Library Bake Sale This Weekend

The Friends of the Hudson Area Library are holding their Spring Book & Bake Sale in the Community Room at the library, 51 North Fifth Street, this weekend. Here are the hours of the sale:

• Friday, March 14--10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Saturday, March 15--10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Sunday, March 16--1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

New and gently used books, including contemporary novels, biographies, history books, cookbooks, art, humor, and how-to books, will be available at reasonable prices, as well as patterns, puzzles, CDs, and DVDs. 

The Book & Bake Sale will also feature chocolate bars from Vasilow's Confectionary and a selection of delectable home-baked goods. Contributions of baked goods are welcome and can be dropped off at library on Thursday, March 13, or Friday, March 14, between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

For the first time this year, the Book & Bake Sale offers a Community Preview on Thursday, March 13, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Admission is $10 per person. You can enjoy first pick of all the books and other items for sale. Complimentary light refreshments will be served at the preview.

Following the Charter Change Petition

At the beginning of the informal Common Council meeting last night, Council president Tom DePietro made passing reference to "Communications." One of those communications was a memo from city clerk Tracy Delaney certifying that the petition to amend the city charter "complies with all of the requirements of law." The petition, which had been delivered to the city clerk on Wednesday, March 5, was reviewed, certified, and submitted to the Common Council two days later, on Friday, March 7.

No reference was made to the matter until, just before DePietro was about to call for a motion to adjourn, Councilmember Margaret Morris (First Ward) asked if there was a plan to respond to the petition. DePieto told her, "I have no intention of putting it on the agenda for a number of reasons that I have discussed with Crystal." The reference is to Crystal Peck, legal counsel to the Council. DePietro continued, "One is, even if we took it on and decided to make changes to the existing document, which I don't have much respect for, we're on their timeline, so it wouldn't give us a hell of a lot of time to do that. Secondly, they don't have to pay attention to anything we do."

Morris persisted, asking DePietro, "Don't you think it would be worthwhile to at least have a discussion?" There was further conversation among the councilmembers, which can be heard here, beginning at 1:04:35, during which DePietro opined, "I suspect the people who signed the petition didn't read the whole document." 

In the end, DePietro agreed to schedule a public meeting to give the Council and the public the opportunity to discuss the proposed charter change, which would transform Hudson's form of government from mayor-council to city manager-council and reduce the number of people on the Council from eleven to five. The proposed amendments to the city charter can be found here.   

According to the timeline, within the next sixty days, that is, before May 5, one of the following things can happen:

• The Council may adopt the law as proposed or not adopt the law.
• If the Council decides to amend the law, that is the equivalent of not adopting the law.
• If the Council does not act on the law at all, that is also the equivalent of not adopting the law.

If after two months no action is taken or the Council fails to adopt the proposed law (without changing it), an additional petition can be filed requiring that the local law be submitted at the next general election that is not less than sixty days after the second petition is filed.

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The Amazing History of the Van Hoesen House

On Sunday, an event that was supposed to take place in February but was rescheduled for March took place at the Hudson Area Library. That event was "If This Old House Could Talk." 

The old house of the title is the early 18th-century Jan Van Hoesen house on Route 66, one of the most significant historic sites in Columbia County. It is believed that, more than a hundred years after it was built, the house was the home of Quaker abolitionist Charles Marriott, and it was a station on the Underground Railroad. It was this period in the life of this house that was the subject of the presentation on Sunday by Fergus Bordewich and Ed Klinger, hosted by the African American Archives of Columbia County and the Hudson Area Library.

If you missed the presentation on Sunday, do not despair. Lance Wheeler videotaped the event, and it can be viewed on YouTube by clicking here. 

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Another Voice in the Dock Issue

Today, Dunn and Done LLC--Caitlin Baiada, Sean Roland, and Gabriel Katz, managing partners--submitted a letter of concern to the members of the Planning Board regarding the Colarusso dock operation. Dunn and Done LLC is the group taking on the restoration and adaptive reuse of the iconic Dunn Warehouse building on the waterfront.    

The letter, which begins "As leaseholders of the Dunn Warehouse and as immediate neighbors to Colarusso's waterfront operations, we would like to express our serious concerns" and calls for, nay demands, a public hearing on the conditional use permit (CUP) for Colarusso's dock operations, reads in part: 

If the C.U.P. is granted without limitations, it is likely Dunn & Done LLC will not be able to move forward with the re-development due to the serious negative environmental, health, recreational, and economic impacts it presents to Hudson’s residents and the waterfront. An active gravel transfer station without City imposed stipulations on industrial activities compromises the waterfront for recreational use and creates an unsafe environment for residents and visitors alike. Thus, we anticipate that the unmitigated risk of increased industrial use at the waterfront will impede our ability to finance and operate the project successfully. . . . 

For clarity, if the C.U.P is granted without stipulations, it is very likely that no revitalization of the Dunn Warehouse or the surrounding waterfront area will occur under our group's initiative.

The entire letter, together with the redevelopment concept presentation from October 2023 and the community engagement report from August 2024, can be found here. It will be remembered that Dunn and Done LLC partnered with the City of Hudson to apply for a NY SWIMS grant last year. Hudson was awarded a NY SWIMS grant in August 2024.

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Hotels in Hudson

All the information isn't in yet, but it appears that revenue from the lodging tax in 2024 may end up being less than what was projected in the 2024 budget. Reporting to the Common Council Finance Committee in January, city treasurer Heather Campbell is recorded in the minutes as saying, "We won't really know until the end of March what that number looks like. We can see it looks quite a bit lower versus where we were in 2023 and compared to the budget, and then you can see it looks very low compared to 2025. I think that's one of the most aggressive numbers but having said that, remember there's going to be a one percent increase that takes place." We may find out more about the status of lodging tax revenue later today, when Campbell makes her monthly report at the informal Common Council meeting.

It has been suggested the optimistic projections for lodging tax revenue in the 2024 and 2025 budgets were based on the expectation that there would be more hotel rooms coming available. Although no new hotels have opened recently, there are several that have been proposed and a couple that are currently under construction. At last week's Industrial Development Committee (IDA), Mike Tucker presented an analysis of the available hotel rooms in Hudson, which was prepared by Columbia Economic Development Corporation (CEDC). The study shows there are currently six hotels in Hudson, providing a total of 155 rooms.

The study does not include three smaller hostelries that identify themselves as hotels: The Amelia Hotel, 339 Allen Street (8 rooms); The Hudson Navigator, 251 Allen Street (9 rooms); and The Hudson Mariner, 26 Warren Street (5 rooms). The addition of these 22 rooms brings the total number of hotel rooms currently available in Hudson to 177.

The study also showed there are currently two hotels under construction—The Pocketbook Factory, 549 Washington Street (40 rooms), and Hudson Public (Galvan), 401 Warren Street (30 rooms)—and two hotels that have been proposed—Hudson Mansion (Casetta), 601 Union Street (40 rooms) and Hudson House (McKinstry mansion), 620 Union Street (50 rooms). These four projects will add another 160 hotel rooms.

 

The study did not include a fifth hotel that has been proposed for 10-12 Warren Street by Ben Pinzler, who owns the Whaler, the Mariner, and the Navigator. This hotel would have 27 rooms, which brings the total number of rooms in proposed projects to 187.

By Gossips' calculation, the current number of hotel rooms (177) and the number of rooms in projects in progress or proposed (187) brings the total to 364.

The CEDC analysis also looked at room rates on two different dates: March 12, 2025, and July 4, 2025. The data is shown on the chart below. Predictably, the least expensive hotel rooms are at the St. Charles Hotel, the most expensive are at The Maker. 

Update: At the informal Common Council meeting tonight, city treasurer Heather Campbell reported that the amount of lodging collected so far for 2024 is $439,739. What was budgeted for lodging tax revenue in 2024 was $632,500. There is still some lodging tax for 2024 yet to be reported, but it is anticipated that the actual amount will only be about 80 to 85 percent of what was budgeted.

The budget for 2025 set the projected revenue from lodging tax at $750,000.

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Meetings and Events in the Week Ahead

Yesterday, for the first time this year, the sun didn't set until 6:55 p.m. In this the first week of daylight saving time in 2025, here is what's happening.

• At 5:30 p.m., on Monday, March 10, the Common Council holds a public hearing on discontinuing a length of Montgomery Street that passes along the south side of The Wick Hotel and selling it to the owner of The Wick Hotel at fair market value. A map of the property can be found here. It seems the public hearing takes place in person only at City Hall. Written comments can be submitted to Council president Tom DePietro councilpres@cityofhudson.org until the end of the business day on Friday, March 14.

• At 5:45 p.m. on Monday, March 10, the Common Council holds a special meeting to consider three resolutions:
  

  A resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a license agreement with Hudson Sloop Club 

  A resolution approving the 2025 fee schedule for dock space

  A resolution approving a contract for Dan's Hauling & Demolition of Wynantskill, NY, to demolish and remove buildings from the Furgary Fishing Village

  The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.

• At 6:00 p.m. on Monday, March 10, the Common Council holds its informal meeting. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely. 
• On Tuesday, March 11, the Planning Board meets at 6:30 p.m. Colarusso's dock operation is on the agenda, but there is no indication if the Planning Board will be allowing public comment at the meeting. New on the agenda is Phase I of the Hudson Housing Authority's development plan, which involves the construction of two five-story buildings: Building A1, containing 52 units, and Building B1, containing 101 units. The Planning Board meeting takes places in person only at City Hall.

• On Friday, March 14, the Historic Preservation Commission meets at 10:00 a.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.  
• On Sunday, March 16, at 2:00 p.m., there is a rally in Seventh Street Park to protest the harmful policies and actions of the Trump administration. Participants are invited to bring their voices and their signs to stand up and speak out against threats to our democracy and our values.

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The State of Historic Preservation

For several decades now, historic preservation best practices dictated that new construction in historic districts should be compatible with the existing neighborhood but not imitative. New construction--including additions to existing structures--needed to be differentiated from historic buildings to reflect the architectural style of their time. The townhouse at 18 West 11th Street in New York City, built in the 1970s to replace the one destroyed in 1970 when a pipe bomb being built by the Weather Underground accidentally detonated, is often cited as the perfect example of new construction that is both compatible and differentiated.

The townhouse at 18 West 11th Street after the explosion

The building constructed in its place

 

Some members of our Historic Preservation Commission still seem to subscribe to the need for differentiation, but more than ten years ago historic preservationists started revisiting the issue of differentiation. An article that appeared in Brownstoner last week provides evidence that the Landmarks Preservation Commission in New York City has abandoned the notion of differentiation: "Landmarks OKs New Build for Vacant Park Slope Lot." 

The rendering below, which appears in the article, shows the building that was recently approved by the LPC. It is the second from the right. (The building at the far right was constructed after the building that originally stood there was demolished as a consequence of a deadly plane crash in 1960.)

This photograph shows the site as it currently is.

These photographs, from the New York City Municipal Archives, show the buildings as they were circa 1940.

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Don't Forget . . .

tonight, at 2:00 a.m., we spring ahead. After that, it's only eleven more days until the vernal equinox.

Differing Opinions About the Dock

Randall Martin intended his town hall meeting on February 27 to be an opportunity to learn "what the public is really truly interested in in the First Ward." He found out the thing uppermost on the minds of First Ward residents--at least the few that showed up--is the Planning Board's review of Colarusso's application for a conditional use permit for its dock operations on the Hudson waterfront. Martin explained, "I'm not here as a member of the Planning Board." Nevertheless the discussion of the Planning Board's past and future decisions regarding Colarusso continued.  

First Ward resident Nicole Vidor, after saying the Planning Board "sold us down the river" in its approval of the haul road, told Martin, "We have a shot to put some restrictions on Colarusso," regarding its dock operations. Martin responded by saying, "What we're doing is understanding what the court is allowing us to do." Margaret Morris, councilmember for the First Ward, pointed out, "There are conflicting legal opinions about the Planning Board can control."

Cassondra Britton, who seems to be the attorney now assigned to the Planning Board, has been telling the Planning Board that their ability to impose restrictions on the dock operations is very restricted. Other attorneys, however, have different opinions. 

The opinion of William Demarest, representing The Valley Alliance, Our Hudson Waterfront, and River District Economic Council, can be found here, beginning on page 7. 

The opinion of Kenneth Dow, who was city attorney during Mayor Tiffany Martin's administration and is very familiar with the situation, can be found here. 

Both are recommended reading for anyone who cares about our waterfront. We can only hope that members of the Planning Board are studying these documents as well.

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Whaling in Hudson? What?!

The film Whaling in Hudson? What?!, which premiered on Thursday at the opening reception for the exhibition Hudson: A History of Whaling & Maritime Commerce, can now be viewed on YouTube. To watch it, click here.

Hudson in the Times Union

Roger Hannigan Gilson has an article today in the Times Union about the Citizens' Initiative for Charter Change: "Experts question Hudson proposal to create city manager." This paragraph from the article identifies the experts and defines the problem they see with the proposed charter change:

Jason Grant, the director of advocacy for the International City/County Management Association, and Chuck Strome, executive director of the New York State City/County Management Association and the former longtime city manager of New Rochelle, said the Hudson proposal would give the manager “political powers,” whereas the position should be tasked solely with carrying out the policy of elected officials.

As the article points out, "Under the proposal, nearly all of the mayor's power would be given to a city manager." Considered most problematic is giving the city manager veto power over the Council. Jason Grant is quoted in the article as saying, "Once you have veto power, you are weighing in directly on what the policy decision of the elected body is. . . . If the council adopts a policy position, then that manager's responsibility, ethically, is to fully and faithfully carry out or achieve those goals, and if they can't then they should resign."

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Spear Weighs In on Dock Issue

Today, Peter Spear, declared candidate for mayor, posted on Instagram his letter to the Planning Board about the conditional use permit required by Colarusso for its dock operations on the Hudson waterfront. The letter is reproduced here with permission.

Spear's mention of the new comprehensive plan prompted me to check the timeline for its completion. According to what's published on the City of Hudson website, draft recommendations were to be ready in February. If they were submitted on schedule, they were never made public. One wonders who received them and reviewed them. The final comprehensive plan is due next month, in April 2025. What's in that plan will be a surprise to all but a very few.

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Another Election Meme

The primary is still three months away, and judging from the memes appearing on Instagram, it's going to be an entertaining time--especially in the race for Common Council president. 

Yesterday, Mark Allen created an Instagram post featuring Margaret Morris, who is challenging Tom DePietro for the position of Council president. Today, The Hudson Wail posted a meme featuring the incumbent DePietro, which I share with permission. 

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News from the IDA

Yesterday, the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA) approved a ten-year PILOT for the redevelopment of the Crescent Garage located at Warren and Eighth streets. The building, which was constructed in 1917 as a car dealership, where Packards and other luxury automobiles were sold and serviced, has been vacant for more than ten years. 

Also of interest from the meeting is the status of the 75 North Seventh Street, the second apartment building proposed by Galvan for the area of the city they have dubbed the "Depot District." 

As it is now being proposed, this building will have 75 units: 15 reserved for households with incomes of less than 80 percent of the AMI (area median income); 5 units for households with incomes of less than 130 percent of the AMI; the rest of the units (55) will be market rate. Galvan originally sought a twenty-year PILOT for the building. The application had this to say about the project:  

75 North 7th Street replaces a vacant lot with urgently needed housing and commercial space as part of the Depot District Neighborhood Development Initiative. It advances local development by creating an infill mixed-use building that catalyzes the rehabilitation of a historic neighborhood. The project addresses an urgent community need for workforce housing, including 20% of the units with rents (15 units) restricted to 30% of 80% of Area Median Income and 5% (4 units) restricted to 30% of 130% of AMI. There are no Income restrictions.

The application neglects to mention that the site was not a vacant lot before Galvan demolished the three houses that once stood there.

The IDA had BJH Advisors do a financial analysis of the project, and BJH came back with the recommendation that the length of the PILOT should be fifteen years rather than twenty. At the IDA meeting on Tuesday, Mike Tucker reported that this change was agreeable to Galvan. At the meeting, it was also decided that the IDA should move ahead with a public hearing. When and where that public hearing will take place has not yet been determined.

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Today Is the Day

The entrance to the Hudson Area Library is now adorned with a banner announcing the monumental exhibition contained therein, Hudson: A History of Whaling & Maritime Commerce.

Photo: Brenda Shufelt

The opening reception for the exhibition happens tonight, from 6:00 until 7:30 p.m. The reception will include a short panel discussion with library trustees Gary Sheffer and Joseph Ferris, representatives of the DAR and the Columbia County Historical Society, the two organizations that are collaborating in the exhibition, and Richard Bazelow, a local history researcher who has spent years searching special collections at museums, libraries, historical societies, and the National Archives for artifacts of Hudson's whaling past. At the reception, too, there will be a premiere of the short film by local filmmaker Karl Frederick Mattson of 542films called Whaling in Hudson? What!? A trailer of the film can be viewed here.

The exhibition is the occasion for Black Dome Press to reissue Margaret Schram's remarkable book Hudson's Merchants and Whalers: The Rise and Fall of a River Port 1783-1850. The reissue marks the twentieth anniversary of the book's original publication in 2004. I read the book when it was first published, refer to it often to check information I know it contains, and reread it entirely in preparation for writing the Foreword to the reissue, which I was honored to be asked to write. The book is an amazing compendium of information about the first sixty-seven years of Hudson's history, and I heartily recommend it to everyone. The book can be purchased at Spotty Dog Books & Ale, 440 Warren Street, and at the Hudson Area Library, the DAR, and the Columbia County Historical Society.

The exhibition is being commemorated in other ways as well. Kim Bach of Verdigris has created a tea blend in honor of Hudson's heritage called "Proprietors' Tea." The tea can be purchased at Verdigris, 135 Warren Street, as well as the library, the DAR, and the historical society.

Also, if you're into tattoos, Hudson River Tattoo, 724 Warren Street, is offering discounted prices on tattoos of Richard Kraham's 1970s SPOUT (Society for the Promotion of Our Unique Town) logo. A portion of the proceeds from these tattoos will go to the Hudson Area Library.

The exhibition at the library, which is opening tonight, continues through June 30, 2025.

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Campaign Levity

In an interview with Rich Volo of Trixie's List, Henry Hudson of The Rivertown Collective, the creator of the "Bosom Buddies" video, explained he had done it "just to bring a lighthearted twist to the election." It seems there are others using Instagram for the same purpose, as the would-be candidates for positions in Hudson government are declaring their intentions and seeking signatures on petitions to get on the ballot. 

Today, Mark Allen posted this fantasy movie poster on Instagram. With his permission, I share the image with Gossips readers who may have missed it. You can see the Instagram post here.

For those who may not be aware, Margaret Morris, councilmember representing the First Ward, last week announced her intention to run for Common Council president, challenging Tom DePietro, who has held the position since 2018.

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Planning Board Plaint

The February meeting of the Planning Board got off to a bad start. The Zoom link provided on the City of Hudson website did not work, and the meeting went on for more than half an hour before Randall Martin, the board's "tech person," sent the link to a livestream on YouTube to just three people: Council president Tom DePietro, Planning Board clerk Linda Fenoff, and me. That link was then circulated to others, but the first half hour of the meeting is lost to posterity. 

The Planning Board's response to these technical difficulties was to decide their meetings would no longer be hybrid but rather in person only. So everyone who wants to participate in the Planning Board's March meeting, which takes place on Tuesday, March 11, needs to show up in person at City Hall.

The decision to discontinue hybrid meetings, as well as the determination that a public hearing on Colarusso's conditional use permit for their dock operations because there was a public hearing on the subject more than five years ago, inspired Our Hudson Waterfront (OHW) to encourage people to write letters of concern to the Planning Board before Tuesday, March 11. The following is quoted from a communication from OHW:

Your comments to the Planning Board don’t need to be long to be impactful. For ideas on talking points, see our 2/24/25 letter to the Board, which addresses three of the biggest immediate concerns:

1) The Board’s decision to NOT hold a public hearing for the Colarusso Dock C.U.P. application. 

2) The Board’s decision to eliminate hybrid meetings in the future, thus requiring attendance in person and reducing transparency of Board meetings. (All other City meetings are hybrid, except for Zoning Board)

3) The Planning Board’s understanding of the scope of its review of the application in view of court decisions, which based on an independent legal review is NOT correct.

A few of our key findings:

• The last public hearing held for the Dock C.U.P. application was 5-6 years ago; it lasted one year (from July 2019 to July 2020).
• Only ONE member (Chair Theresa Joyner) was on the Board during that public hearing. She joined the Board midway through the hearing.
• NONE of the Board’s current legal counsel participated in the Dock C.U.P. public hearing.
• Based on an independent legal review, we believe the Planning Board’s understanding of their scope of review of the C.U.P. application under the City Zoning Codes is NOT consistent with the Court’s latest ruling and requires correction.
• Based on the recent Court’s ruling, the focus of the Dock C.U.P. review has changed since the past public hearing. The public has not had an opportunity to comment on the new focus.
• The Applicant did not provide information on truck volume to/from the dock, which the Board had been requesting for three years, until the day the public hearing ended; thus the public did not have an opportunity to comment on this either.

It should be noted that the main reasons this permit application has been such a long, drawn out and convoluted process are caused by the Applicant (Colarusso)–delays in providing essential information, lawsuits (Applicant sued the Planning Board twice), etc., NOT by the public.

As we say in the closing of our letter to the Board, the decisions made by the Planning Board will have long-ranging impact to our beloved City of Hudson and its waterfront, and future generations, for decades to come. The future of our city and our waterfront are at stake. The Planning Board should not take this review lightly or in haste, and should accept input from Hudson’s citizens, business leaders, and other interested parties--not just in writing, but in open and transparent dialogue.

Petition Submitted

This morning, members of the Citizens' Initiative for Hudson Charter Change submitted their petition to Tracy Delaney, the City Clerk, thus setting in motion the next phase of the campaign to change the structure of Hudson’s city government. 

 Tracy Delaney, accepting the petition from Nick Haddad and Kristal Heinz

The following is quoted from a press release issued by the Citizens' Initiative for Charter Change:

The bound and covered document, 138 pages in all, containing 240 voters’ signatures, represents several years of study and work by a team of local volunteers, all registered voters in Hudson.

The process now enters a 30-day period, during which the clerk is required to determine the legal sufficiency of the petition, subject to judicial review. Whether or not the City Clerk determines the petition to be legally sufficient, she is required to submit the proposal to the Common Council. It then has 60 days to consider the proposal. 

If the Common Council fails to adopt the proposal without change within 60 days following its filing, and such petition meets all the requirements of law, voters who did not sign the original petition may file an additional petition with the City Clerk requiring a submission of the proposal at next November’s general election. If this additional petition is found to be adequate, the Clerk is required to present the matter to the County Board of Elections to include the petitioned for local law amending the charter as a referendum on the November ballot. 

Finally, if the referendum receives a majority of the votes cast in November, the local law change will be adopted, and the new charter will be in effect as provided in the proposal, giving the Common Council two years to implement a council-manager form of government.

Change in the Fifth Ward

Yesterday, Vicky Daskaloudi, who has served as a councilmember from the Fifth Ward since 2022, released this statement:

After much consideration, I have decided not to run for reelection as 5th Ward Council Member so that I can focus on my health and family.

It was an honor representing the 5th Ward residents and the city of Hudson and I am grateful for all your support.

If the circumstances are right in the future, I will consider serving the people of Hudson once again in local government.

Last week, on social media, Claire Cousin, who in December 2024, resigned her position as supervisor for the First Ward when she moved from the First Ward to the Fifth Ward, announced her intention to run for councilmember in the Fifth Ward.

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Happening on Thursday

This Thursday, March 6, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m., is the opening reception for the epic exhibition, two years in the making, Hudson: A History of Whaling & Maritime Commerce. There is an article about the exhibition and all the associated research and events, including a trailer for the short film Whaling in Hudson? What!?, on Trixie's List. It is recommended reading.

"The Integrity of Our Historic District"

On Friday, the Historic Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposal to build an addition to the house at 105 Union Street and an accessory building, which together would result in structures covering close to 90 percent of the lot. 

Prior to hearing public comment, the owners of 105 Union Street explained why the house they had just purchased was insufficiently large for their needs. They explained that being able to build additional structures was a prerequisite for making an offer on the house. They said they had done their due diligence--talking with local realtors, code enforcement officer Craig Haigh, and the neighbor at 107 Union Street, as well as walking on Partition Street and seeing accessory buildings behind other houses--and had come away with a "positive vibe" about what they were planning to do. 

Although the folks at 107 Union seemed to have had no problem with what was being proposed, other neighbors did. The owner of 109 Union Street--the third house in the block of three--expressed grave concern about the massive scale of what was being proposed. She spoke of how it would compromise the architectural integrity of the trio of matching houses and also talked about personal issues: obstruction of the view of the river and loss of light.

Other neighbors expressed similar concerns. The neighbor at 101 Union Street said what was proposed would "completely change the experience of our house and our yard" and expressed concern about the neighborhood "if anyone can get a variance to completely fill the lot with structures." Similar concerns were expressed by the neighbor at 113 Union Street, who asserted that what is being proposed would "change the character of the street and of the neighborhood." He also talked about light and privacy issues.

After the public had been heard, Phil Forman, who chairs the HPC, told the applicants, "Public input is critical, but it is not the last word." Still, when the HPC began its deliberation about the project, it became clear that no one on the HPC, not even Forman who said, "I have a bias usually toward the homeowner," was inclined to grant the project a certificate of appropriateness. The discussion began with John Schobel saying, "Our jewel is the integrity of our historic district." Schobel went on to describe the project as "massive and inappropriate to the surrounding area." Massing and height were mentioned by other members of the HPC, as well as loss of light and air. Hugh Biber suggested there might be "other possible directions to address the neighbors' concerns about light and air" while meeting the applicants' need for more space. 

In the end, it was decided the HPC would give the applicants a chance to revise the proposal and come back. The project is also before the Zoning Board of Appeals for the extensive area variances needed to essentially eliminate the backyard and fill it with structures. The project has not appeared yet on the agenda for the ZBA, but it may be on the agenda for the ZBA's next meeting, which is currently scheduled to take place on Wednesday, March 19, at 6:00 p.m.

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Meetings and Events in the Week Ahead

We've made it to March, and in the week that ends with the return of daylight saving time, here is what's happening.

• On Tuesday, March 4, the Conservation Advisory Council meets at 6:00 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely. 
• On Wednesday, March 5, the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA) meets at 9:30 a.m. The meeting includes a public hearing on the request for financial assistance for the adaptive reuse of the Crescent Building. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at 1 City Centre, Suite 301, and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.

• At 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 5, the Common Council Legal Committee holds its monthly meeting. The agenda for the meeting is not yet available, but it is likely to include continued discussion of accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.
• On Thursday, March 6, the Columbia County Housing Task Force meets at 4:00 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at 1 City Centre, Suite 301, and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely. 
• Also on Thursday, March 6, the Public Works Board, tasked with implementing Hudson's Sidewalk Improvement District, meets at 5:30 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.
• From 6:oo to 7:30 p.m,, on Thursday, March 6, the Opening Reception for the exhibition Hudson: A History of Whaling & Maritime Commerce takes place in the Community Room of the Hudson Area Library, 51 North Fifth Street.

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