Today at 5:00 p.m., the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA) is holding a public hearing on granting PILOTs and other financial assistance to the Galvan Foundation for the two apartment buildings proposed for North Seventh Street. Galvan has been touting the public hearing on its Facebook page, and, interestingly, Alderman Tiffany Garriga (Second Ward), who chairs the IDA, has reposted Galvan's very positive notice on her Facebook page.
The public hearing takes place at Hudson Hall, 327 Warren Street, but it can also be accessed on Zoom by clicking here.
Following the public hearing, the IDA has scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday, August 17, at 1:00 p.m. The expressed purpose of the meeting is "to consider the projects," and it could be expected that the IDA might at this time vote on whether or not to grant the PILOTs. The IDA's schedule seems to be driven by Galvan's need to have a positive decision by August 26, which is the deadline for submitting an application for funding from NYS Homes and Community Renewal. A PILOT agreement is needed to meet the threshold requirements for HCR funding. The problem is the IDA cannot make a decision about the PILOTs until the Planning Board completes the SEQRA (State Environmental Quality Review Act) process, and that hasn't happened yet.
Gottlieb argued that the Planning Board has no jurisdiction to review parking under SEQRA. He noted that the Common Council, which is the legislative body, eliminated offstreet parking requirements in 2019 and, in its SEQRA review of the action at the time, made a Negative Declaration, finding that eliminating offstreet parking requirements "will not result in any significant adverse environmental impacts." He noted that the Planning Board could only include parking in its SEQRA review if new parking were being proposed, and they were considering the impact of more impervious surface being introduced into an area.
The Planning Board, however, was steadfast in its concern about parking and seems to be focusing on eliminating alternate side of the street overnight parking as the solution to the problem. Larry Bowne suggested that Gottlieb could work with Mayor Kamal Johnson and DPW superintendent Rob Perry to help solve the problem. Laura Margolis said she wanted to "tweak alternate side parking" and supported the notion that the "Galvan people" should meet with Johnson and Perry to resolve the parking issues.
It seems there was a draft resolution regarding the Depot District site plan review prepared for last night's meeting, but it was not discussed. Bowne said the document "needs to be more descriptive about concerns we have about parking." It was determined that the public hearing would continue at the September meeting of the Planning Board. Regarding the funding deadline, there is apparently another one in October.
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Does the PB not have an attorney? Can't someone explain to the PB that it's not the legislative body for the City. There's no question that doing away with the parking requirements was the Council at one of its most recent nadirs. But no matter how much the PB wants to be the Council, it's not. This is precisely the type of PB behavior that got the City sued by Verizon (Bell Atlantic) earlier this summer.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone at this point still labor under the assumption that Cheryl Roberts or any of her minions actually represent the best interests of the Hudson community?
DeleteCounselor Roberts isn’t an elected official. She’s the agent of one. If you’re unhappy with her positions you are, perforce, unhappy with the position of her principal. I don’t always agree with her, but Ms Roberts is an attorney and not a policy maker and our disagreements are not grounded on the public statements she makes.
DeleteWhat a crap show this whole process is, and a parking nightmare it will be if this project is given the green light. I don't mind occasionally having to park 30 or 40 seconds from my front door, but asking me and my neighbors to look for a space nightly, if one exists, within 5 minutes' walk is absurd. Does Dan Kent or anyone from his Galvan team of liars park 5 minutes from their homes? Doubt it! Do any of the Galvan people live near 7th and State? NO! Maybe they should all give the 5 minutes walk to and from their cars a try for a few months before they force us to do it. And Miss Garriga shilling for Galvan? Please. She lives on the other side of town from the proposed project anyway. Even if she does own a car, her nightly parking won't be impacted. She's no help, either.
ReplyDeleteGarriga has been vocal in her curious pandering to Galvan for some time, though she is certainly not the only elected official to do so. Far from acting an honest adjudicator of the proposal before the IDA, she's been a vocal advocate of giving corporate handouts to an organization with no relevant experience as a developer, a dubious history with the Hudson community, and a consistently dishonest presentation throughout this process.
DeleteCertainly, her low level of support in this year's Democratic primary indicates how unhappy constituents are with her performance, and speaks against the kind of mandate one should have to lead a caucus as majority leader.
If Garriga isn't willing to take a principled stand on the Galvan issue, it's time for other Common Council members to replace her as majority leader with someone who can do the job correctly.
Remember, Tiffany Garriga the alderperson is the one who, a few months ago at a PB meeting, voiced her support for this project, concluding with "We need this project, worry about the parking later." Brilliant.
DeleteI recently did a little survey: I walked from Galvan's proposed project, on 7th near State, to the front of their planned 40-space parking lot at the corner of Washington and 6th. I walked at a normal pace for a spry, not-too-old guy, counted the steps and timed the journey. Twice. 275 steps took me 2 minutes 45 seconds. Of course, it will be more than that for residents to get to the front door of their apartments, as well as the steps and time in the lot. What about all those bags of groceries and other things we tend to carry to and from our cars? The time and steps really start to add up, you see? What doesn't add up is the whole damn project. Especially if Galvan and Hudson City Hall are okay with me and my neighbors parking 5 minutes from our front door. Let's see, that would only be about 510 steps on the most dangerous sidewalks on the planet. And more if I forget where I parked the car. NO THANK YOU. SITE YOUR 2 APARTMENT BUILDINGS WITH NO OFF STREET PARKING SOMEWHERE LESS INAPPROPRIATE! And stop feeding us nonsense about how there is plenty of parking in the neighborhood to accommodate your development. EVEN WITH YOUR PARKING LOT 3 MINUTES' WALK AWAY,THERE ISN'T EVEN CLOSE TO BEING ENOUGH ON STREET PARKING TO KEEP THINGS FROM GETTING TRULY UGLY.
ReplyDeleteI wish there was a 'like' button for this remark!
DeleteMe too !
DeleteWith all the constant discussion of parking for these 2 Apt Bldgs. with retail stores across from each other on N7th St. and Pocketbook Factory's project on N6th St.; Why is there no mention of how any of this might affect direct means of access and egress for the Hudson Consolidated Volunteer Fire Department 24/7? Why was this location picked to build the Consolidated Fire Dept., in the first place? Look at a Google Earth Ariel and Street View Map and explain why the P.B. sees no issues?
ReplyDeleteMr Friedman is correct that the Planning Board is over-reaching to discuss parking, though (and please correct me if I'm wrong, JF) traffic flow is a reasonable topic for review.
DeleteI think the Hudson Planning Board has to ask itself if it wants to turn Hudson into modern facsimile of the renovated South Bronx.
ReplyDeletethe South Bronx is not bad when you consider what it was, but do we really need a mega cutesy Depot District of "affordable" housing with all the bells and whistles of obsolete urban design from the 1980s ?
and in the end, can the city support this much "affordable" housing, which generates no real tax dollars to pay for all the extra infrastructure and services ?
Can Hudson grow on its own without all of these old ideas. Can Hudson just be itself in its own scale ?
The people are correct to note the parking issue…
ReplyDeletewhich is real and will turn winters into nightmares.
(Imagine a retired couple falling and slipping on our world-class sidewalks while dodging ice and carrying bags of groceries half a mile in the dark.)
But the real issue is that public housing residents, historically, are power users of public services.
Nothing wrong with that… but where will the tax dollars come from for 5-10% increases in costs and utilisation of police, fire prevention, the school, sanitation, and the ~$2m a year employment program for the mayor’s reelection campaign staff, aka The Hudson Youth Center.
The tax dollars will not come from public housing residents who, to receive public housing, have to prove that they are too poor to pay taxes, or actively manage their stated income to stay below the public housing cut off.
The only way Hudson will be able to afford all these additional costs across the board is if the council cuts the “Youth” Center and redistributes those public funds to public services that are used by more than a few dozen residents in our 5000+ person city.
Related, if people want free housing, healthcare, and education why don’t they just emigrate to Canada or move to New York City (which benefits from more federal and state funding than our small town).
When small towns try to become Canada they end up as Cuba. Great in theory, humanitarian crises in practice.
$2M is a vastly overblown figure for the annual Youth Dept budget. Moreover, it is fair to say that a community has a responsibility to provide recreation and after-school options for underserved youth and working parents.
DeleteWhether the funding for those programs should be provided through taxes is an open question, and given the way the previous director, Nick Zachos, mismanaged the Youth Department finances, staffing, and operations and used kids as a political cudgel, I tend to think an outside organization might ultimately be of better service to the Hudson community than a taxpayer-funded City department. Certainly the success of Friends of Hudson Youth has demonstrated that there are untapped potential revenue streams that don't put an undue burden on residents.
Otherwise you certainly hit the nail on the head. Lower income residents need more public services and Galvan wants Hudson taxpayers to foot the bill while they collect the checks. Galvan is interested in cashing in on poverty, not alleviating it, and they’ve shown themselves to be poor partners to the community time and time again.
If Galvan projects are getting this big could someone suggest building some parking garages under the plans that have wheel chair access and elevators. Outdoor WiFi hubs and bike parking stations might also help.
ReplyDeleteIn Galvan's desperate quest for parking spaces for their potential project on 7th Street west of State, they renewed their scope for available spaces. Their PARKING SUPPLY AND DEMAND SUMMARY from a recent letter to the board now includes spaces on Warren Street (between 6th and 8th); N. 5th between State and Clinton; Park Place; and even on 6th from Columbia to UNION!!! All but those on 5th are METERED spaces. It's beyond absurd. It's garbage, and the planning board should treat it as such. Someone living at 7th and State, or me and my neighbors at 6th and State who will be competing for spaces with the new residents of Galvan Towers, SIMPLY ARE NOT GOING TO PARK OUR CARS ON WARREN STREET OVERNIGHT OR EVEN FOR ONE MINUTE DURING THE DAY TO WALK ALL THE FRIGGIN WAY HOME. Who but those hired by Galvan think this can be a reality? Why does the PB even consider this nonsense? Bill Huston
ReplyDeletesorry, the Galvan's proposed project is on 7th, north of State, not west.
ReplyDelete