In the LWRP zoning, a new district called IRC--Institutional Residential Conservation--was created to apply to the Hudson Correctional Facility to the south and the Firemen's Home to the north. (Hudson High School and the Elks Club are also located in the IRC district.) Permitted uses in the IRC district are single-family dwellings, public or private parks, and recreation facilities "including but not limited to walking and biking trails, information kiosks, restroom facilities, snack bar or cafe, swimming pool, athletic fields." In the conditional uses for the IRC district, the code seems to acknowledge what was already there: hospitals, sanitariums, philanthropic or eleemosynary institutions and convalescent or nursing homes, congregate housing, or homes for the aged (the Firemen's Home); and annual membership clubs (the Elks Club). But it leaves out this conditional use: libraries, museums or art galleries or antique centers. Did the person writing the specifics of the code overlook the fact the a museum had existed since 1927 in the area now being zoned IRC?
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| Photo courtesy Historic Hudson |
Whether or not the Zoning Board of Appeals sees its way clear to grant a use variance, the Common Council should amend the code to correct this obvious error and make "libraries, museums or art galleries or antiques centers" conditional uses in the IRC district.
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As someone who grew up in Northern NJ and observed in my lifetime the catastrophic result of unchecked development in my county--that years ago resembled Columbia County and now is a total disaster--I would say there is nothing more important than stringent regulation on development. Also in this time of mass extinction and global climate devastation, controlling expansion and development is of paramount importance. So in my opinion I would agree the zoning should be changed, but not to include more uses. I would zone these lands as restricted conservation areas, with no addition building or construction permitted, whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya, Slow Art. Today I drove back from Baltimore, which included a bit of Delaware and a lot of New Jersey. What a godawful mess we are making of this country. Commercial sprawl is a cancer.
ReplyDeleteThe primary reason property taxes are so high in Hudson is because approximately 50% of the real estate is exempt from such taxation due to its "not-for-profit" status. Consider: if even half of that property were brought on the rolls, the balance of the city's property owners would experience a 25% reduction in their property taxes all things being equal. Put another way, the City could provide some necessary and basic services such as the provision of crosswalk and sidewalks and garbage collection.
ReplyDeleteWe shouldn't be setting scarce and valuable resources aside; we should be utilizing them in a reasonable and responsible manner. This should include green spaces and respect for the physical and visual environment. It should also enable the construction of new housing, offices and retail options to expand the City's tax base, and provide sorely needed market-rate and workforce housing along with jobs.
lets get a list of what is off the tax rolls for being non-profit.
ReplyDeletethere has to be a PILOT plan so that the non profits pay into fund the city. each year more and more buildings go off the tax rolls while they consume the services more and more. it makes no sense.
I wish Gossips would publish the list of all the tax exempts. some are real -- some are only tax dodges. All should pay in something. in fact, the non profits probably cost the city more than the the ones on the tax rolls.
lets get a list of what is off the tax rolls for being non-profit.
ReplyDeletethere has to be a PILOT plan so that the non profits pay into fund the city. each year more and more buildings go off the tax rolls while they consume the services more and more. it makes no sense.
I wish Gossips would publish the list of all the tax exempts. some are real -- some are only tax dodges. All should pay in something. in fact, the non profits probably cost the city more than the the ones on the tax rolls.
Many municipalities have tried, and all have failed, to impose alternative charges on NFPs to make up for their massive suck on public resources. Public safety surcharges? Tried, failed. Fire district charges? Tried, failed. Etc.
DeleteA PILOT, by definition, is a payment "in lieu of" taxes: no court in NYS has ever, nor is likely to, impose a tax by any name on the NFPs. They can be zoned out of ownership but that does little for existing districts; if new zoning is implemented on newly-condemned land (say if the City did the right thing and took some of that fallow land behind the Fireman's Home and the middle/high schools . . .) then we'd have a chance to right the balance of the equities between a 2-square mile city, its residents and the vast number of NFPs that want to own property in Hudson.