Update 2 PM: The Sloatsburg Zoning Board of Appeals meets Thursday, May 17 at 7:30 p.m. The public hearing part of the meeting pertaining to the Martin Lichtman use variance request will be part of the ZBA agenda.

It’s been reported that the applicant for the food processing plant use variance has cancelled an appearance before the ZBA. But the public hearing part of the ZBA agenda will be held, with the possibility that the ZBA will adjourn the public portion of the meeting.

Lichtman seeks a zoning variance to install a food processing plant.

According to a Journal News article, Lichtman wants to rent space to Joel Stern, owner of Guilt Free Gourmet, a Monsey-based business that involves the preparation, cooking and packaging of low-carbohydrate foods, which are sold in Orange and Rockland Counties. Lichtman contends the interior layout of his warehouse has somehow prevented tenants from renting the space, and seeks a use variance.

Sloatsburg’s current law prevents food processing within the village, including food cannery, slaughterhouse and stockyards. A food processing variance could be limited in use by Sloatsburg, but it also could set a variance precedent that would allow additional, future food processing activities at the site.

The Sterling Mine building in question was built in 1970s and has had a variety of tenants throughout its 40 year history.

The Rockland County Department of Planning already disapproved Lichtman’s use variance request, stating in an April 5 letter that Lichtman failed to demonstrate that “unnecessary hardship” exists without the use variance. The county recommended Lichtman take his appeal to Sloatsburg, where local law determines zoning use.

As an incorporated village, The Village of Sloatsburg has authority over its zoning and municipal code, just as other villages do in the Town of Ramapo. In an unrelated case — but one that explored similar local government authority — the Village of New Square allowed the operation of a slaughterhouse over the objections of village residents and eventually the Rockland County Planning Department.

The Sloatsburg Zoning Board of Appeals meets Thursday, May 17 at 7:30 p.m.