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Livery operator asks Airmont to recognize nonemergency medical transport in zoning; board to study amendments
Summary
A livery operator told trustees the company provides nonemergency medical transportation under state health contracts and asked that village zoning either exempt such liveries or explicitly allow them in residential districts; trustees said zoning amendments must go to the town and agreed to follow up with counsel and staff.
A representative for a local livery service addressed the Village of Airmont Board of Trustees on June 4 seeking clarity and a possible exemption in the village zoning rules for nonemergency medical transportation run from private property.
The speaker said the company holds New York State health contracts to transport underserved patients and operates as a livery (not a street‑hail taxi), at times storing vehicles on a residential lot. "We are not really a taxi company," the operator said. "We are providing a different service, which is a service for the underserved." The speaker said vehicles carry no external signage in most cases and that their drivers and operation are vetted for the health contracts.
Trustees and staff discussed how the village zoning map and a draft zoning amendment treat taxis, liveries and vehicle storage. Village representatives explained that any zoning amendment is a formal zoning change that must be processed through the town and village procedures; staff said the existing draft had not yet been finalized and that amendments could be considered that would create permitted exceptions for nonemergency medical transport or otherwise clarify the zoning classification.
Board members asked follow‑up questions about how the service operates, whether vehicles routinely pick up passengers on the street (the operator said they do not) and whether vehicles are parked in visible areas of a residential lot. The trustee handling the zoning hearing said the matter is a zoning amendment and will be scheduled through normal amendment procedures; the operator left contact information and the board asked village counsel and staff to follow up.
What’s next: trustees continued the taxi/livery public hearing to the July meeting and instructed village staff and counsel to review the draft zoning amendment and potential language to recognize nonemergency medical transportation or to craft appropriate exemptions.
