To maintain, enhance and increase the levels and types of access to public water-related resources and facilities, including boating facilities, fishing areas and Waterfront Parks, so that those resources and facilities may be fully utilized by the public in accordance with reasonably anticipated public recreation needs and the protection of historic and natural resources.

To encourage public pedestrian access along the water's edge in a manner compatible with adjoining privately owned land uses.

To encourage water-dependent and water-enhanced recreation in a manner consistent with the preservation and enhancement of other coastal resources and with the public demand for such recreational uses.

To encourage uses which further the revitalization of the City's waterfront in a manner compatible with the scenic beauty and recreational opportunities of the riverfront area.

Recreational fishing activities.

Park facilities providing passive recreation and water-related recreation activities.

Flood and erosion control structures, such as breakwaters and bulkheads.

Recreational activities which depend on or are enhanced by access to coastal waters, such as swimming, fishing, boating and wildlife viewing.

Scientific and educational activities which require or are enhanced by a location on coastal waters, including museums, construction of historic boat replicas, or other river-related educational facilities.[1]

Piers, docks, marinas and boat launching facilities.[2]

Charter boat businesses.[3]

Food trucks and temporary food stands.

Restaurants not exceeding 2,500 square feet. The Planning Board may grant up to 4,000 square feet if the applicant provides public restrooms on the first floor of the building, accessible from the interior as well as exterior of the building, and if the Planning Board determines that the larger scale of the building is appropriate to its surroundings.

Inns or bed-and-breakfasts not exceeding 6,000 square feet.

Marine-related retail establishments not exceeding 2,500 square feet.

Scientific and educational activities which require or are enhanced by a location on coastal waters, including museums, construction of historic boat replicas, or other river-related educational facilities.

Piers, docks, marinas and boat-launching facilities.

Charter boat businesses.

Uses customarily incidental to permitted uses and support facilities necessary to serve permitted uses.

Public festivals, street fairs, craft and art fairs and concerts. (Requires prior approval from City Council under § 23-7 of the City Code).

Boat service, storage and repair facilities, including the sale and storage of boat fuel, lubricants, parts, accessories, ice and bait.

Lighthouses or other navigational aids.

Short-term rentals in any dwelling unit, or room(s) therein, located in a one-family home, two-family home, accessory apartment, or multifamily dwelling, as provided in § 223-26.5.

All proposed activities and projects in the Waterfront Park Zone shall require site plan approval by the Planning Board prior to implementation, pursuant to Subsection G, and no building permit shall be issued until such approval has been obtained.

Certain activities and projects in the Waterfront Park Zone also require a special permit from the City Council. Where both approvals are required, nothing herein shall bar the simultaneous review of the special permit, site plan and any subdivision approval for the project. However, no final approval of a site plan shall precede the issuance of a special permit by the City Council.

Application. The application for a waterfront park special permit shall be submitted to the City Council. The application shall consist of narrative text, drawings and/or illustrations describing the proposed project. Drawings shall be submitted approximately to scale, but need not be to the precision of a finished engineering drawing or a final site plan. The application shall include the following:

City Council review of special permit application.

City Council decision on waterfront park special permit.

Conditions. In approving any waterfront park special permit, the City Council may attach such conditions, safeguards and mitigation measures as it deems necessary or appropriate to assure continual conformance to all applicable standards and requirements and to fulfill the intent and purposes of this law.

Time periods for development pursuant to special permit. At the time of approving a waterfront park special permit, the City Council may set forth the time period in which construction is to begin and be completed. The City Council may, in its discretion, extend any time period it has previously set where it finds that changing market conditions or other circumstances have acted to prevent the timely commencement or completion of work and that the developer has proceeded with reasonable diligence in an effort to assure completion of the work within the permitted time period. The extension of these time periods shall not require the holding of a new public hearing.

Revisions to special permit. After approval of a waterfront park special permit, any proposed revisions in the approved special permit shall be submitted to the City Council or its designee. The City Council, in its discretion, shall determine the appropriate procedures for consideration of the proposed revisions and whether such revision is material enough to require further environmental analysis, further project review and/or a further hearing, as it may deem appropriate.

Application for site plan approval. The application for site development plan approval shall contain all the material set forth in § 223-25B of this Zoning Ordinance. In addition, the applicant shall submit the following:

Planning Board review of site plan.

Time period for construction. At the time of approving the site plan, the Planning Board may set forth the time period in which construction is to begin and be completed. The Planning Board may, in its discretion, extend any time period it has previously set where it finds that changing market conditions or other circumstances have acted to prevent the timely commencement or completion of work, and that the developer has proceeded with reasonable diligence in an effort to assure completion of the work within the permitted time period. The extension of these time periods shall not require the holding of a new public hearing.

Adjustments to site plan during construction. During the construction of an approved site plan, the Building Inspector or the City Engineer may authorize minor adjustments to the approved plans which are consistent with the approved site plan when such adjustments appear necessary in the light of technical or engineering considerations which develop during actual construction, or when such adjustments are required in order to comply with law, rules or regulations made applicable to the subject property by any agency or instrumentality of the United States, New York State, Dutchess County or City government. The Building Inspector or City Engineer may, in his discretion, refer any such proposed change to the Planning Board for review. The Planning Board may determine to treat the modification as a minor site plan adjustment under this section or to treat it as a site plan amendment under Subsection G(5). If treated as a minor site plan adjustment, the Planning Board may authorize the Engineer or Building Inspector to approve the requested change.

Site plan amendments. If the Planning Board determines that the character of the proposed changes requires a site plan amendment, the Planning Board shall process the application as an amended site plan under this Subsection G and shall have discretion to determine the extent of further environmental analysis and project review that is required. After appropriate review, the Planning Board shall approve the site plan amendment by resolution.

Relationship to uses on surrounding property. The land uses in a Waterfront Park project shall relate, visually and functionally, with surrounding land areas, including Long Dock, Riverfront Park, Dennings Point, Federal Paperboard property and the Metro-North Train Station. Elements of the project site plan, particularly those at the entrance, shall relate compatibly with other elements of the City waterfront.

Relationship to river. All elements of a project within the WP Zone shall also be sensitive to the site's relationship to the river and shall be designed accordingly.

Provision of view corridors. The site shall be developed in such a way as to maximize important views and to provide view opportunities at the river's edge and view corridors throughout the development. Site layout and design shall consider view corridors identified in the LWRP and shall also consider important views from Riverfront Park and from the Hudson River toward the shore. Important views should be protected and enhanced to the maximum extent practicable.

Architectural design standards.

Energy efficiency. The plan for development of any Waterfront Park project shall be designed and arranged in such a way as to promote energy efficiency to the maximum extent practicable for all buildings.

Landscaping, screening and buffering.

Lighting. Streets, drives, walks and other outdoor areas shall be properly lighted to promote safety and encourage pedestrian use. All exterior lighting for the project shall be directed downward or otherwise appropriately shielded and designed to minimize excessive light. It shall have an attractive appearance compatible with the overall project design and waterfront character. Lighting type, number and locations shall be subject to Planning Board review and approval as part of the site plan review.

Signage.

Vehicular circulation system and traffic access. The rights-of-way and pavement widths for all internal streets, drives, walks or other accessways for vehicles and/or pedestrians shall be determined on the basis of sound current planning and engineering standards, which shall accommodate projected demand but minimize impervious surface to the maximum extent possible.

Public access. Waterfront Park developments should be encouraged to provide pedestrian public access in a manner which:

Off-street parking and loading shall be provided in accordance with § 223-26.

On-site utilities and services.

Floodplain. Waterfront Park projects shall comply with the applicable provisions of the Beacon Local Law for Flood Damage Prevention.[8]

To encourage compact, mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented development near transit facilities that supports increased mobility, housing choice, and economic vitality while balancing automobile dependence.

To provide for land uses consistent with the Beacon Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan and Comprehensive Plan, including residential and commercial uses, to serve as a catalyst for the economic and physical revitalization of the entire waterfront area.

To encourage a mix of uses with a consistent set of design standards to assure a unified and comprehensively planned development that will function effectively and achieve a high standard of site planning and architectural design.

To eliminate deteriorated structures and incompatible, visually unattractive or otherwise deleterious land uses.

To increase pedestrian public access to, and the potential for the enjoyment of, the waterfront and public park(s) and to integrate that access with existing and anticipated pedestrian public access opportunities on adjacent public lands.

Application for site plan approval. The application for site plan approval shall contain all the material set forth in § 223-25B of this Zoning Ordinance. In addition, the applicant shall submit the following:

Planning Board review of site plan.

Time period for construction. At the time of approving the site plan, the Planning Board may set forth the time period in which construction is to begin and be completed. The Planning Board may, in its discretion, extend any time period it has previously set where it finds that changing market conditions or other circumstances have acted to prevent the timely commencement or completion of work, and that the developer has proceeded with reasonable diligence in an effort to assure completion of the work within the permitted time period. The extension of these time periods shall not require the holding of a new public hearing.

Comprehensive design. The TS Zone allows for site planning and use of the two specified areas: north area and south area. While the TS north area is expected to contain primarily residential development, the southern portion of the district is expected to contain various elements of mixed-use development (e.g., residential, commercial, retail, cultural, etc.). Each area must be planned with a comprehensive plan for ingress, egress, circulation and utility service. The architectural styles of various buildings must be compatible within each area of the TS district and must attain high standards of design.

Relationship to river and train station. All elements of a project within the TS Zone shall consider the site's relationship to the river and the train station, and shall be designed accordingly.

Provision of view corridors. The sites shall be developed in such a way as to preserve important public views from upland locations as specified but not limited to view corridors identified in the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP). For the TS north area, building rooflines should step down, from north to south, to follow contour and elevation of the topography directly to the east of the development site. For the TS south area, building roofline should step down, from east to west, to protect views from Beekman and River Streets to maximum extent practicable. No building in the TS south area shall exceed 32 feet in height as measured from the average grade at the curb line of Beekman Street, consistent with the bulk regulations of § 223-41.7 and as illustrated in Attachment 4.

Architectural design standards.

Energy efficiency. The plan for development of any project shall be designed and arranged in such a way as to promote energy efficiency to the maximum extent practicable for all buildings. All buildings should meet or exceed LEED Silver rating or equivalency.

Landscaping, screening and buffering.

Lighting. Streets, drives, walks, exterior building facades and other outdoor areas shall be properly lighted to promote safety and encourage pedestrian use. All exterior lighting for the project shall be dark-sky-compliant, fully shielded, and directed downward or otherwise appropriately shielded and designed to minimize excessive light. It shall have an attractive appearance compatible with the overall project design and waterfront character. Lighting intensity, fixture type (including lumen output), number, and locations shall be subject to Planning Board review and approval as part of the site plan review. Layered lighting approaches (e.g., pedestrian-scale lighting supplemented with low-lumen accent or building lighting) are encouraged where appropriate to enhance safety and aesthetics without over-lighting.

Signage.

Vehicular circulation system and traffic access. The rights-of-way and pavement widths for all internal streets, drives, parking structures, walks or other access ways for vehicles, bicycles and/or pedestrians shall be determined on the basis of sound current planning and engineering standards, which shall accommodate projected demand but minimize impervious surface to the maximum extent possible. Site plan submissions shall include analysis of ingress and egress conditions, internal vehicular circulation (including parking areas), and pedestrian and bicycle circulation, particularly in relation to existing Metro-North parking and access constraints. Such analyses shall be of sufficient detail to demonstrate safe, efficient, and coordinated multimodal circulation throughout the site.

Public access. While development in the TS north area is expected to be primarily residential, development in the TS south area is expected to accommodate public access to the train station and Beacon waterfront. Creation of public access will require balancing the provision of public access with certain private elements for the security and benefit of any residential development's residents and property owners. A clear boundary should be maintained between publicly accessible and private space. Public access must be provided to allow for pedestrians and bicycles to travel along the north-south axis of the property to allow for future connection to a trail system extending from the Town of Fishkill border, including consideration of connection to the Beacon Newburgh bridge and other trail systems and a connection to the train station. The public access on the northern parcel should be on the western side of the property to allow for river views and be parallel to the train tracks. In designing the public access, the applicant and the Planning Board shall consider the design concepts (but not the location concepts) of the City's trail planning documents to ensure that public access is created in a manner which:

Off-street parking and loading shall be provided in accordance with § 223-26.

On-site utilities and services:

Floodplain. The TS development plan shall comply with the applicable provisions of Chapter 123 of this Code.

Area north of West Main Street (see illustration[1]): Average of four stories of residential/mixed use over parking. Height may not exceed average of 75 feet from average grade of the existing Metro-North parking.

Area south of Light Industry (LI) zone (see illustration[2]): Average of three stories of residential/mixed use over parking. Height may not exceed average of 32 feet at Beekman Street, nor more than average of 70 feet above the average grade of the existing Metro-North parking.

The illustrations of height attached in this subsection shall not be exceeded so that the public views to the east are adequately protected.