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Council refers proposed Fishkill Creek District changes that would allow hotels and remove density cap to planning boards
Summary
City staff presented proposed changes for the Fishkill Creek Development District that would explicitly permit hotels and remove a current dwelling-unit density cap so form-based rules control building massing; the council voted to refer the draft local law to city and county planning boards for review.
City staff presented a draft local law amending the Fishkill Creek Development (FCD) District to expressly permit hotels and eliminate the current maximum dwelling-unit density limit, then the council voted to refer the measure to the City of Beacon and Dutchess County planning boards for review.
Natalie, a city planner, said the packet includes a memo, zoning maps and redlined code language and summarized the staff recommendation: "So because of those 2 changes, I wanted to start with this density kind of comparison so you could just see how the FCD currently compares to your other zoning districts," and explained that the changes would let form-based regulations govern building massing rather than a fixed density cap.
The draft makes two principal changes: (1) replace the hotel entry in the FCD use table from prohibited to permitted (with an option to consider a special-permit approach), and (2) remove the numerical maximum dwelling-unit density and instead rely on form-based standards (setbacks, height and massing) to control scale. Staff walked council members through edits to supplemental hotel regulations, including removing an older provision that limited kitchen facilities in hotel rooms.
Council members raised affordability and neighborhood impacts. One member asked whether allowing hotels was intended as a way to replace short-term rentals: "So kind of, like, replace tourism served by Airbnb's or short term rentals rather with hotel rooms," and warned hotels likely would be higher-end and less accessible to some visitors. Staff said implementation details such as required public amenities and creek setback measurements would be fleshed out at concept-plan review and through the planning-board process.
After discussion the council voted to refer the local law to the planning boards for technical review and comment; staff said the referral packet will include questions on creek setback language and bulk issues. The referral does not adopt the local law — it sends the draft to boards that will provide recommendations and possibly require further revisions before the council considers a final local law and a public hearing.
