Update on Hudson's Community Character Law

In June, the amendments proposed for Chapter 325, Article XIV, of the city code, "Community Character Preservation," were sent back to the Legal Committee for further consideration. At the time, Councilmember Margaret Morris, who chairs the Legal Committee said she wanted "a more robust conversation with the business community" regarding the law. 

Before the amendments were sent back to the Legal Committee, they were referred to the Hudson and Columbia County planning boards for recommendations. When the Hudson Planning Board took up the task on June 12, they seemed a bit unclear about what was expected of them, even though Council president Tom DePietro was present at the meeting to coach them. Planning Board member Randall Martin wanted to know if there was ever a public referendum about the law, which was drafted in 2017 and enacted in 2018, opining that prohibiting chain businesses in Hudson was "shipping a lot of jobs out to Greenport." DePietro told him the law had been discussed over the course of months, and there would be a public hearing. 

The Columbia County Planning Board did make a recommendation, finding that the proposed action "has no significant countywide or intercommunity impacts associated with it," but also making the following comments:

1. Business Expansion: It is reasonable to expect that a business with multiple successful establishments and continued growth may wish to expand and open additional shops, resulting in an established City business later being defined as a "Retail Formula Use." The CCPB suggests consideration be given to the options for that existing use in terms of continuance once the status changes.
2. Application Process: The CCPB suggests that consideration be given to reviewing the application forms a business must complete and submit prior to operating in Hudson. Determine if it may be prudent to incorporate question(s), attestations, etc., in order to verify the number of existing retail shops in operation.

Meanwhile, there was a business set to open in Hudson in violation of the law, the twelfth location of a retail establishment called "Clic."

Gossips has learned that the owner of the eleven other Clic locations will open a new retail establishment at 314 Warren Street, but it will not be called Clic. According to Craig Haigh, Hudson's code enforcement officer, "Their attorney reviewed the code regarding formula retail, and they changed their business plan to comply with the code."

The Common Council Legal Committee was supposed to meet last Wednesday, July 5, but that meeting was canceled. The next Legal Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 2.

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