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Tallow, a new restaurant, will be located in the former McDonald’s site on Route 44 in Millerton.
Photo by Nathan Miller
MILLERTON — A new restaurant was granted site approval by the Town of North East Planning Board on Wednesday, March 27.
Austin Cornell, a co-founder of the new eatery, has been before the Board, detailing plans for the restaurant, which will be located at the site of the former McDonald’s on Route 44.
The site has been vacant for more than eight years.
At Planning Board meetings, Tallow has fielded questions from members that ranged from sewage arrangements to soffit lighting intensity, as well as lighting and landscaping treatments.
On Wednesday, after submitting a final set of site plans and answering questions about signage light, dimmers, parking-lot lighting and tree-island width, Cornell’s application was unanimously approved.
“Please come,” he said to the Board. “We’re having an opening on April 26.”
Grocery application
A public hearing that commenced on March 19 for an application to develop a supermarket in an existing site in the Millerton Square Plaza was reopened.
Ray Nelson, of Earthwise Architecture in Millerton, who represents Kim and Chris Choe, owners of the Sharon Farm Market, informed Planning Board members that the printouts of updated site plans that he planned to present to the panel were still coming out of his printer.
Nelson briefed Board members on the changes to the site plan that were incorporated following the last presentation, including sign-lighting details.
The new market will offer meat and produce, a deli, a bakery and outside dining and an EV charger.
Chair Dale Culver noted that the Board couldn’t take any action without a final, printed site plan. The public hearing was closed, and Nelson agreed to return — possibly later in the evening — if the printed output was ready.
Otherwise, he would await the next meeting of the Planning Board on April 9.
Nelson didn’t return before the meeting was adjourned.
Public hearing
Rob Cooper, president of Associated Lightning Rod Company Inc., appeared before the Planning Board with an application for a minor subdivision and lot-line adjustment for property at 6020-6024 and 6044 Route 22.
Cooper plans to erect two commercial buildings on the land.
A public hearing was held, yielding no comment, and the Board unanimously approved the application with little discussion.
Cell tower discussion
Sandra Oberhollenzer, of White House Crossing Road in North East, spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting about a planned 150-foot cellphone tower to be located on the east side of Route 22 just north of the intersection with Cattalino Road in Ancram.
Oberhollenzer said she understood that the project is outside the confines of North East, but noted that the tower, in Ancram’s Scenic Corridor Overlay Zone, is expected to be visible by North East residents.
Oberhollenzer commented on what she described as a lack of need assessment, issues related to the coverage map and a lack of a technology assessment.
A balloon test to provide visibility data has been postponed more than once due to adverse weather conditions.
The Planning Board thanked Oberhollenzer for her comments.
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Housing plan amendments aired
Apr 02, 2025
Amenia Town Hall
Photo by John Coston
AMENIA — The nonprofit Hudson River Housing Inc. described amendments to their plans for the Cascade Creek subdivision at the regular meeting of the Planning Board on Wednesday, March 26.
The company is continuing to gather input and develop the conservation plan for the subdivision.
Planning Board engineer John Andrews clarified the parcel’s acreage, indicating a final determination of 24.13 acres.
Senior Planner Peter Sander of Rennia Engineering reviewed changes to the parcel plans in response to comments from residents. Preliminary sketched lot lines have been moved to avoid the existing stream corridor, Sander said.
Traffic concerns voiced by residents led to eliminating a planned subdivision entrance on Cascade Road, instead envisioning two entrances along Route 22. Also added is a community garden feature within the stream corridor.
Andrews noted that town code allows common utilities within a conservation easement such as water and sewer so long as they do not impose on the conservation area’s intent.
“This represents a positive step forward,” Andrews said of the amended conservation plan.
Board member James Walsh asked about the firmness of the plan for 28 single family homes.
“To accomplish affordable housing, you need that number to make it financially viable,” replied Mary Linge, Hudson River Housing vice president for Real Estate Development.
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Rocking the Millbrook Library with landmark hits from the early years of rock and roll, The Lustre Kings entertained a large audience on Saturday, March 29. From left, Marcus Benoit on sax, lead singer Mark Gamsjager on guitar, Mike Lomaestro on drums, and Butch Amiot on bass.
Photo by Leila Hawken
MILLBROOK — Celebrating and preserving the hard-driving rhythmic roots of rock and roll, The Lustre Kings rocked the stacks at The Millbrook Library on Saturday, March 29, as part of the Winter Concert Series, sponsored by the library and the Millbrook Arts Group.
Tracing the evolution of music and performers from the mid-1950s with Sun Records in Memphis and how those hits influenced the music of the Beatles in the early 1960s, lead singer and guitarist Mark Gamsjager and the Lustre Kings quartet allowed the audience to embrace memories of their youthful pop music cultural roots. Toes tapped and heads bobbed
“Where did rock and roll come from, anyway,” was the question posed and answered by Gamsjager.
Elvis recorded “That’s All Right,” at Sun Records in Memphis in 1954, having paid the $2.50 fee for the recording session, Gamsjager said, progressing through a deep repertoire of hit favorites of the era including “Blue Suede Shoes,” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” originally a waltz, but “rocked up” by Presley.
“The Lustre Kings evolved to keep the music of the era alive,” Gamsjager said. “It’s the music I can relate to.”
The audience related to it also, calling for a double encore.
For more information on The Lustre Kings go to www.lustrekings.com.
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Regaling his listeners with scandalous tales of the Gilded Age, Don Fraser, educator at the Staatsburgh Estate, spoke at the Amenia Free Library on Thursday, March 27.
Photo by Leila Hawken
AMENIA — Rampant unseemly escapades, the norm among members of the social set during the Gilded Age, were detailed during a colorful talk at the Amenia Free Library on Thursday, March 27. The Gilded Age extended from about 1865 to 1914.
The featured speaker was Don Fraser of the Staatsburgh Estate, a state historic site with a stately summer mansion overlooking the Hudson River. His presentation included a selection of images which illustrated the historic narrative of the life and home of Ruth Livingston Mills, her capitalist husband, Ogden, and the wealthy socialites and aristocrats who kept themselves amused by seamy society events and sordid sleepovers at homes such as Staatsburgh.
Fraser emphasized, however, that Ruth Mills herself modeled impeccable morals, unlike many of her houseguests.
Staatsburgh had been the 25-room childhood home of Ruth Livingston, which was expanded to 79 rooms in 1895, designed by noted architect Stanford White, in keeping with similar homes overlooking the Hudson River. The Mills’ son, also Ogden — Secretary of State under Herbert Hoover — donated the home to the state in 1938.
Fraser noted that it was Mark Twain who coined the descriptive phrase, The Gilded Age, to indicate that the lifestyles “looked good from the outside in the face of squalor and corruption.”
“All that glitters is not gold,” Fraser reminded his audience. The stories of sexual adventures and dalliances he recounted during his talk that named names drew audible gasps from his modern-day local listeners. His concluding contrast with the lives of tenement dwellers during those years brought home his point.
The Staatsburgh Historic Site offers a series of themed tours, including one devoted to the scandals, along with other themes such as Titanic connections, or lives of the servants, Fraser said, inviting listeners to plan a visit to tour the mansion that is open year-round.
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