Parking was the primary focus of two of four public hearings held at the Monday, Oct. 13, Peekskill Common Council meeting at City Hall.

One of the public hearings was on a five-story residential building project at 400 Main Street, which entailed the developer’s leasing 21 parking spaces from a city parking lot, removing those spaces from public use.

However, the city announced that the proposal’s applicants were no longer interested in leasing the parking spaces from the city, an announcement met by applause from business owners and residents who came to the meeting to speak out against the sale. 

Architect Joseph Thompson said he and real estate developers Austin and Jake Deraaff, who are twin brothers, took note of a study saying the municipal parking lot is heavily utilized and decided to withdraw that part of their special permit application, which includes a request for additional height on the building. 

The project originally proposed 18 spaces within the lower floors of the apartment building but Thompson said an additional 18 spaces can be utilized via a two-tiered parking approach for a total of 36 spaces or 36 units.

“This is under a third of a mile to the train station,” Thompson said of the site. “It’s a walkable distance that will allow easy access to Route 9 for vehicular commuters and for walking to the riverfront and train station.”

Some of those in attendance still had their reservations about the project, which is situated near buildings like Copperhead Club and the Jan Peek Shelter and the sloped entrance to the Briarcliff-Peekskill Parkway (9A).

Bre Pettis of Bantam Tools, the owner of two properties in the neighborhood and landlord of 422 Main Street, said he was grateful to hear applicants resolved the parking issue but still had concerns, including congestion from the project, sewage and drainage issues, and health impacts from potential toxic waste.

Pettis referred to an environmental remediation project initiated by Con Edison in 1998 that is in the final stages of approvals for his properties at 189 and 190 North Water Street, as well as for the Peekskill Bay. He recalled seeing Con Edison dig 40 feet to bedrock and take out toxic waste left over from the former Pemart Avenue Manufactured Gas plant site to replace it with cement.

“It smells like a combination of the kind of chemicals you use when you’re cleaning your fingernails and you can feel your brain melting and death. Like it’s not good stuff,” Pettis said. “The remediation was done to my property line that abuts [400 Main Street]… I don’t know if the toxic waste respects property lines, but I worry about the health of the people who live there because it’s likely that there’s toxic waste there.”

Other issues raised by other speakers included concerns of one parking space per residential unit not being enough; congestion the project could bring to the neighborhood and highway entrance; and the need for an environmental review.

Peekskill Director of Planning Carol Samol said that the Planning Commission will be the lead agency for the environmental review, which will examine whether there’s any impact and make recommendations for the site plan before the application returns to the Common Council.

Developer James Guerriero, who said he has worked with architect Joseph Thompson before, spoke in favor of development at 400 Main Street.

“The cheapest site possible is flat and it’s rectangular,” Guerriero said. “This site is neither of those two things and I think that’s why [400 Main Street] site’s looked like this for so long. And we’re in a tough economy right now and it’s only getting worse. I’m going to bet that site will continue to look like this if the project doesn’t go forward.”

‘Payment in Lieu of Parking’ Program Gets Mixed Reception 

‘The Common Council also held a public hearing about a proposed parking amendment that establishes a “payment in lieu of parking” program, implements a per-space and parking maintenance fee, and creates a downtown parking district. 

The hearing was a continuation of one that was adjourned at the Sept. 8 meeting. Since that hearing, the Planning Commission has made several changes to the proposed amendments that include simplifying the on-site parking limits, creating mechanisms to reduce or waive the permits, and a way to reinstute permits if an in-lieu program isn’t being used.

The city proposed $15,000 per space for conversion of a non-residential space in an existing building into a new residential unit and $30,000 per space for construction of a residential unit in a new building.

The program saw favorable reception from architect Thompson and from 400 Main Street applicant Austin Deraaff. 

Thompson said he believed it could be transformative and open up a “tremendous amount of potential” in downtown.

Deraaff said, “We’re proposing 150 apartments on South Street, [for] which we’re going to definitely entertain the option to purchase parking from the city.  I love the idea. I think it’s going to help bring a lot of projects to life… so I think it’s a great opportunity for Peekskill, if the price is reasonable. I think a lot of developers will jump on and will advocate for that.”

The program drew a decidedly cooler response from developer Guerriero and Peekskill residents John Hodgins, Elena Muniz-Walker, Tina Volz-Bongar and Arne Paglia.  

Guerriero said he had “grave concerns” about the impact the program could have on one of his projects and on other projects in general. He believed the $30,000 per spot charge by the city was “excessive,” noting that places like White Plains and New Rochelle charge $20,000.

Resident Hodgins said he would like to know what the council is going to do for existing residents and existing businesses, particularly when it is the wintertime and you can only park on alternate sides of the street.

“I think selling city-provided parking to developers is a cop-out,” Hodgins said. “It’s a cop-out because developers don’t want to provide their own parking. If a developer comes into the city, they should be providing enough parking for their tenants. It shouldn’t be up to existing taxpayers to do it for them.”

Resident Muniz-Walker echoed Hodgins and referenced the city’s $20 million Momentum project, which includes renovating the two city parking garages and an addition at James Street Garage that would increase the overall number of parking spaces to 633 from 544.  

“It’s wonderful that you’re doing something about the garages. They need improvement. No one’s denying that,” Muniz-Walker said. “But if you’re going to do it and you’re going to offer more than half of what you’re building to developers, then what are you doing for the residents?”

Two other public hearings were held Oct. 13: about a Verizon cable franchise renewal agreement and on a proposed cannabis microbusiness at 710 Washington Street, which was only open for written comments and was extended due to delays on research for the site.

Tree Advisory Board, DRI, Time Capsule and 14 Other Resolutions Passed

The Common Council passed 17 resolutions, including a censure vote for Councilman Robert Scott.

Other resolutions passed by the council included amending a city code to add a provision for a tree advisory board, authorizing an application to the Downtown Revitalization Initiative round 9, and authorizing the burial of a time capsule at Lincoln Exedra to be exhumed in October 2125.

Here is a full list of other resolutions passed…

• Authorizes proposed Section 8 annual plan for 2026.
• Authorizes city manager or his designee to declare certain vehicles and equipment surplus and to auction the vehicles and equipment through Absolute Auctions & Realty, Inc.
• Authorizes the acceptance of grant funding from the New York State Department of Homeland Security for the sustainment, maintenance and enhancement of the City of Peekskill Police Tactical Emergency Services Unit, in an amount not to exceed $75,000.
• Accept the grant for the 2025-2026 Child Passenger Safety Program in the amount of $1,300.
• Authorizes the Water and Sewer superintendent to… 
  • Advertise for bids entitled, “2026 water maintenance materials” for the purchase of repair parts that will be used in the operation and maintenance of the city’s water distribution system.
  • Advertise for a bid entitled, “2026 water treatment plant chemical & sludge removal bid” for the purchase of chemicals and hauling of sludge at the city’s water filtration plant.

• Authorizes the city manager to…
  • Enter into a memorandum of understanding with Inclure to provide space on city property for and to conduct recreational programming between Oct. 15, 2025 and Dec. 31, 2025.
  • Sign the City of Peekskill Section 8 program’s cost allocation plan for 2025 for submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development.
  • Enter into an agreement with the Peekskill City School District to have the police department administer the Youth Leap 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program from Oct. 14, 2025 through May 1, 2026.
  • Accept grant funding from the New York State Department of Homeland Security in an amount not to exceed $15,000 for the sustainment, maintenance and enhancement of the City of Peekskill Police K9 units.
  • Accept a $13,518 grant from the governor’s Traffic Safety Committee in order to participate in a statewide “Police Traffic Services Program.”
  • Issue a request for qualifications for a professional engineer/architect consultant/firm to design and oversee the Depew Park SAM grant construction.