Wednesday, July 19, 2017

An Update on the Escarpment

On Monday, Gossips reported that the city attorney and the code enforcement officer had determined that there was nothing the City could do to prevent or regulate the removal of foliage from the escarpment below Promenade Hill and Hudson Terrace and the ultimate application of shotcrete to the prehistoric wall of Ordovician shale. That's when Historic Hudson decided to take the concerns about what's happening on our riverfront to another level.


Since it's Amtrak, our national passenger rail service, Historic Hudson contacted our elected officials in Washington: Senator Charles Schumer, who last December interceded for Hudson with CSX; Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; and Congressman John Faso, who sits on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Historic Hudson also reached out to allies who share a concern for the river and the scenic vistas along the river: the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, Scenic Hudson, the SS Columbia Project, and Riverkeeper.

Scenic Hudson’s Director of Land Use Advocacy suggested yesterday that because the escarpment falls within the Front Street-Parade Hill-Lower Warren Street Historic District, a historic district that has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1970, and because New York State's Coastal Management Policy 25 advises against clearing vegetation and modifying natural land forms, the City may want to notify the NYS Department of State and the State Historic Preservation Office. The mayor and the city attorney have been made aware of this suggestion, but Gossips does not know if they have acted on it. Meanwhile, today Congressman Faso's office indicated an interest and concern about the situation.

One sad fact in the current circumstance is that the appearance of our city from the river, including the natural land forms, would be protected if Hudson had an approved LWRP (Local Waterfront Revitalization Program), but regrettably, it does not.

The pictures accompanying this post were taken this morning shortly after 7 a.m. Since then, the clearing has extended farther north and more pink and yellow dots have been painted on the rock face.
COPYRIGHT 2017 CAROLE OSTERINK

    3 comments:

    1. There must be someone in some federal agency who's making a discretionary decision about this action. Whoever it is, they're not immune from either the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), or the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA).

      NEPA is triggered by the area's listing on the National Register of Historic Places, while Coastal Policy 25 (below) is engaged by any action in the State's Coastal Zone, as authorized under CZMA.

      It's worth quoting the State's Coastal Policy 25 in full as it treats only of aesthetics. (Keep in mind, the removal of vegetation is one thing, the spraying of shotcrete quite another.)

      POLICY 25:

      "Protect, restore or enhance natural and man-made resources which are not identified as
      being of statewide significance, but which contribute to the overall scenic quality of the
      coastal area.

      "Explanation of Policy:

      "When considering a proposed action which would not affect a scenic resource of Statewide significance, agencies shall ensure that the action will be undertaken so as to protect, restore or enhance the overall scenic quality of the coastal area. Activities which could impair or further degrade scenic quality are the same as those cited under the previous policy, i.e., modification of natural landforms, removal of vegetation, etc. However, the effects of these activities would not be considered as serious for the general coastal area as for significant scenic areas.

      "The siting and design guidelines listed under the previous policy should be considered for proposed actions in the general coastal area. More emphasis may need to be placed on removal of existing elements, especially those which degrade, and on addition of new elements or other changes which enhance. Removal of vegetation at key points to improve visual access to coastal waters is one such change which might be expected to enhance scenic quality."

      The State's 44 Coastal Policies can be found here:

      https://www.dos.ny.gov/opd/programs/pdfs/CoastalPolicies.pdf

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    2. Exactly. What's the rush of city officials to wash their hands of responsibility here? We are citizens of the U.S. and last I checked Amtrak was a federal agency (of some sort) and we have every right to demand, as Unheimlich suggests, that it follow Coastal Policy 25.

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    3. Exactly. What's the rush of city officials to wash their hands of responsibility here? We are citizens of the U.S. and last I checked Amtrak was a federal agency (of some sort) and we have every right to demand, as Unheimlich suggests, that it follow Coastal Policy 25.

      ReplyDelete