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HARRISON, N.Y. Residents voiced their displeasure to rezone sections of Grant and Oakland avenues, reminding the Harrison Town Board that the zoning in this section was already changed to its current zone in the 1970s to accommodate the residential neighborhood surrounding the businesses.
These buildings were once commercially zoned but they were rezoned to discourage further development, said Ernie Fiore, a lifelong Harrison resident who lives near the area in question. If it is rezoned residents would be impacted. We already have problems in this area like flooding.
One option would be to change the area to a G-C Zone so the town could make changes to fit the area, which consists of several commercial businesses. But this might not be the way the town board wants to go. Trustee Marlane Amelio suggested looking at the area from the perspective of a master plan, saying that it seems that rezoning parts of Grant and Oakland avenues is like going backwards.
This just doesnt make any sense to me, Amelio said.
Resident Roy Aletti agrees that changing the zoning would not be a good idea. Aletti, who lives across the street from where the proposed rezoning is, said that the zoning was changed in the 1970s so businesses would stop encroaching on the neighborhood.
To go back and put the zoning back to what it was, even with restrictions, seems like a step backwards, Aletti said. After decades of having it zoned this way, we should consider a closer look at it before we do anything.
Trustee Steve Malfitano excused himself from the room during the public hearing, saying that members of his family own property in the area in question.
The public hearing will continue at the town boards March 15 meeting.
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