January 23, 2024

Last week, many community members attended a wonderful presentation about the amazing Mr. Rosenwald of Sears fame. The documentary and conversations afterward spoke volumes about Rosenwald's collaboration with Booker T. Washington in having communities build over 5,000 single-room state-of-the-art schools in the deep South during the Jim Crow era. I was especially moved by how many in the audience had not heard of this significant episode in our American history. Thank you to the Ossining NAACP, Congregation Sons of Israel, our Village Historian, Joyce Sharrock Cole, and the Ossining Public Library for bringing this movie and conversation to our consciousness. The discussions and education will continue in Bethany Arts Center and some selected schools.

The first installment of the 2024 Village of Ossining Taxes is due on Wednesday, January 31st. In-person payments can be made at Village Hall until 6 PM on Wednesday, January 31st.

Click here to pay your Village taxes online: https://wipp.edmundsassoc.com/Wipp/?wippid=OSNV

Mark your calendar! A special message will go out next week, listing Ossining's Black History Month events, which will also be shared via our Weekly Web Blast.

There will be many celebratory and educational opportunities for all. Please send your event listings for Black History Month directly to webblast@villageofossining.org to be included in our communications with the community.

Last week, I committed to educating the public more widely about the volunteer committees in our municipality. Today, we begin our series with a spotlight on The Village of Ossining’s Board of Architectural Review & Planning Board (BARPB), consisting of seven regular members and two alternates appointed by the Village Manager. Folks on this Board serve a five-year term. The Village's BARPB is a combined committee with several duties. The committee chair manages meetings.

The purpose of the Board of Architectural Review is to:

• Find excessive uniformity, dissimilarity, inappropriateness, or poor quality of design in the exterior appearance of buildings erected in any neighborhood that adversely affects the desirability of the immediate area and neighboring areas for residential, business, or other purposes and by so doing.
• Impairs the benefits of occupancy of existing property in such areas.
• Impairs the stability and value of both improved and unimproved real property in such areas.
• Prevents the most appropriate development and use of such areas that contribute to the degeneration of property in such areas with attendant deterioration of conditions affecting the health, safety, and general welfare of the community.
• It also contributes to the diminution of the taxable value of real property in such areas and its ability to support the municipal services provided.
• It is the purpose of this article to prevent these and other harmful effects of such exterior appearance of buildings erected or altered in any neighborhood and thus to promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the community, conserve the value of buildings, and encourage the most appropriate use of land within the Village of Ossining.

The Planning Board's purpose is to review various applications, including Subdivisions, site plans, conditional use, and special permits (where appropriate). This Board also makes recommendations to the Village Board of Trustees with respect to zoning code changes. All of this is done with the full support of engineers, professional staff members, and specialized attorneys.

Click here to view the Village of Ossining’s Board of Architectural Review & Planning Board (BARPB) page. 

The remaining volunteer boards to be spotlighted are:

• Board of Ethics
• Civilian Police Complaint Review Board
• Environmental Advisory Council
• Historic Preservation Commission
• Landlord-Tenant Relations Council
• Placemaking Committee
• Police Reform Advisory Committee
• Recreation Advisory Board (Town, Village, outside Town combined)
• Youth Advisory Board
• Zoning Board of Appeals

As discussed during the Transportation Partnering Committee (TPC) meeting held on December 19, 2023, the Briarcliff-Peekskill Engineering Scoping Study - Executive Summary Report was created for your review for your review. Click here to view the report.

After reviewing the report, if you have any comments/edits, or suggestions, please forward them to Sandra Jobson, Regional Planning and Program Manager at the New York State Department of Transportation, Hudson Valley (Sandra.Jobson@dot.ny.gov).

There will not be a Work Session this week. However, we will have a Special Meeting in the Board Room at 16 Croton on Wednesday morning (1/24) at 9AM for the purpose of approving cabaret licenses for Elks Lodge, Karma Lounge, Here Coffee & Beer, and 3 Westerly.

Each year, Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed on January 27th. This is a day when the world remembers one of the most horrific events in modern history. The Holocaust occurred during WWII when Nazi Germany declared its desire to expand its regime and brutally murdered millions of people, including more than six million Jews, in addition to millions of people, which included homosexuals, Gypsies, union members, artists, political dissenters, and Western Allies.

Village of Ossining | www.villageofossining.org