Dissing the Dish
Gossips has posted on this topic before, but it seems this is something that can't be repeated often enough--at least not if the message is to be heeded. A certificate of appropriateness granted by the Historic Preservation Commission is required in order to install a satellite dish on a building within a locally designated historic district.
Here's what the law says--Chapter 169, Section 5 of the Hudson City Code (boldface inserted):
A certificate of appropriateness is required to carry out any exterior alteration, additions, restoration, reconstruction, demolition, new construction, or moving a landmark property within an historic district, or to make any materials change in the appearance of such a property or its windows, or install or move a satellite dish.
The idea behind requiring a certificate of appropriateness is that the HPC can dictate where on the building the dish should be mounted, to avoid defacing the facades of buildings in the historic districts.
Alas, Gossips was alerted this morning to this dish, allegedly installed without a certificate of appropriateness, on the top of the portico at 28 Union Street.
Since it seems so hard to get the word out about this issue, and because oftentimes the dishes are installed on rental properties by new residents who are unfamiliar with Hudson's preservation laws, it might be effective if the city attorney, who is also counsel to the Historic Preservation Commission, were to send an official notice to all the companies that provide satellite TV in the City of Hudson, informing them to it is illegal to install a satellite dish within a historic district without a certificate of appropriateness, accompanying that notice with a map of the historic districts. How hard could that be?
Actually, it is probably not illegal to install a satellite dish in a historic district. The FCC rules say there may be restrictions in a historic district, providing the district meets certain criteria. Blanket prohibition is probably not allowed if the installation can be done in a way which does not detract from the historic nature of the district. The dish as placed in your picture, however, most certainly does detract would not qualify under the FCC rules.
ReplyDelete...in Paris we have a large neighborhood the locals refer to as "satellite city", dishes on every balcony, all new immigrants, tuned in to every language except Francais. if mid-hudson cable offered Spanish programming many dishes would disappear or at least we'd not get new ones and many tenants move on but the dish remains. on top ot that we have our Bangledeshi community who have every right to be entertained. it would make sense to inform the satellite installers that in an historic district, please place the dish away from the street. most installers get paid for production, not placement...
ReplyDelete