In April 2013, Gossips published an account of the development of Mt. Ray Estates, the condo community on Academy Hill, overlooking the city and encroaching on our historic cemetery: "Five Easy Pieces." I recommend everyone read that post before continuing with this one.
When that post was written, the second spurt of building Phase II of the development was beginning. Phase II, shown in the plan below, involved a total of 28 units.
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| Plan for Phase II |
Nine of the units were built in 2006; another ten were built in 2013.
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| Phase I and Phase II--Google 2025 |
Now, almost twenty years after the site plan for Phase II was approved by the Planning Board, by a vote of four to three, the project is coming back to the Planning Board seeking approval for the final nine units of the project. The following is the narrative describing what is proposed:
The Applicant is proposing to construct three (3) three-unit townhouse style residential buildings similar to other buildings in the Mount Ray Estates Planned Unit Development (PUD). The infrastructure for the PUD was previously installed, including water, sewer, stormwater, electric, cable, and roadways.
The three (3) new buildings were planned for in the original PUD so all impacts were previously discussed and approved. Since the PUD legislation has lapsed, a renewal of the PUD is requested.
The site plan shows the buildings in the original design position. The nine new units will add some additional traffic (15-18 trips in the AM & PM peak hours), a few school age children (5-10), approximately 3,000 gallon per day of water and sewer use and will be very similar in style and character as the existing neighborhood.
The presentation to the Planning Board on Tuesday and the board's subsequent discussion can be viewed here, beginning at 1:03:30.
COPYRIGHT 2025 CAROLE OSTERINK
The traffic on Rossman Ave since the units presently there were built has increased enormously. A proper traffic study was never done. Ask any resident of Rossman and they will tell you. The egress from Rossman onto Prospect Avenue is dangerous and frequently blind if people park too close to the telephone pole at the bottom left. It is extremey hard to see traffic coming either way without pulling way out. I hope the Planning Board will give serious consideration to this. The angled crosswalk across Prospect at the bottom does not help.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Jennifer. This is a major accident on Prospect just waiting to happen.
DeleteCarole, there is absolutely no encroachment here and there never was.
ReplyDeleteI know that because I live on Wortman Sq and thus a very short walk away from the cemetery (during the non-snowy season the cemetery is where I run).
The first time I visited the cemetery I climbed up the hill (quite strenuous) where the low-numbered sections are to be found. There is zero spacial interaction between the cemetery and the condo buildings perched on top of that hill.
Your article you are linking to seems to be mainly complaining about construction-induced traffic on Rossman Ave which would be expected considering that Rossman is the only way to reach the top of that hill.
There's the air of NIMBYism here and it's not warranted. Hudson is still a real-world city where some amount of new housing is required and needs to be provided.
Did this market urbanist get lost in the gossips comment section? Can someone help him find his way home?
DeleteI was in the minority when the Hudson Planning Board voted 4-3 to advance the Mt. Ray application without ANY kind of environmental review. So now we've got a pile of beige plastic sitting on a spectacular hilltop overlooking the city and our historic cemetery. If that mess ever catches fire, we're all going to die from toxic polyvinyl chloride poisoning.
ReplyDeleteAnd more recently, the Planning Board approved a very ambitious gravel dump and truck route on our waterfront, and appears inclined to permit a big housing development where it doesn't belong on Mill St. One wonders if all this is the result of corruption or stupidity. In any case, it's a shame that a small city blessed with so many advantages has been so badly managed.
Hi Peter, could I ask you to use the sign-off "peter not meyer" when you post on Gossips. I don't know who you are, but I haven't bothered much with your intrusion on my petrus territory -- I'm not posting much any more, pretty much stick to education, and, in any case always sign off with my full name, peter meyer. Also, this is the first time I"ve heard from friends mad at me for a Gossips comment: yours, above. Please consider a new moniker. Thanks. --peter meyer
DeleteAlthough the Vinyl Village would not be my first choice aesthetically to put on top of the hill, it’s there now and is what it is. Holding back of these last few just seems spiteful and won’t change anything. We can use the property taxes.
ReplyDeleteThose of us that grew up here can attest to the treasure that was lost when these homes were erected. So many of us made our trips to "The Top of the World" where you could gaze down at the busy city below. Also spent so many days at the abandoned Academy Hill playground just below it. Sacred ground in my opinion . In the summer of 1976 my wife and I started dating. She was coming all the way from "the other side of the river" in Catskill and she suggested I show her Hudson. Dressed in a 70's sun dress and platform shoes I dragged her through the weeds to the spot my young nephews called "City Mountain". On that spot next to an old Coast Guard marker we had our first kiss. Decades later I purchased a small spot for our remains where we will eventually spend eternity together where it all began almost 50 years ago. No construction of any type can ever take those memories from us.
ReplyDeleteThat’s really beautiful and a sweet memory.
DeleteThanks for sharing. What a wonderful story!
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