As we move further into January and the new year, here's what's happening on the meeting front.
- On Monday, January 9, the Common Council holds a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. to decide which of two projects the City will support in the next round of Restore NY grants. The two projects are the Pocketbook Factory and Phase One of the redevelopment of the Kaz site, a year-round farmers' market. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
- At 7:00 p.m. on Monday, January 9, the Common Council holds its organizational meeting, at which rules of order are adopted, majority and minority leaders are determined, and the makeup of committees is announced. The organizational meeting will be followed by the informal meeting, at which resolutions are introduced. Among the resolutions are those to sell the parcel on Rossman Avenue and the parcels on Mill Street and at the corner of North Fourth and State streets to the Kearney Group for the purpose of developing affordable housing. Both meetings are hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
- On Tuesday, January 10, Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA) meets at noon. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
- At 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 10, the Planning Board holds its monthly meeting. On the agenda for the meeting is a public hearing on lot line adjustments at 202-204 Warren Street, which seem intended to make the two buildings independent of each other. Also on the agenda is an application for site plan approval presented by Carla Perez-Gallardo, owner of Lil' Deb's Oasis, to convert the former TJ Auto Service Center at 735-737 Columbia Street into a restaurant. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Zoom. The link to the Zoom meeting has not yet been published.
- On Friday, January 13, the Historic Preservation Commission meets at 10:00 a.m. At this meeting, the HPC is expected to continue its review of Hudson Public, the hotel proposed by the Galvan Foundation for the corner of Warren and North Fourth streets. The meeting will be a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
A 30 room hotel at 4th and Warren WITH NO OFF STREET PARKING for guests. Is there a dumber, more insane idea designed to worsen traffic, parking and the general character of downtown Hudson? The hotel, if opened, will have a net negative effect on Hudson, not a positive one.
ReplyDeleteThe Maker likely would not have opened their 11-room hotel without their 12 private parking spaces behind the building. It's called being smart about operating a business.
Bill Huston
Restaurants have a requirement for parking per table, I believe. Parking is always overlooked for hotels it seems. Why?
ReplyDeleteThere are no offstreet parking requirements in the code. In 2019, an amendment to the city code was enacted which eliminated all offstreet parking requirements. https://cms3.revize.com/revize/hudsonny/Common%20Council/Agendas%20Meeting%20Documents/2019/April/Zoning%20Amendment%20(Off%20Street%20Parking)%204.2019.pdf
DeleteA discussion of the rationale for that can be found here: https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2019/02/fixing-zoning-code.html
It would be interesting to get Dan Kent's rationale for building a 30-room hotel and bar/restaurant in the heart of downtown without providing its patrons with any secured, nearby off-street parking where guests don't have to walk 3 blocks to and from their cars (sometimes at night), worry about getting a ticket night and day, break in/theft of car, and spend time and aggravation trying to find a parking space every time they use their car during their visit. If Kent responds that "the city of Hudson doesn't have any off street parking requirements for a hotel or any other business" as if that were sufficient reason, you have to wonder what on earth Galvan is getting involved in the hotel business for. The octopus that is Galvan has morphed into a destructive, inept monster, taking advantage of the incoherence at City Hall, which watches with glee.
DeleteBill Huston
So, Walter Chatham played a role in getting off street parking requirements completely removed, something which benefits Galvan greatly (140 apartments on 7th, hotel 30 rooms, tennis community building...). Doesn't he now represent Galvan as their architect or designer or something?
DeleteOne of my favorite quotes is one that goes, "The past is like a different country. They did things differently there."
ReplyDeleteThe thinking on parking requirements has changed dramatically in very recent years, driven largely by the work of Donald Shoup, whose work is summarized neatly here (the Vox video included is great):
https://parkade.com/post/donald-shoup-the-high-cost-of-free-parking-summarized
There should be off-street parking requirements for hotels and apartment buildings since, unlike say a restaurant, the guests' and tenants' cars being parked are remaining overnight. This necessitates special attention, something that is now missing in the Planning Board's assessments and decisions of projects brought before it. Anyone can see that 140 apartments on 7th street or the hotel on Warren without parking is a fiasco in the making -- even Galvan probably knows it. The Planning Board probably knew it, too, but their hands were tied. A lack of parking will never be an issue that sinks a proposed development, it appears. That is so unwise.
DeleteYep, it all originates in who you voted for. Complicated by hand picked appointees for this and that committee. It appears that Hudson has had successive Common Councils focusing on development at all costs. It's the ring of success on a platform but no common sense. Shiny+ gentrified = success is the hook. That has been important until the tipping point of where will all the vehicles bearing gifts sit while the amenities are enjoyed. The voters bear some responsibility. The hard questions weren't on the ballot or the table and not enough attention paid. Common sense is no longer the guiding principle.
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