Residents organize and call out village board at regular meeting

Greenport community members and business owners expressed their concerns about the business district and development at the village board of trustees regular meeting July 24.

Several residents went to the podium during the public comment session to share their thoughts and frustrations, which ranged from zoning and parking issues to concerns about business growth and the village’s communication with the community. 

“I’ve been somewhat concerned about the state of village affairs,” said Brent Pelton, who purchased Stirling Square back in 2014. “We need to be encouraging businesses to invest in this area. We have a sewer plant, we have a power plant, we have wonderful access to the train, the buses, to the water. We need to utilize these assets to power the growth of Greenport for the future. 

“I’m not here with the answers. I’m wondering if it makes sense to look back at the zoning changes and see if we need to bring in a consultant to see if the changes that were made really were made in the best interest of promoting growth within the village.”

The village passed a series of zoning changes in 2023, including a mandatory entertainment permit for live music, reducing some parking compliance requirements, rezoning some areas and more. Mr. Pelton also brought up concerns he has regarding parking, and how the current restrictions are still making it difficult for some business owners.

“As it relates any pending applications, those are moving through quickly,” said Mayor Kevin Stuessi. “Anecdotally, I’ll tell you I spent some time with a bicycle shop operator who very much wanted to open something here. I think he toured a total of seven different vacant properties. We loosened the parking restrictions in a number of ways, and ultimately it was a rent issue … I would encourage you to also work with the business improvement district on this issue, too.”

The village’s business improvement district is composed of property owners, commercial tenants, residents and village appointees, and works to play a critical role in serving the interests of the businesses, property owners and the community, as it states on the village website. 

“The Greenport we live, work, shop and dine in today is grappling with an identity crisis. In my view, we’ve lost our way,” said Bridget Elkin, a resident and local realtor. “A contributing factor to this perfect storm are the zoning code changes we made to Chapter 150 two years ago. Like the moratorium, they were reactive in nature, rushed and lacked database analysis with input from third parties.”

Matthew Michel, owner of 1943 Pizza Bar, said he hardly ever comes into the village anymore. It’s not that he doesn’t want to, it’s that he’s faced numerous setbacks when trying to develop businesses and is discouraged by the process.

“I think it’s worth noting that for a property that effectively can’t accommodate a parking spot, writing in the code that it doesn’t have to have a parking spot doesn’t really move the needle in any meaningful way, and that was the case for a large swath of them,” Eric Elkin, a realtor and Ms. Elkin’s husband, said. “But again, I do acknowledge that there was some effort and thought put into eliminating the parking requirements for these small businesses and lots.”

Dave Kapell, Greenport’s former mayor from 1994 until 2007, said that with the new zoning changes adopted, the village is in an “alarming state of decline, resulting directly from this board’s actions.”

“What’s needed is a professionally guided planning process that this board just chose not to undertake two years ago,” said Mr. Kapell. “Continued inaction will only solidify the downward spiral, threatening to undermine the successful revitalization that so many of us invested in and worked for years to bring … out. What’s more important for the people in the future of Greenport, a place to live and raise a family or a place to park your car?”

Later in the evening, the board made a resolution to schedule a public hearing on Aug. 21 for residents to share their thoughts on a proposed local law to amend Chapter 150 of the village code. It would be to provide clarification relative to the authorization of apartment dwelling units as permitted uses in the retail commercial district. 

The problem is, the clarification was not discussed at a previous work session. Deputy Mayor Patrick Brennan and Trustees Mary Bess Phillips and Lily Dougherty-Johnson made it a point to acknowledge that, with Ms. Phillips saying it made her “uncomfortable.”

“We need to start living up to our processes on doing things,” said Ms. Phillips. “The public needs to see us doing our work. It makes it secure, so that people don’t feel that the building department is so far behind on things, or that there’s no communication. We keep hearing this, and we need to get it fixed.”