offices, and provides space for Village meetings and events. Dobbs Park, situated between Grand and Maple Street east of Old Post Road, hosts recreational and other local events. These public uses, combined with the mix of residential and commercial Municipal Building, Upper Village PAGE 63 ST A T E R O U T E 9 A 2. Upper Village 3. Croton Commons/Grand Union 4. Harmon ST 1. North Riverside AT OU E R TE 9A Village of Croton-On-Hudson, NY Figure 3.9. Commercial Centers: Land Uses Retail Stores Restaurants/Food-Related Uses Personal Services Offices/Business and Medical Services Housing Government and Institutions Auto-Related Uses BFJ Buckhurst Fish & Jacquemart, Inc. 64 CROTON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN uses, reinforce the role of the Upper Village as a central location and the symbolic “core” of the Village. North Riverside The North Riverside commercial center extends along the east side of North Riverside Avenue/ Route 9A, approximately from Prospect Place to just south of Grand Street. A small O-2 office district interrupts the commercial area just north of Grand Street. The center is bounded on the east by residential neighborhoods (twofamily and RA-5 single family) and on the west by US Route 9. North Riverside is approximately 8.5 acres and is zoned C1, for general commercial uses with a permitted FAR of 2.0. As with the Upper Village, lot sizes are small and buildings are close together. Many of the commercial buildings are former single-family homes. Some buildings contain mixed uses, with ground floor commercial and residential uses above. North Riverside and Brook Street, 1900 The uses in the North Riverside commercial district are a mix of commercial, residential, office, restaurants and personal service establishments. A medical suite is located in the office district north of Grand Street. The Washington Firehouse is located just north of High Street. As with the Upper Village, North Riverside is accessible by foot and car, although parking is limited to on-street spaces. The district has benefited in recent years from the installation of brick sidewalks, pedestrian-scale streetlights and planters. The orientation and setback of buildings improve the area’s “walkability,” especially north of Bank Street, where buildings are set flush with the sidewalk line and front onto North Riverside Avenue, creating a street wall and enhancing accessibility for pedestrians. South of Bank Street, however, the building orientation is mixed, with some buildings fronting on side streets and more varied setbacks. Uses in this section are more varied as well, with a mix of businesses and services, and there appear to be several vacant lots. Consequently, this part of the North Riverside commercial district is less inviting to pedestrians and appears separated from the rest of the district. North Riverside plays an important role as a commercial area and as a link to both the Upper Village and the Hudson waterfront. North Riverside provides pedestrian and vehicular access to the Upper Village via Brook Street and Grand Street. The Hudson River is visible from North Riverside and can be accessed on foot via the Brook Street pedestrian bridge. North Riverside, pedestrian scale and mixed uses north of Bank Street North Riverside between Brook and Bank Streets PAGE 65 CROTON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Municipal Place Shopping Area The shopping area located along Municipal Place and Maple Street includes the Croton Commons shopping plaza, the Van Wyck II stores, and the shopping plaza along Maple Street that contains the Post Office and several stores. The center is bounded to the north, south and east by single-family residential neighborhoods and to the west by Route 9. The southern tip of the shopping area, where South Riverside Avenue and Maple Street intersect, acts as a gateway leading into the Upper Village from Route 9. Municipal Place’s shopping plazas contain a mix of convenience goods stores and service establishments, including restaurants and take-out places, pharmacies, nail salons, cleaners and other stores. Most commercial space is occupied, although a Grand Union supermarket closed in early 2001. The center also encompasses several stand-alone buildings: an automobile dealership is located on the northwest side of Municipal Place, a gas station at the intersection of South Riverside Avenue and Maple Street, and the Croton Diner just south of Hudson Street. A vacant, undeveloped parcel (the Katz property covering 2.4 acres) is situated adjacent to the automobile dealership. Van Wyck II shopping plaza, on the east side of Maple Street The complex of shopping plazas along Maple Street are characterized by groups of single-story buildings set back from the street and fronted by surface parking lots. Although there is a pedestrian path on the east side of Maple Street, the layout encourages automobile use, and the lack of safe and attractive pedestrian connections discourages shoppers from walking from one plaza to another. The vacant Katz property creates an important opportunity to create a focal point