Board approves Catskill Mountain Creamery wholesale site at 329 Vauxhall with waivers and conditions

The City of Kingston Planning Board on Jan. 21 granted site‑plan approval and waivers for a small wholesale and limited retail ice‑cream cake production facility proposed at 329 Vauxhall Avenue, subject to several conditions addressing sidewalks, screening and planting.

The nut graf: the board authorized three zoning waivers — a major frontage‑occupancy waiver, a major parking‑setback waiver and a minor first‑floor‑height waiver — citing the parcel’s irregular shape, small lot size and the applicant’s intent to adaptively reuse an existing garage structure; approval was conditioned on engineering and planning staff sign‑offs regarding sidewalk alignment, stormwater controls and revised landscape plantings placed outside the public right of way.

Applicants Richard Boyse and Dan Gallagher described an adaptive‑reuse plan that preserves an existing 450‑square‑foot garage and builds an additional ~1,160‑square‑foot single‑story production building (total ~1,610 square feet). The use is primarily wholesale distribution of frozen product; the applicant explained the typical delivery model is a single small freezer truck using a single on‑site loading/parking space. The applicant proposed two dry wells and roof leaders routed into below‑grade infiltration, and said test holes found approximately five feet of soil above bedrock in some locations.

Board discussion focused on three waiver requests: the code’s 50% frontage occupancy requirement (applicant proposes ~25.3% frontage), a required 30‑foot setback for parking from the front property line (applicant proposes ~10.9 feet), and a first‑floor height requirement (code 12 feet; proposed floor‑to‑floor within minor‑waiver tolerance; board treated as a minor waiver that met the intent of the standard). Planning staff and the city engineer recommended moving the sidewalk back from the curb in front of the property to create a tree lawn/snow storage area and to align future city reconstruction of Foxhall Avenue; the applicant agreed to shift landscaping out of the public right of way and to coordinate final sidewalk elevations with the city engineer.

Conditions of approval include: sidewalk redesign as required by the city engineer (move sidewalk off the curb and provide a planting strip / snow storage area), installation of an on‑site bike rack, relocation of planting to private property using native species agreed with staff, on‑site dry wells and roof leader connections per civil engineering review, and limited exterior lighting (sign lighting only; no parking lot lighting directed toward adjoining residence). The board adopted the SEAF (short EAF) and treated the action as a Type II or unlisted action not requiring further environmental review under SEQRA.

Why it matters: approval allows a small local business to install a production and distribution facility while preserving an existing structure; the board used waivers to allow the project to adapt to an undersized, irregular lot rather than requiring demolition or a different program.

Next steps: the applicant will coordinate final sidewalk alignment and elevations with the city engineer, provide details for the bike rack and native plant list to staff for approval, and finalize stormwater/dry well calculations and construction details.