Notes from the Cold Spring Village Board

Officials, residents discuss how to manage the crowds The Cold Spring Village Board meeting on Wednesday (Jan.18) was unusual in that it dealt with a single, though quite complex, issue: how to better manage the growing number of visitors coming to the village. The session wasn’t intended to produce answers. Billed as a community discussion and attended by about 25 residents in person and via Zoom, it did bring into focus the challenges faced by elected officials, businesses and residents with the 2023 tourist season just around the corner. Further off, but potentially more daunting, is the completion of the Hudson Valley Fjord Trail, a project whose organizers predict will bring some 500,000 visitors annually to the 7.5-mile Cold Spring-Beacon corridor. Construction of the first of three phases, the Breakneck Connector, is expected to begin this year. The issues are not new: crowds, traffic, parking, pedestrian safety, enforcement, trash, and finding the revenue to improve things. One of Trustee Eliza Starbuck’s introductory slides summed up the problem succinctly: “In Cold Spring, tourism is huge, but village resources are small.” Some highlights from the nearly two-hour meeting: Parking The village is poised to implement its long-awaited parking plan this spring or early summer. It will include residential parking permits along with metered parking on Main Street on weekends and holidays. Mayor Kathleen Foley said the village is also working with state legislators to expand the residential parking area beyond the 11 streets east of the Metro-North tracks. Down the road, metered parking will be considered for Main Street east of the traffic light — a state road which would require a special permit — and lower Main Street. Starbuck added that parking information for visitors will be expanded, and use of public transit encouraged. Irene Pieza, who lives on Paulding Avenue, noted that she won’t benefit from the residential parking plan and that, even now, when events are held at St. Mary’s Church, parking is “pushed up” onto her street. She also raised concern over people who “store” their cars on side streets, sometimes for weeks or months. Starbuck encouraged Pieza to submit photos to the village when she sees an uptick in parking in her neighborhood. “It’s not complaining, we need that data; it’s really helpful,” Starbuck said. Stone Street resident Patti Damato questioned the value of promoting mass transit as a means of getting to Cold Spring, commenting that the Metro-North train platform is already often overcrowded with visitors. Many people arriving by car, she said, are from New Jersey and Connecticut, which offer no public transit to the village. The Fjord Trail she said, will only increase traffic. Barbara Taggart, who lives on West Belvedere Street, said on busy weekends both sides of the street are filled with parked cars and she doubted larger emergency vehicles would be able to get through. Enforcement Foley said additional policing during the peak tourism season will be considered in the 2023-24 budget. Revenue The introduction of metered parking, primarily on Main Street, will increase revenue substantially, the board predicted. It also proposes making Fair Street one way on weekends, with metered parking on Saturdays; the tradition of free Sunday parking for churchgoers will continue. Improved enforcement, a proposed village tax on overnight accommodations such as short-term rentals, and a reevaluation of docking fees could also expand revenues. Kathy Gardiner, a Fair Street resident, expressed what she called a “suite of concerns” over the plans for Fair Street. “It’s one of the only streets in addition to Main and Route 9D where you can have two-way traffic” allowing vehicles to get in and out of the village, she said. She also said the number of hikers going to the trails makes the street dangerous and that adding Saturday parking “will make it even worse for residents.” Crowds The village is reevaluati...