More News from the Planning Board Meeting

Although it wasn't mentioned in the agenda that appeared on the City website, the Planning Board held a public hearing on Thursday night on an amendment to the site plan for 78 Green Street. The building is currently being used as a wholesale bakery; the amendment would permit retail sales to walk-in customers. What is being proposed is a sales counter inside the building and (in warmer weather) two patio tables with umbrellas in front. No members of the public were present to comment on the proposal, and the public hearing was closed minutes after it was opened. Later in the meeting, the five members of the Planning Board present--chair, Tom DePietro, Laura Margolis, Rob Bujan, Cleveland Samuels, and Carmine Pierro--unanimously approved the amendment.

The Planning Board also unanimously approved the plan for an outdoor venue at Rivertown Lodge, 731 Warren Street.

Another item not on the published agenda was a new proposal to open a cafe, catering mostly to takeout business, and a space for games at 750 Columbia, presumably next to the laundromat and two doors away from our local Subway. The applicant explained that she wanted to target the "under 18 crowd" as well as hospital workers "at shift change." The Planning Board intends to hold a public hearing on the proposal at its next meeting on December 8, provided that the applicant submits a seating plan, indicating the maximum number of seats in the cafe, ten days prior to that date.

Another project introduced at Thursday night's meeting was a plan to build a new headquarters for Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood on three lots in the 200 block of Columbia Street: 209, 211, and 213. Two of the lots (209 and 211) currently belong to Warren Hudson LLC; one of the lots (213) belongs to HCPDA (Hudson Community Planning & Development Agency). The plan involves demolishing the building that currently stands at 209 Columbia Street and constructing a new three-story building in its place. The following drawings were among the preliminary plans presented to the Planning Board.

The Planning Board will hold a public hearing on this proposal at its next meeting on December 8.

The final project presented to the Planning Board on Thursday was the next iteration of 214-216 Warren Street, now the Savoia. The plan is to bring the building back to an earlier use and even resurrect an earlier name: Howard Hotel.

 

The part of the building behind and above what is now the Savoia will be transformed into a nine-room hotel and event space. The eastern half of what is now the Savoia (the ground floor of 216 Warren Street) will become the lobby of the hotel, and western half will continue to be a bar and lounge, primarily for hotel guests.

Kristina Dousharm Architecture + FDesign.co

As  do so many projects before the Planning Board, this one encountered a stumbling block with parking. The code requires hotels to provide an off-street parking space for every room--that's nine parking spaces--and the current plan provides for only three. The applicant is exploring options to provide the six additional parking spaces--acquiring land along Prison Alley, leasing an existing parking lot, purchasing permits from the City for guests to park in the nearest municipal lot. The Planning Board requested that ten days prior to their next meeting the applicant submit a narrative outlining exactly how the space will be used and explaining how the parking issue will be resolved.
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