Redevelopment proposed for Route 9D site in Fishkill

A developer based in Boca Raton, Florida, wants to redevelop a 4.98-acre commercial property at 1456 Route 9D in Fishkill. Basis Industrial Acquisitions LLC is proposing to demolish the existing Red Pepper Diner and Orange County Transit buildings along with three vacant buildings and construct a new self-storage facility, fast-food restaurant and a car wash. An existing gas station and convenience store would remain.

The existing gas station has six fueling positions and the convenience store is 1,311 square feet in size. The new car wash would be 2,726 square feet and the fast-food restaurant would be 3,045 square feet. The self-storage building would be 75,057 square feet.

Route 9D is under the jurisdiction of New York State Department of Transportation and is generally oriented east/west. In the vicinity of the development site the posted speed limit is 45 miles per hour and the roadway generally provides one travel lane in each direction with additional turning lanes located at intersections. The road does not features curbs and sidewalks along the frontage at the development site.

In addition to the new buildings and reconfiguring the driveways to enter and exit the site, improvements would include additional parking, new drive aisles, new lighting, and fresh landscaping. As a result of discussions with Fishkill’s planning consultants a number of changes had been made to the including adding to landscaped buffers and adjusting traffic flow into and out of the property.

A traffic study forecast minimal potential impacts from the development, anticipating 104 additional primary trips during the weekday morning peak hour and 85 additional primary trips during the weekday evening peak hour.

Attorney Lee Lefkowitz of the White Plains-based law firm Zarin & Steinmetz LLP told the Planning Board that the firm had only recently been brought in to represent the developer before the town and he expected it would take a little while to come up to speed with what had been done so far in the project’s review. However, he said his status of being new to the project should not be a deterrent to opening a public hearing on the proposal at the board’s March 14 meeting.

Planning Board Chairman Jonathan Kanter commented that the applicant had sent a letter to the Town of Fishkill’s supervisor complaining about the length of time it was taking for the review. Kanter said he interpreted the letter as an attempt to put pressure on the Planning Board during the review process and that the board would not be pressured and would do a thorough job.