Peekskill ZBA allows contractor's yard to continue at 711 North Division, limits footprint

The Peekskill Zoning Board of Appeals on Monday adopted a revised resolution allowing the continued operation of a contractor's yard at 711 North Division Street, finding the record does not clearly show an impermissible expansion into the northern side yard.

The board's decision, issued after public comment and extended deliberations, rests on a mix of documentary evidence: historical letters from former occupants, aerial photographs from 1976, 2004 and 2007, and oral testimony. The resolution says the contractor's yard may continue "at the rear of the property, including the storage of operational and licensed vehicles and uncovered storage," while also clarifying that junk- or abandoned-vehicle storage remains prohibited under other Peekskill code provisions. Chair (unidentified) summarized the board's view: "I think we've come to a good decision here." (Chair)

City building-department testimony had emphasized limits in the zoning code. As the department representative told the board, "the code is pretty straightforward. It does not allow pre, expansion of a preexisting legal nonconforming use of land." (Building Department official) The board weighed that instruction against letters from long-term tenants and neighbors describing contractor activity on the lot before and after the 1977 zoning ordinance; members said the record supported treating the historically used rear and fenced area as the continuing contractor footprint, while cautioning against any future expansions beyond the physical boundaries the board said will be described in an exhibit to the resolution.

The decision directs the parties and the property owner to conform to the defined footprint going forward and reiterates that code-enforcement provisions prohibiting junk and abandoned vehicles remain in effect. The board closed the public hearing and adopted the edited resolution by roll call vote.