Special Planning Board Meeting This Week

Tomorrow, Tuesday, September 23, at 6:30 p.m., the Planning Board meets to continue its review of Colarusso's application for a conditional use permit for its dock operations. An article on the topic by Donna Streitz was the featured article yesterday on imby.com: "Colarusso review continues on Tuesday. Will the public continue to be shut out?"

On Friday, September 19, Colarusso attorney T. J. Ruane submitted a letter to the Planning Board, which can be found here. The letter reiterates the assertion Colarusso has made all along: that the review should be restricted to the repairs made to the dock in 2018, but, in fact, those unauthorized repairs ended the grandfathered nonconforming use status and triggered a review of the entire dock operation. The following is quoted from the letter: 

Colarusso maintains its position that the Planning Board’s scope of review under the City Code for the Application is limited to imposing additional conditions relating to the bulkhead repair at the Dock that are “necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of residents living in close proximity to commercial docks and the public while recreating and using public facilities adjacent to commercial docks.” City Code § 325-17.1(D)(1). Furthermore, Colarusso has constitutional vested rights stemming from its status as a pre-existing non-conforming use and its Haul Road Permit . . . which protect its operations. In addition, Colarusso’s operations are also protected under the Mined Land Reclamation Law (“MLRL”).

The letter then goes on to list the conditions that would be acceptable to Colarusso: 

1. To mitigate any potential dust concerns, Colarusso is amenable to:

i. Constructing a vegetative buffer and earthen berm (with material used from the stormwater retention pond to avoid any net increase in fill material at the Property) along the eastern and northern boundaries of the Property. . . .

ii. Installing fence “slats” in the chain-link fence running along the eastern and northern boundaries of the Property.

iii. Implementing the best management practices outlined in the Best Management Practices Plan [prepared and submitted by JR Heffner, Vice President of Operations].

iv. Re-paving, and periodically re-surfacing, the currently paved area of the Property.

2. To ensure continued compliance with the City noise ordinance, Colarusso is amenable to:

i. Implementing the best management practices outlined in the Best Management Practices Plan . . . ; and

ii. converting the primary power source for the material conveyor from a diesel generator to phase 3 power electricity provided from the grid.

3. To mitigate any potential truck emission concerns at Rick’s Point Park and Henry Hudson Riverfront Park, Colarusso is amenable to implementing . . . a policy that Colarusso truck drivers stopped at the Broad Street railroad crossing for a passing train, notify other trucks drivers. The other truck drivers will then either wait at the end of the Haul Road (for trucks traveling to the Dock) or at the exit of the Property (for trucks leaving the Dock) until the train has passed.

4. Loading and unloading operations shall not occur on major holidays (New Year’s, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas).

5. To further improve security at the Property, Colarusso is amenable to installing motion sensor lights . . . and implementing a policy . . . to keep the gate to the Property locked during hours when the Property is not in use

6. To improve views of the Hudson River from Rick’s Point Park and Henry Hudson Riverfront Park, Colarusso is amenable to removing the non-operational cement tower.

7. Colarusso would also be amenable to painting the exterior, and repairing the roof, of the guard shack at the entrance to the Property and removing of the truck scale and shack.

8. If, in repaving the Dock or removing the non-operational cement tower, Colarusso discovers that minor repairs are necessary to any of the Bulkhead tie-backs located under the paved area, Colarusso shall make such repairs

The landscape plan that accompanies the letter consists of three sets of three photographs, each set showing the dock area from a different perspective. Each set contains pictures that show (1) what currently is; (2) what is projected for one year from now, after plantings have been done; and (3) what is projected for five years from now. Click on the images to enlarge, or view the originals here. Needless to say, spotting the differences can be a bit of a challenge.

The letter also responds to two of the conditions suggested by the Hudson Riverfront Coalition (HRC). To the request that the culverts under the haul road be replaced to restore full tidal flow in South Bay, the letter denies the need for replacement and declares them not relevant to the application at hand:

The culvert pipes along the Haul Road do not need to be replaced. The culvert pipes were reviewed during the Haul Road Permit review process and were determined to be in good and working condition.

In addition, these culvert pipes are not part of the Dock, or the Property, and are outside the scope of this Application.

HRC also suggested that Colarusso provide public access to the 4.4 acres along the river that evidence shows still are owned by the City of Hudson. HRC also suggested that the haul road should be used by the public during nonoperational hours. The letter responds to those suggestions in this way:

The Dock operations comprise the entire Property and there is no feasible way to provide safe public access; nor is such access needed (the property immediately adjacent to the Dock is a public park with abundant public access to the Hudson River).

The 4.4-acre parcel and the Haul Road are not part of the Dock or Property and are outside the scope of this Application

To review the situation regarding those 4.4 acres: In June 2013, research by The Valley Alliance discovered that the City of Hudson still owned 4.4 acres of land on the waterfront south of the dock, because ownership of the parcel had been illegally transferred to St. Lawrence Cement (now Holcim) in 1985. (Colarusso purchased the property from Holcim in 2014.) The findings of The Valley Alliance were confirmed by a title search commissioned by the City in October 2013 and reiterated in a memo by former city attorney Ken Dow in August 2019. In 2020, Ryan Weitz, then the engineer from Barton & Loguidice who was the consultant to the Planning Board, proposed a driveway that would give access to the 4.4 acres. At a Planning Board meeting in May 2020, John Privatera, then the attorney for Colarusso, maintained that the proposed driveway was on land owned by CSX. Weitz, however, demonstrated that the proposed access was actually on City-owned land. Privatera dismissed the notion of access, maintaining that the 4.4 acres belonged to Colarusso. Privatera declared, "Colarusso has a deed for it, and they paid for it."

At the August 27 meeting of the Planning Board, attorney Victoria Polidoro mentioned Weitz's site plan that showed how the 4.4 acres could be accessed and requested that Colarusso provide an updated site plan that showed access to the 4.4 acres. It doesn't appear that such a site plan has been provided.

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