Thursday Public Hearing On Lifting Truck Traffic Restriction In West Nyack

RM MAG West Nyack, LLC filed a request on November 16 with the Clarkstown Town Board to have shipping and receiving time restrictions lifted for the Cambridge University Press property at 100 Brook Hill Drive in West Nyack.  The current zoning is LO or Laboratory/Office, which allows its present use as a book distribution center and prohibits overnight truck traffic.  The town board scheduled a public hearing on the petition for Thursday, Dec. 20 at 12 p.m.

Property owner, Cambridge University Press, wants to sell the parcel to RM MAG and agreed to the petition. Cambridge University Press has owned the property since 2003. According to documents filed with the town, RM MAG “intends to lease the parcel to third parties “who may continue the existing use as a book distribution center or as a warehouse and whole distribution center.”

The L/O zoning code restricts shipping and receiving of goods between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. The petition from RM MAG seeks an amendment to the current zoning law and the issuance of a special permit. Warehouse and wholesale distribution centers require special permits from the Zoning Board of Appeals. 

In the petition, RM MAG states, “ Modern shipping and receiving takes place around the clock. The time restriction currently in place severely limits the usability of the facility and its attractiveness to potential users.” 

The company notes that the property abuts a residential area to the west and asks for an amendment to the zoning code specifying all vehicular traffic related to shipping and receiving would be permitted to use major, secondary and collector roads but not local roads. The petition signed by Michael Grossman, an officer of RM MAG, states shipping and receiving traffic would access the property to and from Route 59 by Crosfield Avenue and Center Rock Road, which are not local roads and do not have any residential housing on them. 

The petition has been referred to the Clarkstown Planning Board and Rockland County commissioner of planning for review. The town also directed Principal Planner Joe Simoes to prepare a New York State Environmental Quality Review Act report.