The Struggle for Waterfront

Next Tuesday, May 6, the Planning Board will be holding a public hearing on Colarusso's application for a conditional use permit for its activities at the Hudson waterfront. The hearing is scheduled to take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street. There are efforts afoot to get the Planning Board to make it a hybrid meeting, but so far, the hearing is still in person only.

In the runup to the hearing, Our Hudson Waterfront is working to raise awareness of what's at stake. The following article was written by OHW's Donna Streitz.

What You Should Know (and Do) About Colarusso Dock Conditional Use Permit

Call to Action! On May 6, the City of Hudson Planning Board opens a Public Hearing on the Colarusso Dock Conditional Use Permit application. All concerned citizens are urged to attend and write to the Board to express any concerns.

The application is not a referendum on Colarusso’s local contributions or business reputation. It is a question of how to allow industrial activity at the waterfront while safeguarding adjacent parks, residents, businesses, and public spaces. It’s about how an industrial dock operation can coexist in harmony and not be detrimental to the ongoing development of our waterfront, to the adjoining public park where children play and adults recreate, to existing waterfront businesses that contribute significantly to the City’s tax base and provide good local jobs and enrichment to our community life, and to the health, safety and well-being of the public.

The Planning Board’s decisions will apply to all dock owners--current and future. Therefore, it is vital to establish clear limits, in accordance with the City Zoning Code and waterfront development plans, to prevent an unchecked surge of industrial truck traffic. Otherwise we could be facing something akin to the St. Lawrence Cement Plant threat of 1999-2005. Without strict conditions on the Dock Permit, heavy trucks could cross wetlands, parks, streets, and Amtrak lines almost every day--threatening our community’s safety, health, and future.

The Threat--Massive Increase in Industrial Truck Traffic: Since purchasing the dock in 2014, Colarusso almost tripled truck traffic from 2015 to 2019 (5,460 to 15,180 trips). If Colarusso proposes the same limits previously approved by Hudson Planning Board for the Haul Road Permit, truck activity could explode to tens of thousands of truck trips per year, or even higher without limits. With possible proposed limits, or no limits, we could see:

• 71,000 to >103,000 truck trips per year
• Up to 284 truck trips per day, or more
• Industrial operations up to 250 or 365 days a year

Please see Our Hudson Waterfront flyer for What You Should Know, and why it’s important to speak out before it’s too late.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

• Attend the Public Hearing: Tuesday, May 6, 6:30PM, Central Fire House, 77 N. 7th St, Hudson, and

• Write to Planning Board: Submit comments before 4:00 p.m. on May 6 to lfenoff@cityofhudson.org.

Be sure to check the Planning Board calendar meeting notice here in case meeting details change or are updated.

It’s critical for the public to voice concerns to the Planning Board, and it’s critical for the Planning Board to set strong and comprehensive conditions on truck and barge traffic to protect public safety, environmental health, and Hudson’s future. The community deserves a waterfront that is safe, clean, vibrant--and truly public.

Your voice matters. Please help protect Hudson’s future and our waterfront – attend the hearing and submit your comments today--before it’s too late.

Without strong conditions and limits aligned with the Zoning Code and waterfront development plans, tens of thousands of trucks a year could overwhelm the waterfront and road and rail crossings.