Such was the case on May 24, when the application for a certificate of appropriateness for facade changes to 623 Warren Street came before the HPC. The applicant indicated that the hope was to open the restaurant for Pride Weekend, but the application was missing some important elements needed by the HPC to make a determination:
- a historic photograph of the building
- elevation drawings of both the Warren Street and the Seventh Street facades
- spec sheet for the new door
The removal of the facade happened the following Monday, and everyone was thrilled when old signage was revealed, from the period when the building was the location of Oneida Market. People were even more thrilled when the word circulated that the discovered signage was to be preserved and retained.
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| Photo: Stephen McKay |
Last week, code enforcement officer Craig Haigh issued a stop-work order, halting progress on the project until a certificate of appropriateness had been granted. Things might have been remedied in short order, but the applicant did not appear at the HPC meeting this past Friday with the requested elevation drawings and the specs for the door. (Historic photographs of the building had already been provided by Gossips.)
The word has been circulating since December that Pico de Gallo was planning to open a restaurant in Hudson at this location. Unfortunately, it's going to be a while longer before that actually happens . . . as a consequence of poor planning not the HPC or Hudson's preservation laws.
COPYRIGHT 2019 CAROLE OSTERINK
The cock rooster in the window now makes sense...
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this post, I learned that Ms. Osterink, its author, is a member of Hudson's Historic Preservation Commission. (Perhaps she has disclosed this fact in a prior post, but I could not find any such disclosure.)
ReplyDeletePreviously, I accepted the subjective nature of this blog with a grain of salt: it is entirely within Ms. Osterink's right, and she deserves credit for giving Hudson something resembling a local paper.
However, this particular post (maybe it was the snarky headline) gave me pause, and raises questions about the responsibility that someone in Ms. Osterink's position (which is to say, someone who reports on proceedings over which she also, apparently, has decision-making authority) bears.
Why pick on this one particular business? Even assuming the business did fully understand and knowingly defy the HPC's requirements, is it fair or appropriate to malign this one business above others that may have received stop orders? Or is it only the businesses and people that have offended Ms. Osterink's taste or politics that get this treatment? (Note, I have no association whatsoever with the business in question.)
More generally, I would urge Ms. Osterink to consider her influence in Hudson, and to reckon with the potential effects on our local discourse of so forcefully and without nuance deciding who is good and who is bad.
Actually, I'm not a member of the Historic Preservation Commission. I was for three months, at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, but I felt the need to resign because being on the HPC inhibited my ability to comment on preservation issues in the city. I announced my resignation--as I had my appointment to the commission--on this blog: https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2018/02/what-i-did-for-love.html.
DeleteI hardly think I am "deciding who is good and who is bad." Nor do I think I am picking on this business. This is a prominent corner, and people are watching work going forward--as evidence, the attention given to the exposed old signage that appeared on Instagram and Facebook, as well as on this blog. People are also eagerly awaiting--as I certainly am--the opening of Pico de Gallo in Hudson. My post was intended to explain the status of the project and exonerate the Historic Preservation Commission--of which I am not a member but am certainly an observer and critic--of any blame in causing the delay. A similar situation happened years ago when Park Falafel was opening on Seventh Street, and the owner tried to pressure the HPC to abbreviate its process because he wanted to open by Memorial Day. I covered that, too.
I stand corrected. (Hudson's website for the Historic Preservation Commission lists Carole Osterink as a current member, along with a city e-mail address.) However, there was a larger point about bias and integrity. This is, of course, your prerogative, and I commend you for your blog. But given how many people read it, I would humbly suggest that you think twice, or at least give both sides their due, before taking individuals or entities to task. (In this case, why did the HPC need your preemptive exoneration?)
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