Sad News That Escaped Gossips' Notice

Because they were scheduled at the same time as meetings of critical interest here in Hudson, Gossips missed the Greenport Planning Board meetings for November and December and consequently missed learning the fate of "The Pines," the Gothic Revival house on the site of what is to become Greenport's newest retail development.

In July, Ed Stiffler, chair of the Greenport Planning Board reported that the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) had determined that the house was eligible for listing in the State and National Registers of Historic Places and was asking that the house be incorporated into the design for the retail development. In October, a representative of Greenport Land Partners (the developer) told the board that, despite SHPO's determination, they still wanted to demolish the house and were trying to learn SHPO's conditions for allowing them to do it. The minutes for the November meeting of the Greenport Planning Board reveal those conditions:

Chairman Stiffler explained that the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) has provided a correspondence letter indicating that the structure in question can be taken down but will require three conditions be attached to that approval. Chairman Stiffler identified these conditions. The first condition is the building must be documented. The second condition is that a public exhibit of the building must be located in the new building or on the site that depicts the history of both the building and site. The third condition is that the building elements and materials should be offered to a local non-profit architectural salvage or other capable organization. 

The December minutes of the Greenport Planning Board provide no information about whether or not the developer has agreed to these conditions.

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