Philipstown Passes Oil Storage Ban

Town Board also approves theater plans
The Philipstown Town Board last week banned the storage of large amounts of petroleum products and approved plans for a facility that The Depot Theater wants to build at the Recreation Department off Route 9D.
During its Dec. 4 meeting, the board unanimously approved an amendment to the zoning code prohibiting "petroleum storage facilities" whose products "are used for resale or other commercial redistribution purposes." Gas stations and "hybrid petroleum storage facilities" are exempt, but other proposed laws would limit those businesses to the Route 9 corridor between Route 301 and the town's southern border.
The change was spurred by fears that an oil spill could contaminate the aquifer that homeowners and businesses rely on for drinking water. Under the former code, Philipstown only restricted petroleum tanks and facilities in environmentally sensitive areas if they held more than 400,000 gallons.
In 2023, Krasniqi Plaza, a heating oil business that owns the former Automar property at 3070 Route 9, proposed a project with three 29,000-gallon tanks. Its plan spurred Philipstown to pass, in December 2023, a six-month moratorium on large petroleum storage containers. When the town extended the moratorium, Krasniqi removed the storage tanks from its proposal.
Dennis O'Brien, speaking on behalf of residents of the Glassbury Court on Route 9, said their reliance on wells supplied by the Clove Creek Aquifer, which straddles Route 9 from just south of East Mountain Road South to the Fishkill border, makes it a vital resource. 'The Clove Creek Aquifer is much more important than having another gas station on Route 9," he said.
Philipstown is expected to pass two draft laws confining new gas stations and "hybrid petroleum storage facilities" - such as home heating oil companies and truck depots - that store up to 25,000 gallons of fuel to Route 9 between Route 301 and Philipstown's southern border and the stretch of 301 between Route 9 and the Nelsonville border.
Public hearings were held Dec. 4 but the town delayed a vote until January to correct language defining the southern boundary as "Route 202."
Depot Theater
The board approved a plan by The Depot Theater, which is located on Garrison's Landing, to construct a multipurpose building at the Recreation Department on Route 9D to consolidate its backstage operations and host programs in set design and construction, costume design and tech and lighting design for middle- and high-school students.

The theater will now apply to the New York State Council on the Arts for construction funding. Once completed, the building would be given to the town. "It will be a wonderful addition to the community," said Supervisor John Van Tassel.
In other business…
No one responded to the initial request for proposals to succeed the retiring Stephen Gaba as town attorney. A second request will be issued with a Dec. 31 deadline. Van Tassel said he had reached out to law firms. "They said most of the younger attorneys that are coming on board don't want to do meetings at night," he said.
It was the final meeting for Jason Angell and Megan Cotter, who did not seek re-election to second, 4-year terms and will be succeeded on Jan. 1 by Nat Prentice and Ned Rauch, who ran unopposed. Cotter said that "serving the community that I was born and raised in" has been "an honor." Angell said that there have been mornings when he's read the news and "been worried about the direction of our country. But I think one thing that always helps that worry is working with the local community."