Joe Carlin
For Nyack Trustee

UPDATE - I won the June 27, 2023 Democratic Primary Election - 325 Votes to the next winning candidate (Nathalie Riobe-Taylor) at 322 Votes! This is somewhat different from the unofficial BOE results - the official results will be published soon by the BOE. Both of us will be on the November 7th General Election Ballot on the Democratic Party Line.

I am a candidate for Village of Nyack Trustee in the upcoming General Election on November 7, 2023

Why am I running? Because I believe that I can make a positive contribution to the Village of Nyack, putting the interests of the VILLAGE RESIDENTS ahead of the interests of the Developer and Real Estate lobby, and as a long-time resident and business owner, bring a NEW PERSPECTIVE and COMMON SENSE to the Village Board.

If elected, I promise to be an ACTIVIST Trustee, and will always be accessible to all Village Residents!

 EVALUATE AND RESET ZONING CODES to stop the overbuilding in sections of Nyack that are out of character and scale of our quaint Village!

• You have all seen the result of the loosening of the Village Zoning Codes on Main Street between Midland and 9W – all three new buildings have units consisting primarily of Luxury apartment prices. I’ll advocate for a return to sensible Zoning Codes that will rein in the explosion of developments that are in process, completed or have gone through the approval process. Let’s hit pause to consider the effects on infrastructure (water, sewage, traffic, and parking, to name a few) in our Village with a view towards revising our Zoning Codes and beefing up our Village Code Enforcement team. We also need the latter in order to crack down on unscrupulous landlords and business operators.

•I’ll push for the repeal of the Water Front Text Amendment that was given to the TZ Vista / Gedney Street Project developers, and return to the sensible Water Front Zoning Code that it replaced.

 ACTION PLANS – DEVELOPMENT

NYACK NEEDS A BUILDING CODE RESET!

Just to be crystal clear – I am not Anti-Development (as some of my opponents might have you believe). Growth is indeed a natural part of the Village. We do need housing for our children as they become adults, and for people who want to share in our unique Village. However, the recent surge of Housing Projects (both approved and under consideration) due to the relaxation of our zoning codes and the sustainability bonus (which allows increased housing density above and beyond that which is allowed by our zoning code) threatens our Village infrastructure (sewage, water, traffic, parking, etc.). Although each Developer has provided an individual Environmental Impact Study, the Village has never considered the impact of ALL the developments taken together. It is time that we do this – and to this end perhaps a temporary pause on new and proposed developments is worth considering. Give us a chance to take a step back to review Environmental Impacts and perhaps change our Zoning Code accordingly.

I am an advocate for the Village residents. Recent case in point – the Diana Place project on upper Main St. A Village Trustee and the Village planner asked the Developer to consider having access through Depew Ave with a driveway instead of traffic entering and leaving via Main St. – necessitating removal of 4 parking spaces. This was an error (in my opinion) by the Village, and they should have consulted with the neighborhood about potential impacts. At numerous VB and Planning Board meetings, I spoke against this. In the end, the VB voted it down on a 3-2 vote. One of my opponents was in the minority and voted for this misguided plan to increase traffic in a residential neighborhood – also a main artery for children walking to the Middle School. Thankfully the proposal was shut down. The same thing happened with the proposed 50-unit housing project on Waldron called Hudson View. Since that area is zoned CC (commercial corridor), it needed a Text Amendment to allow a residential project to go forward. Can you imagine the added traffic and congestion that this would cause in that area, and at the worst traffic intersection in the Village (Rt 59 / Waldron / Mountainview Ave)?!?!?! I was one of the many who spoke up against it, and in the end, the VB voted it down on a 3-2 vote. The same Trustee who voted in favor of the Diana Place project was also in favor of this project proposal. We do not need a Trustee who sides with the Developers instead of Village residents!

The Gedney Street Neighborhood has been held hostage by the Developers the TZ Vista / Gedney Street Project for over 5 years - blocked sidewalks that have fallen into disrepair and the terrible state of Gedney Street. Although the Developer’s permit has expired recently (and why did the Village permit it to be extended way beyond what the Village code allows?) and the Village has plans to remediate Gedney Street, my question is why has it taken so long??? If elected, I will make sure that this happens swiftly.

 AFFORDABLE HOUSING needs to be addressed – not with wishful thinking and “pie in the sky” plan such as having the Village, as one of my opponents touts, purchase the housing stock in the Village, but with concrete and realistic steps to make it happen!

• I’ll fight for Affordable Housing and Tenant Protections. I would completely repeal the provision that lets developers buy their way out of the affordable-housing requirement, and increase the affordable housing requirement from the current paltry 10%, and remove incentive bonuses that increase density.

ACTION PLANS – Affordable Housing and Tenant Protections

Previous Village Boards have reduced the requirement that Developers provide 20% Affordable Housing to only 10% - and they have given Developers a buy-out option This is wrong on many levels - first of all, the 20% requirement should never have been reduced to 10%. And second of all, the Buyout option is a no-brainer for developers - it makes more economic sense, to the Developer, to pay into the Buyout Fund than to have to provide physical apartments. This needs to stop!

Further to this, the Village Code needs to be revised so that, in the calculation of the 10% Affordable Housing, any fractional amounts are ROUNDED UP, and not down. Case in point - the Diana Place project. They proposed 24 units, and to their credit, they are providing actual Affordable Housing units. But according to their calculations, they take 10% of 24, which comes out to 2.4 units. In my view, this number should be rounded up, but according to their proposal, it is rounded down - to only 2 units. And to add insult to injury, they are claiming the Affordable Housing density bonus of 2 additional Units, for a grand total of 26 units - even though they are providing less than the 10% Affordable Housing  units!!!!!!! Our Village Code needs to be changed to prevent this from happening.

I would also like to see Tenant Protections in our Village Code - we need to protect our rental population (did you know that 65% of the Village residents are renters?) from unscrupulous landlords who do not provide proper housing conditions and take advantage of renters. I fully support the ETPA and Adaptive Re-Use of Commercial Properties to Residential Uses – but ensuring that there is a robust Affordable Housing component percentage requirement. 

Quality of Life and Environmental issues

ACTION PLANS – Quality of Life and Environmental Issues

Expanding Green Spaces for the Village

Nyack has too few green spaces for the enjoyment of all. Let’s find the funds to purchase the MacCalman Playing Field and make it a protected Village-owned property, establish a Pocket Park at the southern corner of Depew and 9W, and purchase (using Private, County, State, and Federal Open Space Acquisition Funds that are available) and turn the Gedney Street property into a Park. We are a Hudson River Village, and residents and visitors need more access to the river!

ACTION PLANS – Parking Issues

I would push for the following changes / enhancements -

1)   Change the paid parking hours to 10 - 6 pm - This is in-line with most other municipalities, and is certainly less confusing to visitors and would benefit the restaurants and shops in the downtown area.

2)   Allow (and enforce) a 5 minute grace period after the time period expires

3)   Appoint a person in the Village Hall who can dismiss tickets that were obviously issued in error

4)   Reduce the number of alternate side of the street parking nights on side streets from 3 to 2 (or even 1 only). The original rationale was for street cleaning, which does not happen that often. Reducing the number of nights will benefit residents who search for alternative parking spots on those nights.

5)   Clearly delineate parking spaces on side streets with painted lines – how often do we see wasted spaces when drivers park in a haphazard manner. This will increase the parking inventory in the Village.

 Action Plans -Traffic Safety

1)  Pedestrian Crossings – many crossing spots are not clearly marked and are dangerous. We need better signage at those spots.

2)  Speeding on North Broadway into the Village – we should put up a radar speed sign (like the one near the Upper Nyack Elementary School) on the approach to the Village heading south on North Broadway to remind drivers to slow down.

3) Single File Rule for Cyclists - this is a purely safety issue. Cars and cyclists have to co-exist on the Village's streets. With the opening of the SUP, we can expect a surge in the number of cyclists visiting our Village. This is very welcome! However, requiring cyclists to ride single file will go a long way towards preventing accidents from happening. Piermont, Grandview and South Nyack have this rule - surprisingly, the Village does not have this rule. We must pass legislation to adapt this rule as well, and have clear signage and make sure that it is enforced!

Action Plans - Upper Main St Traffic Bottlenecks/Flow

As previously stated, for many years, I have been asking the land use boards, during meetings, to conduct an AGGREGATE Environmental Impact Assessment of all the proposed (and now under construction or complete) projects to assess the totality of impacts on infrastructure, traffic, parking, etc. - instead each developer only had to submit a limited assessment on their individual project.

We are now seeing the results of this in front of our eyes – the damage is done. But looking forward, specifically with regard to traffic flow on Upper Main St., we are limited to courses of action that are available without reconstructing the 9W/59 intersection (which the NYS DOT is responsible for and frankly, there is no room to do so) or widening the street (impossible to do) – here are some immediate options that should be discussed (and there are certainly pros and cons to each option):

1) Signage to offer/suggest alternative routes out of Nyack via Main St. westbound

2) Removing some parking spaces on the north side of Upper Main to allow easier traffic flow westbound

3) Changing the 9W/59 intersection traffic light timing to allow a longer period of westbound / southbound turning (onto 9W southbound) flow, especially during high traffic times such as in the morning.

4) Move the bus stop that is presently located at the westbound corner of Midland and Main down the street (to alleviate the bottleneck those buses cause when picking up passengers) - this would necessitate moving some parking spots there.

5) The dedicated left turn turning lane on the eastbound lane turning north into N Midland. The left turn green light turns on for about 5 seconds (together with the eastbound green light). This delays the westbound traffic for about 5 seconds as a result. Traffic flow westbound will not really be affected - but the westbound green light could be increased an additional 5 seconds to compensate for this. Most of the traffic bottleneck occurs west of that intersection anyway - and my other suggestions will help alleviate that.

6) Limit heavy trucking on that stretch of road to certain times of the day - outside of rush hour when the volume of cars is at its highest.

Action Plans – Aggressive Panhandling and Store Vandalism

Kudos to the Village for finally holding a Public Forum on this subject. One of my solutions would include insisting that the Orangetown Police get out of their parked patrol cars and actually “walk the beat” in the downtown district. An active Police presence will tamp down on these activities, and word will get out that Nyack is not an easy mark.

Gasoline-powered leaf blowers

I support the new limitations on the use of gasoline powered leaf blowers (seasonal and time restrictions). Nowadays, battery-powered leaf blowers have come down in price and are equivalent to gasoline-powered versions, without the noise and pollution. When this was proposed several years ago,  I was one of the proponents – and as a result a temporary ban was imposed. Good that it has now been codified into law - but did you know that the police cannot enforce it as there is no mechanism that they can use to issue tickets. This has to be resolved.

Village Government

ACTION PLANS –VILLAGE GOVERNMENT

Kudos to the Village Board for improving the Village Website and communication to the residents about events and Village business - well deserved! But there are still problems, especially with direct contact. Have you ever called Village Hall, left a message, and never been called back or - even worse - tried to leave a message at Village Hall but couldn't because the answering machine was full? This needs to be improved.

Public Comment – change the Village Board meeting protocols to allow public comment on any issue at the beginning of meetings. Currently, public comments on any issue are allowed only after resolutions are completed - and residents who have an issue that they want to speak out about have to wait till the resolution public comment and vote is completed..

Official Email Use – Village officials, both elected and appointed, must use Village government email addresses for all Village business. This is crucial for FOIL accountability and transparency. And they should not be able to use official email for political purposes.

Term Limits – limit terms for each elected position to 6 years in order to allow more turnover and fresh new ideas. And NO to changing the Mayor’s term to 4 years! The Village Board promised to hold a referendum on this during the November 2023 elections.

Village Board Meetings - we should occasionally have VB meetings at venues in the various neighborhoods to allow residents an opportunity to conveniently attend and learn firsthand about the working of their government in action. Some locations that come to mind are Waldron Terrace (for the Upper Depew neighborhood), Hotel Nyack (for the High St neighborhood), and at the Nyack Hospital conference room (for the Midland Ave neighborhood).

As a small business owner for over 26 years, I have the knowledge and experience to keep a sharp eye on the Village budget, and make sure that we are safeguarding our taxes with fiscal responsibility and to  curb bureaucratic bloat and planning missteps (remember the elongated bump-out at Cedar Lane and the infamous traffic island on N Broadway and 4th?) in order to hold the line against tax hikes.

Who am I -

Many of you will recognize me from my activities on behalf of the Village residents - I helped to effect change at the Nyack Post Office, focused attention on the downtown Bar street cleanup, monitored the Main St / Broadway outdoor seating vs sidewalk usage situation, and my participation in the TZ Vista Development issue debate.  I have actively supported a number of local neighborhood initiatives, including the Nyack Neighbors Together – Depew Ave Group fighting against using Depew Ave for a drive-way to a new development, the Save McCalman Field Group fight against the temporary parking lot, the Nyack Tenants Association, and CUPON of the Nyacks.  You will also see my frequent posts to the various FB pages devoted to Nyack with regard to Village government, Development, and Quality of Life issues. In the past, I was an active member of the LWRP Committee, Waterfront Committee, CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) Committee, and the Marina Committee.

 I am not a politician, but I am most definitely a concerned citizen who wants to make our great Village even better!