The town’s strategic focus centers on the Chestnut Ridge Road corridor rather than the traditional downtown Kinderkamack area. Here, mixed-use developments have arisen, though not without consequences.“We did see a big increase in housing units seven to eight years ago with some of the mixed-use developments, and that does have a direct impact on services and traffic,”Voytus acknowledges. Learning from this experience, municipal leaders now consult with Colliers Engineering for planning expertise and coordinate with police and fire departments to assess capacity limits. “What we’ve had in the past may not necessarily be what we’re going to approve moving forward,” Voytus emphasizes.“We’re looking at individual sites, groups of sites and seeing what may make sense in terms of a change in zoning.” This careful site-bysite evaluation is a departure from blanket zoning policies, allowing for more nuanced development decisions. NEW BUSINESS SUCCESS STORIES Montvale’s business recruitment strategy operates on a deeply personal level, with Mayor Ghassali serving as the town’s chief ambassador to prospective tenants.The approach has yielded impressive results, transforming the community’s commercial landscape with a mix of medical facilities, restaurants, and innovative companies that serve residents and the broader region. “A few years ago, we put out a survey to see what the current businesses and residents were looking for as we started to reimagine the town,” Mayor Ghassali recalls. “Many of their requests were for more amenities, more restaurants, more options for food, whether it’s fast or sit-down fancy restaurants, there were requests for more services.” His hands-on approach includes weekly meetings with potential tenants seeking information about the town’s financial outlook and available support services. The results speak for themselves. Fleming’s Steakhouse opened last month across from Wegmans on Pier Drive, joining three or four restaurants that have launched within the past year. The medical sector has particularly flourished, with urgent care facilities, dental practices, and ancillary businesses 108 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 10
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