TUSTEN — After discussions between the Town and residents regarding the possibility of conducting a town-wide parking study, the Tusten Town Board shut down the idea with a unanimous vote against authorizing Town Supervisor Johnson the ability to obtain a request for proposal (RFP) for a parking study at their regular town meeting on June 14.

Although the idea has been in discussion for months, the conversation of parking during the most recent public comment period was opened by the Tusten Parking Lot Committee member and owner of Lang EnviroVentures, Inc. Ned Lang.

Lang reported that among the other members of the Committee at their most recent meeting, Weiden was the sole supporter of conducting a parking study.

Narrowsburg Union co-owner and Town resident Brendan Weiden spoke in response to the Board and to other residents during public comment.

“Let’s start at the beginning, we have a zoning law ... the zoning law should be adhered to, and the town needs to enforce their zoning law as it pertains to parking,” Weiden said.

The ‘beginning’ is in reference to the recent debacle between the Narrowsburg Union and the unopened restaurant Bar Veloce just across the street regarding the limited amount of parking spaces the wine and cheese eatery currently has available.

According to Weiden, the lack of parking spots dedicated to Bar Veloce does not meet the Town’s Code standard in terms of adequate parking, and could negatively affect the parking situation for his tenants and customers at the Narrowsburg Union.

Tusten resident Star Hesse joined in Weiden’s sentiment regarding parking in general throughout the town, stating that parking has been a chronic issue.

Other residents raised their voices in turn, some saying that they believed that there is no parking issue within the town.

Upon conclusion of the public comment section and discussion, the Board ultimately decided to vote against authorizing the supervisor to initiate a parking study.

After the meeting had adjourned, Weiden told the Democrat that he wishes for the Town Code to be adhered to and be equally followed by every business in town.

Public hearing set for local law

Local Law #1 of 2022, which is intended to amend the Town of Tusten Zoning Law and Subdivision Law, was reintroduced with the date for a public hearing set for July 5 at 6:30 at 210 Bridge Street.

A few amendments to the law would include the addition of several parcels to the Roadside Business and Downtown Business Districts (Article III) and minor adjustments to strengthen language for the protection of water quality (Article VIII).

The entirety of the local law can be found and reviewed by the public before the public hearing on the town’s website, www.townoftusten.org.

Appraisals approved

93 Main Street’s fate moves forward as the Board voted in favor of authorizing Supervisor Johnson to begin seeking and contracting building appraisers at their regular meeting on June 14.

In summer of 2021, the town purchased the former Wayne Bank and the parking lot behind it located at 93 Main Street for $140,000. Since then, the question remained: what will the town do with the two properties now in their possession?

One answer that was discussed more recently was the possibility of moving Town Hall’s offices from 210 Bridge Street to 93 Main Street to acquire  greater office space.

However, after a series of comments from residents voicing their opinions mostly against the move, the Town Board ultimately decided to keep their offices at the current location.

During the discussion on the matter in May, the Board made the notion that they were to explore the idea of renting out the property.

Before then, the Board discussed the idea of hiring building appraisers in order to fully understand what the values of the properties are, and use that to make an informed decision.