MILLBROOK — At the beginning of 2020, the Millbrook Business Association (MBA) was looking forward to a good, if ordinary, year. With a new president, Millbrook village Trustee Kevin McGrane, new vice president, David Gruning, and a new website (still being designed), the future held promise. But by spring 2020, the coronavirus pandemic had changed everything, including the Millbrook economy and how local businesses were faring.
Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered non-essential businesses to shut down temporarily in mid-March due to the virus. Some were able to simply change their hours and offer curb-side service or delivery, like restaurants; others, later on, could open at a limited capacity by enforcing safety protocols like requiring face masks and offering hand sanitizer. Now, roughly one year later, the MBA gave an update on how local businesses are faring.
Jennifer Moriarty, who owns the gift shop, Juniper, on Franklin Avenue, said she is grateful her business is doing well. She credits her customers shop online and in person, understanding how important it is to shop local. Juniper has adjusted its hours and days.
“Our customers care and stand by us,” said Moriarty. “To survive these trying times we need this to continue.”
Gruning said that the home décor business he’s involved with, Millbrook House, located at 3300 Franklin Ave., which also sells unique gift items and offers interior design services, has a clientele that comes mostly from the city, by appointment. That, he said, has made a difference in maintaining a steady customer base that’s not reliant on walk-in business.
Millbrook House follows all COVID-19 safety measures, and is looking forward to seeing things return to normal, said Gruning. The business is currently updating its website.
Irene Wing, who manages St. Joseph’s Church’s thrift store, Uncle Al’s Attic, said it’s being very careful to observe all safety measures, and continues to only allow a few customers in the shop at once. It’s still managing to maintain a steady business, she said.
The pandemic has brought city residents and others to Millbrook, said Wing. She spoke of three young ladies who were in the Hudson Valley hiking before winter arrived, who stopped in the village to investigate. They told Wing that they were surprised at how careful everyone was about wearing masks, social distancing, while still being friendly and inviting. Wing said she hopes that will bode well for future business in Millbrook.
Alicia Adams Alpaca reported an uptick in online sales during the pandemic, said employee Heather Loveland, who feels the Franklin Avenue store is lucky it can sell online. The popular shop is open, sanitizing, requiring masks and following all CDC guidelines for keeping shoppers safe.
A number of village businesses made good use of the warmer weather before the colder weather arrived, with sidewalk sales and outdoor dining.
The Antiques Mall and Millbrook Antiques both capitalized on the idea, and business was steady throughout much of the spring and summer, according to those who worked there. Black Friday and Small Business Saturday saw active sales, reported the two longtime businesses. They hope January and the rest of winter will keep the trend going.
But there have been changes in the Millbrook business community, according to the MBA. The Painted Peach, which was located on Front Street next to the Post Office, has closed. Its owner and one of the vendors who sold out of the store now sell their wares out of the Antiques Mall. It seemed like a good fit, said Gruning, who added the women fortunately have a loyal following.
J. McLaughlin manager Ann Barton reported the upscale clothing store is holding its own, as it has many steady customers.
“We’ve been busy,” said Barton after the holidays. “[Customers] feel safe, because we limit the amount [who can shop at once]. We sanitize continuously; clothes are left for 24 hours after they’ve been tried on before they are brought back out.”
Barton said the store also has new customers from the city, who want to escape to the “country” for a break.
The new Cordially Corinne’s has been open for a few months now. Its owner, Corinne Tardio, said her paper specialty shop did better than expected during the summer, but did not report on holiday sales. She’s taking every safety precaution to protect her customers.
Marona’s Market manager Jan Smith said business has picked up during the pandemic. The community-minded supermarket is sanitizing regularly and following all safety protocols. Smith said she sees new faces all the time as well as her “steadies.”
Two other businesses that closed include the Blue Barn B’nB. Proprietor Joan LaCasse retired after six years in Millbrook, announcing she wanted to relax.
“I’ll have fond memories, and I’ve made good friends,” she said. “But it’s time for a new chapter, to turn to a new page.”
Samantha’s Sweet Shop on Church Street also closed, due to owner Samantha Martin getting ill, though no word if it was with COVID-19. The sweet shop was open for only two summers as well as for 2020. Martin said she was “sad” about closing, and thanked everyone who helped her along the way. She added the sweet shop wasn’t her primary business and that all proceeds supported the community.
“It is hard to keep a business open in Millbrook — support for all of the small businesses is imperative for them to stay open,” she said. “This is their livelihood and saying you’ll support them and buying [their goods] are two different things.”
And that’s the bottom line, agree Millbrook merchants, who hope locals and visitors will do exactly that in 2021, to help them survive the current health crisis and beyond.
The North East Town Hall building, where town officials will hold a public hearing on Thursday, Jan. 8, at 7 p.m., on proposed zoning code amendments
MILLERTON — The zoning code changes that will be the focus of a public hearing on Thursday, Jan. 8, represent a major overhaul of the code since it was adopted in the 1970s, placing a strong focus on promoting housing options in the town’s commercial district.
The hearing is scheduled for Jan.8 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall and the draft of the amendments can be found online at townofnortheastny.gov/zoning-review-committee/ or in person at Town Hall or at the NorthEast-Millerton Library.
Zoning regulations, which date to the early 20th century, govern how residents and businesses can use their homes and buildings, and their land. Town officials say their goal in modernizing the code aims to support local business and create new housing options.
While there have been some updates over the years to address specific issues, the changes before the public this time are an ambitious attempt to align with the town’s Comprehensive Plan, which was adopted six years ago.
In this first go-round, the focus is on the town’s commercial districts, such as the so-called Boulevard District that runs along Route 44 to the Connecticut border. Residential and land conservation districts have been included to varying degrees in this proposed update, but largely are to be considered in a second phase of zoning review that soon will be initiated.
A housing focus
The 2019 Comprehensive Plan sought “to promote a variety of housing alternatives” and update zoning laws to allow for higher density development in the Town and Village, noting that fewer than one in five housing types were multi-family dwellings and most of them offered fewer than four units.
The predominant single-family housing stock in the Town and Village dated to the mid-twentieth century; 37% of the housing in the Town and 80% of the housing in the Village was built before 1950.“
This is a sea change but it depends on getting sewers in the Boulevard District,” said Edith Greenwood, who headed the six-member volunteer Zoning Review Committee that worked on all the amendments over years. The committee engaged professional consultants with a goal to make the town’s code more accessible, and streamline approval processes, as well as update language and definitions.
The zoning overhaul, however, addresses more than just housing. The revised code is laid out in extensive detail, and its comprehensive approach requires many pages of documentation — 181 pages to be exact. However, many provisions, regulations and procedures remain unchanged even though they are included in the complete document up for review at the Jan. 8 hearing. Here are some of the changes proposed in the new code:
Multifamily dwellings
Existing code doesn’t contain a section about multifamily dwellings, but the amended code applies standards.
“Multifamily dwellings may be located on upper floors of commercial buildings and/or within standalone buildings,” the amendment provides. “No less than three (3) and no more than twelve (12) individual dwelling units shall be contained in a single building,” according to the draft regulation. Floor areas are defined to conform to New York State codes.
Rental apartments above commercial space
This so-called mixed-use development allows for rental apartments above commercial spaces.
“The intent is to permit mixed use development under carefully regulated conditions to facilitate reinvestment in and the renovation of existing commercial buildings, as well as encourage the development of new mixed-use facilities, resulting in positive economic impacts to those properties and the town at large, while imposing minimal burden on town services and municipal infrastructure,” the draft proposal states.
Adding Affordable Housing standards
The current code is amended to include general standards for affordable housing units, including specifics related to the cost and ownership of such units, among others. Such housing provides homes priced below market rate allowing for housing opportunities to low- to moderate-income families with eligibility based on income.
Proposed affordable housing regulations in North East will limit the cost of affordable rental housing to 30% of 60% of the area median income for Dutchess County. The regulations will limit the cost of so-called “ownership” units to 30% of 80% of the county’s area median income.
Affordable housing regulations provide a benefit to developers, allowing additional commercial space on second and third stories in exchange for placing affordable housing units in the remaining floor area above a commercial space. Commercial buildings are allowed to host additional commercial uses on second and third floors as long as it does not exceed 50% of the floor area of those stories. All remaining floor space must be dedicated to affordable housing.
Accessory Apartment section becomes Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU)
A section of the current code refers to ‘Accessory Apartments’ but that category is amended to regulate ‘Accessory Dwelling Units,’ which is the current terminology. “An ADU shall be clearly incidental and subordinate to the principal one-family dwelling use and shall not change the one-family residential character of the neighborhood,” the amended code reads.
'Everything but the kitchen sink'
The amended zoning regulations also seek to regulate a wide variety of businesses and activities.
Mobile food vendors will need permits to operate. Electric vehicle charging stations, which didn’t exist in the 1970s, will come under the regulations, including charging stations at residences. Outdoor vehicle storage will have requirements spelled out as well as outdoor dining at restaurants.
EV charging stations are allowed at all residences, but regulations require a zoning permit. Residential chargers are allowed inside garages, on an exterior wall or as a freestanding structure adjacent to a driveway. Chargers are also permitted in parking lots for commercial buildings, subject to site plan approval by the North East Planning Board. Parking regulations get extensive coverage in the amended regulations.
They also include amended regulations for roadside farm stands, cell towers and self-storage warehousing, among many others.
The amended regulations call for the creation of a zoning enforcement officer to receive, review applications for a zoning permit, sign permit and certificate of use, among other duties that include inspections to ensure compliance. The town currently contracts a zoning officer, whose services are shared with the Village and with other municipalities.
The amendments update design standards and site-plan expectations for off-street parking, signage, landscaping and exterior lighting, a category that takes up several pages and even includes illustrations. Motel provisions are deleted and replaced with hotel requirements, and include a requirement prohibiting “the establishment of a tenant/landlord relationship or legal residence by any such occupant.”
A section on cannabis regulates the location and operation of retail cannabis dispensaries “to ensure any such use will be in harmony with and will not have a detrimental effect upon the surrounding area and, that both the location and operation are protective of public health and welfare and preserve quality of life.”Cannabis dispensaries will be permitted within the town as long as they are at least 200 feet “from a private or public school, park, playground, library, adult or child day care, or a place of worship.”
Consumption of cannabis on the premises of a dispensary is prohibited, and an onlooker outside the building must be unable to see or smell the products inside. Regulations also require a detailed operational plan as part of the site plan approval process that would contain information about hours of operation, loitering mitigation, lighting and signage among other details of the business.
Public workshops that have been held with the Town Board to review the proposed changes have for the most part been sparsely attended by the public, as they dragged out for hours while board members quizzed the planning experts as well as the town attorney, Warren Replansky, about detail on any number of zoning matters and how North East’s requirements would align with those of New York State and Dutchess County. The amended zoning regulations have been reviewed by the Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development.
Supervisor Chris Kennan said additional public hearings will be scheduled as necessary. In August, Kennan remarked that the adoption of the updated zoning code amendments could stand as the most significant accomplishment of the current board.
Sharon Hospital in Sharon, Connecticut.
SHARON — Northern Dutchess Paramedics will cease operating in northwest Connecticut at the start of the new year, a move that emergency responders and first selectmen say would replace decades of advanced ambulance coverage with a more limited service arrangement.
Emergency officials say the change would shift the region from a staffed, on-call advanced life support service to a plan centered on a single paramedic covering multiple rural towns, raising concerns about delayed response times and gaps in care during simultaneous emergencies.
The decision became known on Dec. 11 when communities were informed that NDP’s service would end as of Jan. 1, according to Andrea Downs, president of the Falls Village Volunteer Fire Department and an employee of the organization.
Founded in 1994 and based in Rhinebeck, New York, NDP has provided advanced and basic life support ambulance services to communities in Dutchess and Columbia counties in New York, as well as parts of Litchfield County, for nearly three decades.
How the change came about was outlined by Al Tortorella of Sharon, also an employee of NDP.
Tortorella said every Connecticut municipality is required to have an advanced life support provider. For the past 28 years, Sharon Hospital has fulfilled that requirement by signing an annual hospital-sponsored agreement with NDP. In recent years, the agreement was signed by Dr. Ronald Santos, head of the hospital’s emergency department, under whose medical license NDP operates.
When NDP recently approached Santos to renew the agreement, he said he could not sign it, a decision that took the organization by surprise, Tortorella said.
Area towns operate volunteer ambulance squads that provide basic life support. NDP supplements those crews by delivering advanced medical care, administering medications and conducting inter-facility transports.
Sharon Hospital, which is part of Nuvance Health, merged earlier this year with Northwell Health.
Downs and Tortorella said they understand that the hospital system plans to replace NDP with its own paramedic service.
Under the proposed arrangement, a single paramedic would cover the Sharon Hospital catchment area, starting each shift in New Milford before traveling to Sharon. If needed, the paramedic would be assisted by a paid EMT provided by Nuvance.
Tortorella sharply criticized the model. “It’s a system designed to fail,” he said. “This is a huge issue.”
Downs echoed those concerns, noting that the paramedic’s 12-hour shift would include significant travel time between locations. “I’m very concerned about the health and well-being of residents in the Northwest Corner,” she said. “We don’t want any reduction in services for patients in the region. I can’t understand the rationale of taking services away. Northwell wants to maintain a model of corporate health care, but they can’t put a face to the people and culture we’ve established here. We’re talking life and death.”
Downs emphasized that the decision does not involve layoffs at NDP, which was recently acquired by Empress. She said there is ample demand for paramedic services in New York state and that employees’ jobs are secure. The concern, she said, is for the safety of families, friends and neighbors in Northwest Connecticut.
In an interview, Sharon Hospital President and CEO Christina McCulloch and Andrea Rynn, assistant vice president for community, government and public relations at Northwell Health, addressed the decision to discontinue the hospital-sponsored agreement with NDP.
“Recently, concerns were brought to our attention about compliance and [a lack of] communications,” they said. “This information left us unsettled and unable to be a sponsoring hospital at this time.”
They acknowledged that the timing of the transition was far from ideal. “Despite the tight timing, we are actively developing a coverage plan in concert with local first responders and area leaders. This is a process that is just beginning and we are confident it will strengthen over time.”
McCulloch and Rynn said the hospital and health system remain committed to maintaining service continuity and working with community partners to enhance emergency medical services across the region.
AMENIA — Residents can now take advantage of a local recycling program that offers convenient home pickup for textiles and other household items. The program, approved by Dutchess County, was outlined by Town Board member and Town Supervisor-elect Rosanna Hamm.
The service, operated by Helpsy, accepts unwanted clothing, footwear, textiles, accessories and linens, along with items such as luggage and stuffed animals. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, only about 17% of recyclable textiles are currently reclaimed, with the rest ending up in landfills or municipal incinerators.
By providing free home pickup, the program is expected to reduce disposal tonnage and tipping fees, saving the town money while also conserving resources and saving residents time.
Items should be placed in plastic bags on front steps for pickup on collection day. All items must be clean, dry and odor-free.
Accepted items include all types of footwear — from slippers and sneakers to dress shoes, boots and cleats — as well as clothing such as outerwear, tops, dresses, pajamas, underwear and baby clothes. Accessories include hats, purses, bathrobes and jewelry. Linens include bed linens, curtains, drapes, table linens, quilts, blankets and comforters. Miscellaneous items such as luggage, sports jerseys and stuffed animals are also accepted.
Founded in 2017, Helpsy now operates in 10 states, managing more than 1,200 collection points and providing home pickup for millions of residents. The organization has diverted more than 75,000 tons of textiles from the waste stream, saving municipalities millions of dollars in disposal costs while generating funding for charitable organizations and thrift stores.
For residents who would prefer to deliver items to a drop-off bin, the closest bin is in Wingdale at Drop and Lock, 1371 Route 22. For more information, go to www.helpsy.com/ameniany or phone (800) 244-6350.
The Upstate Celtic Allstars brought holiday cheer at their third annual concert at the Amenia Town Hall on Saturday, Dec. 20. The five-member ensemble included, left to right, Ambrose Verdibello, fiddle; Isa Simon, fiddle and vocals; Claudine Langille, vocals and banjo; Joseph Sobol, citern; and Dave Paton, concertina and dulcimer.
