Town of North East sets Jan. 8 public hearing on zoning code overhaul

MILLERTON — The Town of North East has scheduled a public hearing for Jan. 8 to gather feedback on long-awaited updates to its commercial zoning code.

The proposal represents the town’s first major zoning revamp in decades and aims to modernize regulations along the commercial corridor from CVS to the Connecticut border.

The recommended amendments are outlined in a 180-page draft that has been four years in the making. Officials say the document brings the code into alignment with its 2019 comprehensive plan, updates permitted uses and development standards, and clarifies key review procedures. Since the changes are extensive, residents and business owners are encouraged to review the proposal and participate in the upcoming public hearing process.

The Town of North East board unanimously approved a resolution on Nov. 13 to begin the local law adoption process – “Local Law B” – which calls for “certain amendments” to the North East zoning code and map.

According to the resolution, the town and its Zoning Review Committee have spent years refining standards that affect“definition of term, supplemental uses, specific standards, site plan requirements, procedural components and aspects specific to residential districts and uses for continuity.”

The recommended amendments were sent by the Zoning Review Committee to the town board in November 2024, and include many recommendations and goals of the town and village comprehensive plan, which was adopted in November 2019.

Due to the “volume of the changes,” the Town Board voted to forward draft documents to the Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development and the Town of North East Planning Board for preliminary review.

The public hearing on Local Law B will begin at 7:05 p.m. on Jan. 8, 2026, at Town Hall, at the start of the board’s regular meeting.

Town attorney Warren Replansky emphasized that the process will take time and there multiple opportunities for public comment.

“We’re actually going to start the public hearing process at a town board meeting where we don’t expect that we’re going to get through it,” Replansky said, calling the proposed amendments a “formidable document” at 180 pages. “I do anticipate we’ll have at least one more, maybe two more, public hearings depending on the input we get from the public.”

Copies of the proposed amendments to the Zoning Code and Part 1 of the full environment assessment form (FEAF) will be available for public inspection at the Town Clerk’s office during regular business hours. A copy will also be available at the NorthEast-Millerton Library and on the town’s website.

Residents can also attend upcoming Planning Board meetings, including one on Wednesday, Dec. 3, where the zoning changes will continue to be reviewed ahead of the January hearing.

“We’ll have a lot of opportunities for the public to familiarize themselves with the local law,” said Replansky.