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| Dunworth Mews, Notting Hill, London|Wikipedia |
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| Photo: Linda Mussmann |
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| Photo: Linda Mussmann |
COPYRIGHT 2018 CAROLE OSTERINK
Sunday, July 29, 2018
More Land for Sale
In recent days, Gossips has reported on the City's land swap with HCDPA and HCDPA's possible sale of all its property and the actual sale of 213 Columbia and 214 Prison Alley. Now there's more land for sale, and the City, it seems, is being viewed as a potential buyer. The land in question is three parcels on the north side of Strawberry Alley, which runs behind Robinson Street. The County is looking to sell the three parcels and is offering them to the City of Hudson before they are auctioned off. There's a story behind how the County came to own the land, but it's not entirely clear why it still does.
Once upon a time, these parcels belonged to the Hudson School District, decades before the consolidation that created the Hudson City School District in 1966. They were part of the grounds of the Charles Williams School, which opened in 1924.
The building ceased being used as an elementary school in 1970, a little more than a decade after John L. Edwards Elementary School was built, and in the late 1970s, Columbia County started using the building as an office building. The Sheriff's Department, the Planning Department, the Health Department, the Office for the Aging, and the Mental Health Department all were located there. Signage that still exists indicates that the parcels now for sale were used for parking when the building was a county office building.
In 2003, ownership of the school building was transferred from the County to the City of Hudson. The County needed a parcel of City-owned land in the 300 block of Columbia Street in order to build its new office building at 325 Columbia Street, so the City took ownership of the school in exchange for the land on Columbia Street. For reasons unknown, the three parcels on Strawberry Alley were not part of the swap, although a fourth parcel closer to the school building, on which there is a garage structure, was conveyed to the City.
In 2011, when the City sold the school to Steven Johnson and Walter Sudol, who established the Second Ward Foundation there, it retained ownership of the parcel where the garage is. It is not known if the City actually uses the garage for any purpose. Now the County wants to sell the three parcels west of the garage and is looking to the City as a potential buyer.
Given the current interest in promoting infill housing and developing new housing on vacant or underused sites within residential areas, these three lots might be the perfect place to create a little row of houses whose design would mimic that of a mews. How charming would it be to have an address on Strawberry Alley? The people in the neighborhood might not be very enthusiastic about it, though, since they seem to have claimed these lots as a parking and vehicle storage area.
COPYRIGHT 2018 CAROLE OSTERINK
COPYRIGHT 2018 CAROLE OSTERINK
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Carole, where does the Chas Williams Park fit into this tale? This was the project Quintin was working when the fates befell him. Is that Park still on the drawing board? And what happened to to all that land -- abutting and below Strawberry Alley?
ReplyDeleteStill on the drawing board? Where have you been? Charles Williams Park was declared "all built out and complete" in 2015, although the reality bears scant resemblance to the original plans. It is the most underutilized park in the city. The dog park was going to be located there at the end of last year, but protests from the residents of the houses adjacent to the park nixed that. The three lots now in question do not abut the park. They are bordered on the west and on the north by private property.
DeleteWould those lots suffice as a dog park?
DeleteNot in my opinion, and I sure don't want to go up against the NIMBY wrath of those people on Robinson Street one more time.
DeleteCarole, putting aside the NIMBY issue (which in this case I think is misplaced but there is no need to get into that now), why do you think this location would not be suitable for a dog park? It seems to be about the right size, and parking could be easily provided here. And unlike the park location below on Mill Street, here there would be an ally between the backyards of the homes and the dog park, which would serve as a "buffer" as it were. As a matter of full disclosure, I live on Robinson Street, albeit on the other side of the street from where the dog park would be.
Delete(1) It's too small. Assuming these are three standard size Hudson lots, it would be approximately 78 x 120--9,360 square feet, less (by a considerable amount) than a quarter of an acre. (2) Much of it is broken up pavement and compacted gravel, which would have to be removed (at considerable expense) before a suitable surface could be created for a dog park. (3) Where's the parking? If what is now being used as a parking lot becomes a dog park, people using the dog park would have to park in the alley or in the Second Ward Foundation lot.
DeleteIf one includes the city parcel, the county gps utility suggests the area is about .58 acres (linked below). But yes, there is no denying that expense would be involved to make it suitable, and an arrangement would need to be made with the Second Ward Foundation (some sort of long term lease of a few parking spaces), if the entire .58 acres were devoted to a dog park.
Deletehttps://ibb.co/nH0DTz
Where have I been? You pretty much make my point (if questions can be considered point-making) by saying it's the "most underutilized" park in the City. In fact, I'm sorry I asked; Galvan might find out about it ... tent city for the homeless
ReplyDelete