Monday, August 10, 2015

Public Hearing Canceled

The weekend print edition of the Register-Star contained a letter to the editor from Danette Koke, in which she described the proposed amendment to the site plan for 347 Warren Street, which would expand the outdoor seating area of Back Bar, as "Life Pollution." 

In the letter, Koke predicted doom and gloom and the end of life as we know it in Hudson.
All of our property values: Down. Light to accommodate these patrons into the night: Bright. Air from the kitchen exhaust and folks spilling out into the surrounding streets and alleys for a smoke: Nasty. . . . How is it that this is even an idea that The City of Hudson would consider discussing? . . .  Will our fantastic little city turn into one loud commercial district of deafening noise and drunken traffic?
Koke may also be the author of an anonymous two-page letter, similarly arguing against the proposal, which was distributed to houses and businesses in some proximity to the site.

On Saturday night, Carmine Pierro, the Taghkanic resident who chairs the Hudson Planning Board, sent an email to Koke informing her that the application had been withdrawn, and therefore the public hearing set for Wednesday night had been canceled, and thanking her for her help. In a subsequent email to Koke, Pierro speculated, "My thinking is that he [Michael Davis] knows he does not have support for this project amendment at this time." 

On June 11, at the last Planning Board meeting to address the proposed amendment, Pierro made his feelings clear. "I'm not in favor of this," he told his colleagues on the board, "only because it's the third time around." The original site plan was approved in 2012. Last year, a return visit to the Planning Board was required to get approval for a storage shed that had been installed next to Once Upon a Taco, formerly Tortillaville.
COPYRIGHT 2015 CAROLE OSTERINK

3 comments:

  1. Interesting story on CBS Morning Show today -- about a neighborhood in Austin TX taking on the smoke ouput of a BBQ restaurant. Look at the smoke being dispersed across a much larger area than happens here. Just think about how bad it is in a small area even if not so many smokers.

    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/austin-texas-barbecue-joint-terry-blacks-barbecue-faces-legal-battle-health-smoke/

    Elizabeth Nyland

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  2. Danette Koke Seems extremely meallowdramatic. Out with the old in with the new! If you want to move upstate to a "country home" don't settle in the middle of Hudson! It's a city. if your looking for a quiet weekend getaway maybe try Claverack or Kinderhook or even some kind of over 50 development.

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