Applause filled council chambers during one public hearing at Monday’s Common Council meeting on Jan. 27.

A total of 12 speakers, including former Peekskill mayor Andre Rainey, voiced support of the proposed renovations at Jan Peek House, a temporary housing facility operated by Caring for the Hungry and Homeless of Peekskill (CHHOP).

Operators seek to renew their special permit with the city as well as transform the facility by expanding from the second floor to include the first and increasing the number of beds from 24 to 28, and improve quality of life by bringing a commercial kitchen, accessibility features, and outdoor recreational areas.

One supporter, Alexandra Hanson, an affordable housing consultant and a member of CHHOP’s sustainability committee, said the special permit will allow CHHOP to continue to provide housing stabilization support to families at risk of eviction, veterans and survivors of domestic violence.

“We all know how challenging the housing situation and recent rise in the cost of living has been for so many individuals and families,” Hanson said. “I believe caring for our neighbors is love in action, including those we do not understand or see eye to eye with. It is love not just in word, but in deed.”

Another supporter, Priscilla Augustin, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Peekskill chapter, challenged the council not only to pass the special permit, but to continue funding for CHHOP.

“We are all sitting here and some of us could be one check away from being homeless,” Augustin said. “[That] means, if you don’t have a family that may invite you in, you need CHHOP or some other program.”

Other supporters included Steve Kollias, Peekskill Democratic City Committee Chair, Reverend Valerie Paul-Greenaway of United Methodist Church, and Robert Blatt, one of the partners of Copperhead Club, which is a neighbor of the Jan Peek House.

Joseph Squillante, a board member of the Peekskill Herald, recalled being assigned to photograph two then clients at Jan Peek House in 2024, including a mother ejected from her apartment after being unable to pay her rent and a veteran who lost his job 2019, after working 17 years for a federal agency.

“There was a comfortable feeling between us,” Squillante said of meeting Jan Peek clients. “They were just like me and like each one of us here in this chamber. No better, no worse. They have families and theirs is a real life story. And most of all, we could be them by one bad turn in our life.”

One person who had such a bad turn in his life was Max Grudzien, a veteran who spent about eight months as a client of Jan Peek in 2020 to 2021 after first staying at a veterans affair facility in Montrose.

“Everything that I could not accomplish when I was a resident at the VA facility in Montrose, I was able to accomplish when I was staying at Jan Peek House,” he said. “They gave me a laptop so I could do telehealth that allowed me to find housing. I was able to get SNAP benefits. I applied for HUD-VASH [a federal housing program for Veterans] online, and I moved into permanent housing in July 2021 where I’m still living today.”

For that reason, Grudzien said he strongly supported the CHHOP renovations. 

In addition to resident testimony in favor of the project, Director of Planning Carol Samol provided a summary of Emergency Services calls to 200 N. Water St., which the council had previously requested. Last year, police went to CHHOP 224 times for overdoses, intoxicated individuals, emotionally disturbed individuals, suspicious activities, subpoenas, warrants, medical needs, and fire. The police chief reported that senior living centers at 901 Main St., Drum Hill, and Crompond Road generate the most emergency calls.

The Common Council could vote on the special permit as early as Feb. 10.

Residents show up for hearings on arts council and health club

The Department of Planning & Development is seeking to formally establish the Peekskill Arts Council to act as an advisory board to the Common Council on matters concerning public art.

Duties of the advisory board include creating an inventory of all public art work, fostering collaboration in Peekskill’s art community, and recommending actions to increase the city’s budget for public artwork.

During a public hearing, two people spoke in favor of the creation of the advisory council, including resident Nancy Wareham-Gordon. 

“I walk the dogs every day down at the riverfront and I’m just in marvel of the public artwork sculptures that seem to blend seamlessly into the natural landscape,” she said.

Wareham-Gordon said she hoped that the council would curate public art as well as to maintain present and future art works. She also hoped the council would cast a wide net when appointing members.

“I would hope (they consider) getting younger struggling artists involved who live and work in Peekskill,” Wareham-Gordon said. “Because often they’re the group of people that would be encouraging their friends to come and move to Peekskill, to live and work and create art.”

The Common Council appointed the nine member board last June. According to a Planning & Development memo from December, the board must have a minimum of five members who live in Peekskill.

The city also held a public hearing on a proposed health club at the former Rite Aid store in the Crossroads Shopping Center.

Developers seek to renovate the 9,050 square foot building, as well as an amendment to zoning code which currently does not prohibit health clubs in the C2 zoning district where developers hope to plant their club.

The proposed health club, Anytime Fitness, is part of an international health club franchise with 5,200 existing locations, including Bedford, Yorktown, and Ossining.

According to Director of Planning Carol Samol, the Planning Commission found the applicant meets the special permit findings, though it had questions about security for the 24 hour gym, which would not be staffed for all of those hours.

One resident spoke in favor of the club, saying she believed it would bring more value to the vacant Rite Aid building.

Keith Betensky, an attorney for the applicant, requested the council refer the matter back to the Planning Board. 

Interim Corporation Counsel Eric Gordon requested adjourning the public hearing due to revisions that will impact the application. On Feb. 24, the hearing will resume and council members plan to vote on adopting the resolution for the special permit and zoning amendment.

Council passes resolution to oppose Project Maple, 9 other resolutions 

Following a New York Communities for Change rally outside City Hall, the Common Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for Gov. Kathy Hochul to oppose Enbridge’s Project Maple.

Council members said the proposed expansion to the Algonquin Gas Transmission Pipeline infrastructure would substantially increase the pipeline’s capacity to transport hydraulically fractured natural gas through the region and would lead to increased gas house gas emissions.

Dr. Courtney Williams, co-founder of Safe Energy Group, said she was grateful to the council in a press release on Wednesday.

“We are an environmental justice community already suffering from the harms of pollution from the previously twice-expanded ‘Algonquin’ Pipeline system [sic], the WIN-Waste trash incinerator, the Sun Chemical Plant, Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, and the PCB-contaminated Hudson River,” Williams said.

Councilmembers called on Gov. Hochul to direct her agencies to deny any permits for the expansion of Project Maple, thereby upholding New York’s Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act  and the state’s environmental standards and commitment of a sustainable future.

The resolution was one of ten passed Monday night, including censuring Councilman Ramon Fernandez, selecting a firm to design Peekskill’s logo and brand, and retroactively authorizing the winterization of Fleischmann Pier.

The council also approved authorizing Peekskill’s Section 8 program to identify a qualified contractor to serve as the Family Self-Sufficiency program coordinator, and to accept a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to fund a comprehensive traffic safety action plan with a required $75,000 matching contribution from the city.

Councilwoman Kathleen Talbot did not vote on any resolutions due to being absent.

For a full list of resolutions passed click here.