Just the regular white. I I think the 6,000 is really kind of a red herring out there because it it really doesn't... He's correct, in my opinion. What we're talking about, if you wanna regulate how bright it is, then you would be looking at how many lumens would be coming out from that sign. Right. And maybe that's something we can talk about, and maybe there's a... I don't know what the right number is for that. Well, yeah, again again, with this type of sign temperature, just so I can Yeah. Get to the... Is is purely yellow versus Right. Whiter versus blue Correct. At the high end. Yeah. So at the low end 20... Yeah. Know, in in lighting in general, people deal with all the time. And oftentimes, you know, they're... Like, for residential apartment, you might want that 2,700 in the evening. Maybe you even want it higher in the daytime. That's right. And so there's different
ways that that can be regulated Right. Or controlled. That's right. I think it's more our issue, I think, if we... If we're worried about brightness, you know, that it's really about brightness. It's not really about color. Right. Because I don't think it really changes based upon whether it's... You know, I believe he's absolutely corrected. You want it to look white, and that's the intent, then having that color temperature, it's gonna make the color read more more what the intention is. Correct. But it's really, I think, about...
I I mean, I agree with the suggestion completely of the thing goes off From the store. When the store's closed. We actually did come up with an idea at the VEB meeting and that was to install, you know, a dimmer so that, you know, just in case. But like like I was gonna say also, these these signs are made in a standardized fashion. And depending on the size of the cabinet, the depth, it's all it's all calculated by computer and the, you know, the, the amount of LEDs, modules, and everything's laid out, in a standardized fashion. So this isn't gonna be any brighter than something else or, you know, something else. Gabriella
had her hand up before. I was just curious about lumens, like how how bright it was. Because I understand that the white the white text
is gonna be white. I believe there's a bike shop in town that might have channel letters. Right next to it? It would be it would like that. So... No. It would be less than that because these have a smaller stroke. So the Pedego or whatever the name of the store is, they have thick channel letters, they're big, they're LEDs, they're illuminated with the same LEDs, probably 6,000. So it would be the same brightness for Same bright. It would be less than that because the stroke of his letters is thinner. So it wouldn't allow as much light to pass through. I see. Yep. Okay. His letters are is next to next door to us. Mhmm. So that's LEDs also. That's the same technology.
Another thing that VEB talked about, sure somebody else would have brought it up if I didn't, is the the sign that's over the south facing door where cannabis shop is stacked on two lines. Like, it is in that sign there. Yeah. The other one Vincent had up. I think there was the VEB suggested making that smaller perhaps more the way you have on your hanging sign in the front, perhaps more the way you do at your store in Tarrytown. I don't I've worked in marketing for thirty years. I can't imagine having cannabis shop being smaller the way you've done it on the other side would lessen your sales $1, and it would be more tasteful and more discreet. This is...
It's kinda big and kind of So, yeah, we went we went through many iterations. I'm sure you did. Yeah. And, there's a limited amount of height basically underneath the windows and then above the, so we can only go so high with the sign. And if we stack it, then, the sign is gonna be very narrow. And they basically wanted it to kind of frame the storefront. That's the entrance to the store. It's on the side street there. And so we wanted it to look more like a panel sign, you know, more like a traditional sign panel that would go above there as opposed to just being some kind of square thing that goes in the middle over, you know, in center.
Well, I mean, guess I have to disagree with you on that because I think that the sign on the right, the hanging sign, is the proportions are not that terribly different from
the one that's... Right. But if you took if you took that, yeah, and put that... She's she's still talking. Oh, I'm sorry.
But I think if you took something like that, which is sort of a logo because it's similar to the store in Tarrytown as well, that...
Thanks for bringing that up. I didn't realize it. But I I don't see... I think the one on the right is much more tasteful in terms of, you know, you get it, the logo, it says cannabis shop on it, and I would definitely be in favor of having the one above the doors or storefront be of the same, I I would say, proportion and and lettering style as the one that's the hanging sign.
So we did go through this, and it just... It doesn't it doesn't look right. And so we can do that, but then we would need an exception or a very... However you wanna put it so that we can make a larger sign so it actually looks right. Look. We... That's... We would love to do it in the way that you're suggesting. That is our preference. But, unfortunately, the restrictions within your code make it so that it is not an appealing or an attractive sign. And so that is why we had to shift the design to this. If you guys would prefer it the way you want it, we're willing to do that, but we need a larger approved sign in order to make that happen.
So is it the height that we're fighting? I think... It's a height limitation. That's the problem.... Inches? The height, between the windows...... Inches? What do you got? Well, the height height in between the windows and the molding would be the issue. So if we did something in proportion to the mindset sign in the front, which doesn't have a lot of negative space around it because...
So we would put that... If we put that there, it would be a very small sign on the front of the building. Well, just gonna keep it the same length and go up, so then we would need the exception, so we can split the mindset out and then Yeah, then that would have to be a larger Yeah. It would overall be a larger sign, we would love a larger sign in the manner in which we want to portray our business, but we're also mindful of the zoning code and the concerns of the board and the residents. And so we're trying to do what's best for everybody within a regulatory and code compliant manner. A lot of thought goes into everything that we do, Gus and Gus. Like, a lot of it. There would be a lot of... There... You know... Is there lockups?
you're right. I don't think anybody wants a larger sign. I don't think that is what people... I mean, they don't want bigger signage. I think they want more tasteful signage. And so the question is, is there a way that it can be stacked, smaller lettering? Are there different variations? I think that
You know what It's a compliant it's a compliant sign. People don't like the word cannabis. Like, now we're getting into First Amendment stuff. Like, this is about the word cannabis. It's about the word cannabis right now that we have an issue with. Well,
I... But because of the word, though. Well, I would say Cannabis. I would say, you know, if if we were to do that, basically, the signed panel would be increased so the height would almost be going up to the window. And it, you know, there wouldn't be a lot of, you know, negative space or breathing room around it on the top or bottom if it were, you know, taking up that full height, you know, to be able to do have the the cannabis shop underneath it. I think if you
pick that thing up and resized it and put it over there, it wouldn't be what you're saying. I just don't see it myself. I mean, I I can see the proportions of what's on the right, and
it's Would you allow us to go up to the bottom of the window and keep the same length?
So if can go up, then we can do exactly what you're asking and get it sized right, and it will look like a... That beautiful sign on the right hand side of the screen, and we'd be happy to do that. They just wanted the longer box to basically frame out that side of the store for, you know, denoting that as the entrance and much more about access and clarity,
for the access point of the store. Well, you got names three times there. I mean, it's not like you're not seeing it. I I just I disagree. You allow force... I mean, I would like to see it resized, or redone with the same proportions as the hanging sign. And I don't think it needs to go all the way up to the bottom of the window, and I don't think it needs to go all the way side to side.
I completely agree. I mean, you haven't brought the alternatives to prove what you're saying, so I think it behooves us to not request that of you to show us the alternatives and the sizing that Rob's describing. I think it's a reasonable request. So would that have to then go back to the VEB? No. No. That that... That's a plan. Well, I I I spoke too quickly. I don't... I'm not certain of that answer. The VEB's already given their recommendation. So that's I thought. With
us. You guys changed your sign code recently to not even require applicants to come before the planning board. What we submitted was a regulatory code compliant sign. I'm confused as to why... I didn't hear at the beginning what you said, Mike. I said I believe the village has changed its code to no longer require applicants to come before the planning board for signage. I'm not aware of that. Since our last meeting, since April, I believe that it's only now done... I could be wrong, but I thought I saw a a resolution passed at the village board that changed the process. And so we are There's a proposed law. There's a proposed law. Is that what I... So maybe it was a proposal. Okay. Village. Fair fair enough. In any event, what we what we've provided here is compliant with the code. Just So now it's now it's now it's it's talking about architectural, like, like, subjective preferences. Said yes. No. No.
No. I wanna know. We're... Whatever you guys want from us, we're gonna provide. Like, we have Well, that's what we want. But, yeah, it just gets from our, like, we gotta open a store now, and it... We're... The revenue that the town gets, like, we're not gonna get revenue with a with a store that has no signage. Well, you can't come back again. We're now just not gonna have signage now until
Christmas. So what could it take us to us eight weeks to get the sign made once we once we have approval from the board? We were only asking you to come back in two weeks with new signage. Your relationship to the sign manufacturer has nothing to do with us. If you're if you're saying that because you already manufactured signs No. We didn't actually find your honor. Then that would have been on you. But No. We didn't. We're asking you to come back in two weeks as you just said you would to revise your signage. You said to us at the last... I'm speaking now. You said to us at the last meeting that you wanted to be part of the community and you wanted, to have a good working relationship with the village and the community. This is something the community is asking you to do. I don't think it's a difficult request. What specifically
would you like us to come back? Because, again, what we're saying is that we believe... Because we've been through many iterations of this signage. We we designed it in the way that you're asking, and at the sign code requirements, it doesn't work.
Respectfully, you came back to us with, I don't even need to see you guys. You sent a letter saying I... Because I I... That... Which was incorrect You're right. Saying that you don't have to come back here, and you and you bullied your way in to say, look. I... Here's what we want. I don't want anything else. This is what I want. And so It will come back. If you said, look. We've gone through these alternatives.
You didn't bring any alternatives. You didn't say you wanted to show us anything else. You said this is what we want. That's it. It's code compliant. Yeah. With all due respect, I I didn't realize I would have brought those, but I didn't realize that the design aspect was, part of the Yeah. Mean I thought that was actually part of the VEV's part to to talk about the design part of it, and then you were gonna talk about the brightness or however. That was my understanding. I think I left nation back to us. Had I known had I known, I would have definitely brought Understood. We will happily return in two weeks. If that wasn't clear to you. But We will happily return in two weeks with various
signs that we believe would function. We will come with one of the examples compliant with the code in the manner in which you're requesting that we provide to you. We'll come back with this iteration and then we'll come back with one larger sign that we believe would work with the way in which you're asking us to construct it with the mindset on top and the cannabis shop on the bottom. I think that's the one that would work just based off of us putting a lot of work and time and effort before we even filed the signed application. And so I just wanted everybody to be aware beforehand what what we'll wind up asking, when we come back in two weeks. It's likely for a slightly larger sign than what the code allows so that we can do what you're asking us to do, which is put the mindset
on top with the cannabis shop on the bottom. But I would also be sure that we're being clear. We'll look at that certainly, but what we're really looking for is to address it in a way that is within the space you have now, making the words cannabis shop smaller as we discussed So if we can see both, great.
We'll bring everything back for you for your review. Yeah. Thank you very much. You're welcome. No problem. Question. Sure.
On the on the south side, you have three windows. On the south side, you have the main... The door going in. You have three windows. Mhmm. You put mindset on two of those three windows. Because they don't really see on on on the picture here that there's a a plot of land just right on the corner of Riverside And Benedict. There's a tree there. Mhmm. Your sign that you wanna make it a little bit bigger and a little bit taller,
isn't the tree gonna stop some of that sign from being Well, that again was one of our one of our, you know, reasons for having it be wider like that because there is a tree there on the corner and we did go through those, like I said, those iterations. Those... Yeah. So that... This was this was all taken into account, but but... So, yeah. But we can we can certainly bring those options to you to to to to look at. Thank you. Yes. Just a couple quick small questions. On the Riverside side of the building, there's a, I guess, a legacy sign from previous tenant
that says ATM inside. Will that be the case? Will there be an ATM inside? And if not, can we remove that sign? We can remove the sign anyways, but there will be an ATM inside.
We'll probably update it. Right? We'll probably update that. Yeah. We could get the sign out, but there's no reason that people need to know that there's an ATM inside. Yeah. Yeah. That would clean it up a bit. Yeah. Think that was part of the old window treatment. And there was another, issue that I think has already been addressed relative to
the grand opening condition, which We're not have a resolution already drafted for that. I don't know that we need to deal with that tonight. We can deal with it all. I think when we do the signage, but thank you for clarifying that for us and I think that works out great. Sure. Do you have anything else?
Alright. We'll see you guys in two weeks. Thank you. Thank you very much. Have great night. Yep.
I I don't think we need to do public comments on this tonight. Well, I don't.
Nora, we're we're not taking public comment on it. Thank you for It's not appropriate. Ridiculous.
Can I can I just? I don't think... Mean, I... Is it a...... Back and forth. No. But can we can we just let Okay. It
is there anyone here tonight for the Rebel Studio one twenty two Grand Street? Okay. So we're gonna table that
And then the other thing we have on our agenda is the referral from the village board of trustees to review local law introductory number 16 of 2026, the EAF and the CAF that seeks to amend the text of chapter two thirty zoning to provide clarification for land use applications connection with licensed adult cannabis dispensaries. So
we got we got this thing redlined very nicely. Thank you for whoever
put that together. Could Vincent maybe walk us through the background on this? And I wasn't involved in this one. Okay. No worries. Gonna have to... I'm gonna ask the attorney or... Oh, somebody this is... We'll already be drafted.
My colleague Valerie Municipal was. Okay. She provided a a summary memo to the village board for their consideration. And, again, Valerie worked with Lori Lee as well on... With the village board. So my understanding is that what you have before you is the latest version from the Village Board that they're considering, including their edits from, you know, as it evolved. So this is the latest version.
If you look at the back of the short environmental assessment form, there's a statement there that may shed some light for my question. Mhmm.
How do these districts or areas of the village differ from what, the board of trustees originally asked? Can somebody answer that for me?
I mean, is it changing? That's what I'm No. No. The the... What the changes to add, this is a special permit. Right. In certain zones. Whereas now there is no requirement for special permit. Anywhere.
Right. So there... Yeah. My understanding is that much of this as the little summary notes is that much of this is pulled from the state the state requirements. And the village board has tweaked it in that they've specifically made the the cannabis cannabis dispensaries special permit use in those... In a certain set of districts. Okay. So they've they've handpicked those districts which... Where they feel that the dispensaries should be a special permit use. Which is where I think they were originally
specified for. So, Steve, I put together a shorthand list kinda like what you're talking about. What what changed between the two that might help out. Vincent, if you get that zoning map, you might be able to pull it up. So, basically, the the C 2, which is the general commercial district, current... Currently, it's permitted village wide in C 2.
And then the proposed law, it's, restricted exclusively to designated parcels locate... In C 2, located outside the gateway... Outside located outside gateway overlay zones. So I think that's mostly gonna be in the north part of the village.
is not a back and forth. Thank you. But, I mean, let's let's at least be accurate about what we're saying.
This is... It's not... It's a public meeting. You're allowed to listen. Yeah. It is not a hearing.
Okay. So, the other area, in o 1, which is limited office and c one, it was allowed under, generic commercial and retail classifications. And then the proposed law, it's, an o one and c one confined exclusively to the North End Gateway. Yeah. Well, that's... These are different districts now. Confined exclusively in North End Gateway region adjacent to Route 9 A. Right. Then we got light industrial. Gonna point to that. So light industrial, we had
dispensaries were barred from light industrial currently. And then in the proposed law, it's newly introduced as light industrial as a a potential area for dispensaries. Keep in mind, these all have to follow all that distance requirements from churches and, you know, synagogues and also from each other. So that's additional regulation on top of where they're permitted. And... Yeah. Then it's changed from... The approval is... Currently, it's it's hand... Handled as a site plan review or change of use. And now with the proposed law, it's gotta go through a special permit approval by the planning board. I think those are the big... The biggest changes.
And then we've tightened up the definitions of what one of these things is and what a public youth facility is and to get another sort of level of look at this thing instead of us just kind of opting into these things wholesale.
So process wise, Vincent, hypothetically, we say yes to everything. Does it... It does become law, or does it go back to the board? Is this just a recommendation? No. It's just a recommendation. You can say yes, no, whatever. So all we're doing is making They're gonna... We're just making recommendations. Back to the board. Yeah.
The letter. Yeah. Then does... Is the board required... Let's... Whatever our action is tonight in terms of our recommendation, it goes back to the board. Is the board required to have a public hearing to, Yeah. I'm almost positive. That's what I that's what I they would need a public hearing for any local law change. So that would definitely I just wanted to make sure that the public is part of that process going forward as opposed to... They're not... We're not soliciting opinions tonight because we're just giving up an opinion. Okay. Thank you. Totally right. So one thing that maybe ought to be noted in terms of recommendation, make... Making... Maybe making it explicit. There are some communities... Actually, I'm not 100% certain of this. I believe in Massachusetts, which actually has a cannabis proposal on their ballot this fall to now ditch them even though there's pot in 41 states of the union now.
Do we wanna specify that no drive throughs as part of the code? Which I I couldn't find anything in here. I wouldn't... Just like we did years ago, we excluded, drive throughs for fast food. Maybe we should do that for cannabis as well.
I don't know if the state law speaks to that. It may be preempted by state law one or... One way or the other.
So it may be... I don't know what the state law Well, we can make that recommendation. If it violates state code, then the board of trust ees will learn that and not include it. We're... This is just... We're just making recommendations. So I have no problem making the recommendation even if I'm wrong. That's fine. Did you guys have objections to that? No. No. Okay. Good. The other thing that I... Maybe it's more of a philosophical question. And let's remember, I'm the one who made the motion to approve mindset in the first place when we approved the site plan. So I'm not opposed conceptually to dispensaries. However, there's some stuff about in the... Under section three e where it starts talking about location. And, Jeff, you just alluded to the distance requirements and whatnot. Mhmm. And maybe this is a question for Vincent. Do we do this for liquor stores?
I didn't ask the audience. Yeah. I know. So please stop chiming in. This is not a public discussion.... Trying to give you the answers. Thank you. I... We have an attorney here. I'll ask her. Oh my god. Really? You're kidding me. Be rude. Election seat. Sorry, mate. Would you repeat the question? Sure. I wanted to know if, at least in our village, if liquor stores are subject to any distance from schools, places of worship requirements,
and each other. I'd have to look that up. I don't know. And it may be something that's in the state liquor code, you know, that applies.
That's fair. Well, all I'm going to say is that I don't have the answer off the top of my head, and I don't know if that's preempted by state law. It may be. As I said, it was more of a philosophical question, but I guess I'm I guess I'm making the point that at the end of the day,
for me, this is no different than... It it shouldn't be treated differently than how we treat a liquor store. That's all.
As a comment. As a comment, I think the board. Yeah. Smart about Maybe we should be consistent that if this is how we feel. That could be it. That comment... What was that? The plan over it? It should be consistent that we should... If we're gonna...
That liquor stores, cannabis dispensaries, this is this is Right. Sort of... I mean, I don't deny it's a vice, but the vices should be treated Simil... Similarly. I
agree. Steve, it looks like we do have a chapter 72 alcoholic beverages that I would... Speaks on this stuff. So Aren't you wanna reference this in your recommendation or something? Yeah. Yes, please. They got they got exempt... Exemptions and all that stuff. This is all about consumption.
Yeah. Thank you, Vincent. It doesn't it doesn't get into citing citing of liquor stores. It's strictly about... It's against the rules to drink in public.
Well, similarly, though. Mhmm. At at least that that chapter, don't see anything. Maybe there's another chapter that's being If we wanna be consistent, then do we wanna talk about smoking in public
the way we talk about drinking in public? I don't wanna get down to that. In my opinion, that's not for this discussion.
It's too much of thrill down. Power thing that's Okay. Right. Not a planning board. It's good comment, but I just Right. Mean, if we wanna be consistent, that's all. Mhmm.
You can bring it up. I'm just not No. I I I think... Point taken. I I just wanted to... I think your point about being consistent makes sense.
Well, I think a lot of the redlining that was done of this, in my opinion, is is excellent. I mean, it really does specify then, a lot of things that were not necessarily specified before. It gives hours. No no... Nobody should be operating before 10AM or after 8PM, Monday through Sunday. You know what mean? Even if you don't don't agree with the hours, at least they're there. Actually Which I think it say 10AM?
I mean, we already proved it in the site plan, so we can't go back in it, but their hours were 09:30. Opening at nine to 09:30. Or Well, this will be new for applicants. This is tightening this, like, a few things up. You know, it talks about the grand opening plan, which we had asked about. Right. They decided not to do. But Sweet. But I think there's a lot of smart wording in this that I would be in favor of.
Jeff, you got any Yeah. Was just wondering about vape shops. I think that they're... I don't know if they're covered under the same regulation or not. I remember some discussion that the village board had about vape shops that... The one that exists today, next to CVS. I believe it was said that that wouldn't be allowed, but but his grandfather, Dan, wouldn't be allowed under this set of regulations. I... It's really all I recall about that discussion, but I think I heard heard that. The vape shops will be covered under this as well.
Well, do we think it should be? Is it... Is that a recommendation that we would... Or is it... I... Because I didn't see it. Well, there's a definition for vape shops in here on page one. It says vapor tobacco. Yeah. We're
having more than 50% of their sales are tobacco or vape. So presumably, that's, you know, not a gasoline, not a gas station. Right. But then I couldn't find another reference to it and whether the... Whether that is is covered by these same exact conditions. Doesn't seem to be. Doesn't seem to be. What are we what are we thinking about that? Well, it should be or...
state the question? So the question would be... Well, the definition of a vape shop here on page one. Yeah. Should this type of entity fall under the same zoning restrictions and other definitions that are proposed in local law 16? So we just... We define a vape shop as a person establishment or business, whether retail or wholesale, having more than a 50% portion of its sales or stock in trade in selling or distributing primarily any electronic cigarette or vape products or tobacco products.
So, I mean, if you if you follow the logic of all voices are covered, should we be handled similarly?
Yeah. You could... I I mean, to me, it's all want the same kettle of fish. I don't wanna outlaw them, but at the same time, I'd like to keep an eye on them, so to speak. Mhmm. I mean, at the end of the day, it's the market that's gonna dictate. You know, you... Croton wouldn't be able to support six liquor stores nor is Croton gonna be able to support three dispensaries, hypothetically. Second one, you know, even two. I mean, in Ossining, there's already, I think, three or four or five. You know? They're they're surrounding us. So the marketplace is gonna be the solution in the long run. Right. You know, we do wanna have our code reflecting what we want. So I think my answer to your question is yes. But Mhmm. Maybe my colleagues disagree.
tobacco and vape shop. You It's know? Not the same as, like you said, a gas station that happens to sell cigarettes and Mhmm.
Right. But they're not getting more than 50% of their business from cigarette sales, much as I would like to have cigarettes more restricted because I know what a hazard is. But, you know, it's advice, as I said, so you gotta be consistent.
Yeah. That makes sense. I mean, if it's if it's... Especially if it's the 50... If it's over that 50%, it is their business. That is the Right. The reason for it. That makes sense. I mean, it isn't explicitly treated that way, though. No. It's definitely not It's in this it's different. But I think a
recommendation that it could be... At least the village board should consider that.
Well, it'd be interesting to to make it all make sense. Like, if you're gonna go in and rearrange things, then rearrange them so they're consistent. That would make sense.
So that could be part of our recommendation then it sounds Yeah.
So to summarize, we've talked about three issues. One we just covered with, you know, vaping stores being consistent with new code that we would pass. We talked about the concept of dispensaries being treated similarly to liquor stores and we talked about the concept of codifying no drive throughs for dispensaries and for that matter liquor stores, which may be in our code anyway. I don't know offhand. So... But those are the three things that I that I think we covered.
And I I think we're generally in agreement with the special use require special permit use
the geography changing slightly? Well, mean, just to be clear, what we're... This is what we're suggesting about liquor stores, that they essentially have to abide by the same zoning restrictions as a cannabis store? In terms of proximity to schools and houses of course. Districts. In terms of
I see what you're saying. No. I... Because that... That's kinda grandfathered already. I in terms of a new liquor store, I'm not sure. It's a good point. It's an excellent point to bring out. Trying to clarify what our recommendation is on liquor stores.
If a liquor store were to close, then... Yeah. I mean, it... I understand the grandfathering thing, but could somebody... If a liquor store is out of bounds of the current... Of the new proposed zoning, and it were... Could it be sold to somebody else?
I think the only thing I'd be in favor of is maybe having them not be within spitting distance of the schools and houses of worship. I think that makes sense in terms of new liquor stores. But
in an effort to be consistent. Well, but I think that would mean that anything in the CVS Plaza... Liquor store in the CVS Plaza going forward would be too close to the high school. Well, but they'd be grandfathered. Van Wyck would A new one. You know, the nail salon moves out, the existing liquor store becomes something else down the road.
And Detroit decides and wants to move into...... More, you know, whatever. Well, for one thing, I think that any shopping center doesn't allow more than one kind of
business to operate in its own shopping center. So that would never happen. No. I get it. But I'm just saying going forward, we don't know what's gonna happen. Business is closed. Business is open. And if we're saying that no liquor stores can be in, in this case, in a c one, which I believe to be CVS and save more and all that, then we gotta be careful about what we're asking. I hear you. It's an excellent point.
For me, personally, I think it needs it needs to be looked at more closely. I don't know the answer. I'm not gonna give a quick opinion because I don't know. I understand what you're raising. Clarifier recommendation
Alright. Do we have enough to get a draft together? Yeah. Then we can circulate that.
And that would circulate to all of us to kinda review? Yeah. Or it goes to the board? I think so. Thank you. Okay.
this board has traditionally allowed for that level of public involvement. So if you would like to come up to the microphone and give us your three minutes, I'd be happy to listen to it.
Okay. K. He and I can... We can share, John. He and I can share. Yeah. Gabriella. Why you do Hold on. That's all. That's what I'm try to do. Alright. I'll slide it up. Yep. And we we have time here. Just... You know, and and I see the parallels in here. I looked up John John, before you start, please sit down over here. Yeah. And we are gonna time you. Just wanna Yeah. Tell you up front because we do have some house rules about this. O'clock. Sure. Sure. Are parallels of Speak... Speaking on the microphone, John. For every... Is this on? I believe so.
Maybe there's a little button. And you just say it to my time and No. We're not. Don't worry. Here we go. Thank you. Is that working, Debi? Yes. By the way, I I was struck with the same thing. I looked up state liquor law. I read state liquor law, and there's approximately 3.3 liquor stores for every 20,000 residents in the state of New York. We're a village of 8,000 and in the marijuana statute that was passed, there's distance requirements to schools and things like that change with the population density of the area. So 20,000 is the mark for a distance change under state marijuana cannabis store placement. I'm speaking tonight regarding the referral of local law, introduction law number eight sixteen of 2026. While I recognize the legal boundaries established by the state, this board has a vital duty to protect the safety, traffic flow and neighborhood character of Croton On Hudson. I urge you to return this draft to the board of trustees
with strict limiting revisions. First, we must tighten the geographic restrictions. Dispensaries should be codified exclusively as a special permit use within the Central Commercial District. Completely eliminating allowances for any other zones. Critically, the final bill must explicitly preclude any further dispensaries from operating in the Harmon Gateway. Harmon is a high traffic sensitive transit funnel and residential buffer region that cannot absorb acute traffic and parking burdens of a regional draw retail use cannabis store. Secondly, the current draft presents a critical failure regarding infrastructure layout. It completely fails to mandate off street parking as a mathematical function of dispensary retail square footage as is done in peak skill. Relying on existing generalized commercial parking exemptions is a severe oversight. Cannabis retail operates as a high density rapid turnover regional destination
without explicit mandates requiring a flex ratio, a fixed ratio of dedicated on-site parking spaces per square foot of showroom space, we are guaranteeing severe parking spillover into our surrounding residential streets, blocking access for emergency vehicles and creating dangerous traffic conflicts in our major corridors. Third, a mandatory security and queuing framework needs to be put in place that requires any special permit application to include a binding interior only queuing plan. The law must forbid outdoor waiting lines which disrupt pedestrian safety and commercial sidewalk harmony. That's what I wanted to say to you gentlemen tonight and ladies. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You.
So
did you get a copy, Karen? Okay. So we can put that in the record for this application.
Feeling is that we've actually addressed a lot of these issues
but but we'll definitely have that in there and this will be before the village board as a a public hearing, so everyone will have opportunity to have their
but there's been no publicly advertised opportunity to comment and I would like to discuss this with my colleague about the appropriateness of of inviting the submission as part of the official record. I don't think that that That's fair. Fair enough. Think this was a this was a meeting. Right. And the gentleman was permitted to speak, and, naturally, that's your prerogative to permit that, and there's nothing wrong with that. But in terms of making it part of a record per se, I would hesitate to do that without
Is there anyone else here who would like to speak on that... On this application given that we gave John an opportunity to talk to us? Okay. Having seen no one, we'll move on. The only other item since we didn't get Rebel Studio is our minutes, draft minutes of September 22.
I can't find them. Do
you need mine? Because I can't comment. I wasn't here. Here, Gabriella. Oh, thank you.
Karen, the only thing I had was page two. One, two, three, fourth paragraph. Seyed made a motion to approve the amended swipe plan. Should put his last name in there?
Of the minutes. The draft of the minutes be accepted in red with one correction, I think. Yep. Sounds
Alright. Too bad the Hyundai didn't make it. I wonder what happened. Good. Too bad. Hopefully, they make it in two weeks. Yeah. Is it not possible to You didn't We don't have any issue with the the... Their plan about Up to him. To kill him? Yeah. Exhaust and whatnot. It seems like they have it handled.
Seems that way too. I gotta look further into it. But before we approve it, we'd we'd make sure that the specs are being adhered to and beyond. So that's the main issue with that really as far as I see.
place and the state issues and all that? Not much. Not much of a... Of an update. I think they're looking back at their plans and seeing what they're gonna do with that.
Week. I didn't look into that. Yeah. Landscaping. Yeah. Landscaping is good. They usually give a guarantee for Yes. They're working on their bond as well. Last week or last month when they started, or does it start when the project is complete? It should start when they planted the plantings. Okay. So we're working on getting the bond and, like, the proper format for that. The the fact that they're gonna be doing a lot of construction
And then Vincent, on the north end of the community, a proposal to build apartments up there that was approved by the planning board. Have they made any So they
they sent responses to the comments from La Bella about a month ago. So I forwarded over to La Bella. La Bella responded back to them and basically said that their responses weren't satisfactory. They had a lot of things saying, like, this will be figured out in construction. This will be figured out in construction. La Bella said no. So they still got work to do as well till they get a building permit. Who's La Bella? That's our consultant. Oh, thank you. Code review. Consultant.
Yeah. Nice job on those memos for us. Thank you. Hopefully, they helped out. So thank you. Very helpful. Appreciate that.