Gossips predicted that disgruntled neighbors of Pocketbook Hudson and supporters of honorarily naming City Hall Place for centenarian Lou Brenner would show up en masse at last night's Common Council meeting, but neither happened.
Regarding the proposed honorary naming, Council president Margaret Morris noted that, according to the law (Chapter 267 of the city code), if the honoree is a living person, the dedication requires the unanimous support of the Common Council. Since two members of the Council were absent--Gary Purnhagen (First Ward) and Jennifer Belton (Fourth Ward)--unanimous support could not be achieved. Consequently, the vote was postponed until the Council's May meeting.
Regarding Pocketbook Hudson, only one of the neighbors was present at the meeting. In his comments to the Council, he admitted that most people did not have complaints about noise, but the sound of the hotel's mechanicals and the restaurant's exhaust fans could be heard in his backyard and in the backyards of his neighbors. Morris told him, "We've gotten your email, we've gotten your petition. This is not something we can resolve here." The petition, signed mostly by residents of Washington Street, can be found here.
Sean Roland, one of the partners in Pocketbook Hudson, was also present at the meeting, explaining he was there to make sure the Council had the letter he had submitted in response to the petition. That letter can be found here. Roland made reference to the project's review by the Planning Board in 2021, maintaining they had done everything requested of them. "We're doing our best," he told the Council.
There have been questions about the project's conformance with what was specified in the Planning Board's site plan approval. That document can be found here. Morris suggested that the complaints about Pocketbook Hudson should be brought to the Planning Board. (Only one person serving on the Planning Board today--Eugene Shetsky--was on the Planning Board in 2021 when the project was reviewed and granted site plan approval.) Ken Dow, counsel to the Council, advised, "It's in the hands of code enforcement."
The struggle between a new commercial enterprise and near its neighbors calls to mind what happened in 2013 when Zak Pelaccio opened Fish & Game at 13 South Third Street (now the location of Feast & Floret). To help recall that time, there is this post from February 2013: "Where There's Smoke . . . ."
You gotta show up to the meetings people. Otherwise it looks like an empty petition, gathered by the most annoyed neighbor, for people that are upset they have to walk half a block to find parking. Remember, in Hudson, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
ReplyDeleteVans and delivery trucks, some quite large, parked on very narrow residential Prospect Street. How do they get there? Via Washington and Franklin or via 5th. Delivery trucks and vans of all sizes parked in a fire zone on narrow 6th street. Fire zones are supposed to remain empty at all times!
ReplyDeleteThis monster has ruined the neighborhood. Who would want to buy a house or live near it?