Scenic Hudson Weighs In

Among the voices criticizing Hudson's LWRP and Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement, which Common Council President Don Moore and most of the members of the Common Council seem hell-bent to adopt before the year is out and Rick Scalera is no longer mayor (for how ever long that situation lasts this time), is that of the environmental group Scenic Hudson.

On Friday, October 7, Scenic Hudson submitted a letter to the Common Council and to George Stafford, Director of the Department of State Division of Coastal Resources, expressing the opinion that the FGEIS, which the Common Council accepted as complete on September 26, "undermines the positive vision for Hudson by accommodating the continued flow of heavy trucks through South Bay and the city streets. . . ."  

The letter quotes the 2005 decision regarding the proposed St. Lawrence Cement "Greenport Project" written by former Secretary of State Randy Daniels; suggests that the "two-phased approach" to remove gravel trucks from city streets outlined in the LWRP  "will never be realized due to lack of any strict regulations"; criticizes the FGEIS for not giving serious consideration to several important alternatives for dealing with issue of industrial transport; and asserts that, given the proposed designation of South Bay as a Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitat, "it is inappropriate for the City to adopt a plan that would allow for a use that would have a significant adverse impact on the habitat without first requiring any further analysis of the potential impacts or identification of mitigation measures." 

The letter concludes: "With all due respect to the City Council, the FGEIS the Council has said is 'complete' does not appear to reflect the community's consensus vision for the waterfront. The FGEIS instead purports to give license--without due consideration of several important alternatives or appropriate environmental analysis--to the industrial use of a new road across South Bay and the continued use of trucks on city streets that likely will undermine other investments in achieving the community's revitalized waterfront vision."

Click to access the full text of the letter.