Events of Interest in the Week Ahead

The week ahead is filled with meetings, so much so that on Wednesday night there are two events of interest occurring simultaneously, blocks away from each other.

• On Monday, April 8, the Common Council holds its informal meeting at 7 p.m.--not at City Hall, but in the Community Room of Bliss Towers, 41 North Second Street. So far, the things of interest on the agenda are a resolution to sell 427 Warren Street, the old police station, to the highest bidder at a public auction and an amendment to the city code that would eliminate offstreet parking requirements. 

• On Tuesday, April 9, the Planning Board meets at 6 p.m. at City Hall. Readers should note that from hence forward the Planning Board will be meeting on the second Tuesday of the month instead of the third Thursday of the month. The agenda for Tuesday's meeting is staggering. It includes the continuation of the public hearing and review of the Stewart's expansion, a public hearing on the proposal to create a full-service restaurant, a "grab-and-go" cafe, and a year-round farm and flea market at 60 South Front Street, the continuation of the review of Colarusso's alterations to the dock and the proposed changes to the haul road, an application to amend a previously approved site plan to create an outdoor activity and cooking area at BackBar, 347 Warren Street, and one or two other things. Those planning to attend are advised to bring water and snacks and be prepared for another exceedingly long meeting.  
• On Wednesday, April 10, there are two meetings. The first is the regular monthly meeting of the Hudson Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, which takes place at 6 p.m. in the Community Room of Bliss Towers, 41 North Second Street. As always, it is possible that new information could be revealed at the meeting about the HHA's plans for rehabbing Bliss Towers and for new construction--plans that have been on hold since February. 

Also on Wednesday, April 10, at 6 p.m. in the Community Room of the Hudson Area Library, 51 North Fifth Street, Alexandra Church, professional planner from the City of Newburgh, will talk about form-based code and SmartCode and discuss the impact of form-based code on such problems as parking and affordable housing. Common Council president Tom DePietro has declared that this presentation will be the "kickoff event" for the Zoning and Planning Task Force, which was created by a resolution passed in November 2018 but has yet, five months later, to have its first meeting.

• On Thursday, April 11, at 6 p.m. the History Room at the Hudson Area Library presents the latest in its Local History Speaker Series: "Still Standing: The Farrand House on Fairview." 

Local historian Paul Barrett tells the history of the Farrand family farmhouse on Fairview Avenue, once know as "The Pines." The house is the Gothic Revival house, built in the 1850s, that is doomed to be demolished to create Greenport's latest new retail development, the centerpiece of which will be a new McDonald's. The presentation takes place in the Community Room of the Hudson Area Library, 51 North Fifth Street.

• On Friday, April 12, the Historic Preservation Commission holds its first of two monthly meetings at 10 a.m. in City Hall. The agenda for the meeting is not yet available.  

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