As a preamble to his reports on the violations at 123 Union Street and 402-404 Warren Street at the Historic Preservation Commission meeting yesterday, Nick Fox, who has been Hudson's code enforcement officer since February 2026, explained the respective roles of the HPC and code enforcement. This is the statement he made:
I have heard some recent discussion regarding the Hudson Public Hotel at Fourth and Warren and questions about the role of the Historic Preservation Commission when work does not conform to an approved Certificate of Appropriateness. I think it is important to clarify the respective roles of the Commission and the Code Enforcement Office.
The Historic Preservation Commission's responsibility is to review proposed work within the City's historic districts, determine whether that work is appropriate under the City's historic preservation standards, and issue a Certificate of Appropriateness when appropriate.
Once that approval has been granted, enforcement is not the responsibility of the HPC. It is the responsibility of the the City's Code Enforcement Office to inspect the work and ensure that construction is being performed in accordance with the Certificate of Appropriateness, the plans, renderings, materials, conditions, and other representations upon which that approval was granted.
When it is believed work may deviate from those approvals, it is the Code Enforcement Officer's responsibility to take appropriate investigative action. It takes time to conduct these investigations. We must thoroughly inspect the job site and materials, review plans, renderings, materials lists, review HPC meeting minutes, and conduct interviews. If enough evidence has been gathered to confirm the terms have been violated, that's when enforcement action is taken.
Last week, there were two Stop-Work Orders issued on two separate projects because the terms of the Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission were violated. One at the Hotel at 402 Warren, and one at 123 Union.
When an applicant is found in violation of Chapter 169, the next course of action is for the applicant to return to the Historic Preservation Commission and account for the work that differs from what was approved and explain why.
The Commission can then determine whether any of the unapproved changes are historically appropriate and may remain, or whether items must conform to what was originally approved and must be removed and replaced or repaired. But until that process is finished, no work will continue inside or outside those projects until it is decided if the noted discrepancies are acceptable, or must be rectified. Following the completion of that process, the Code Enforcement Office will determine what further action is warranted, including whether violations should be referred for prosecution and issued the applicable fines and/or penalties, including imprisonment.
To start this process, in today's meeting, I will present my findings on each of the projects and provide the applicant and Commission with a detailed list of the violations.
The applicant must then reapply to the HPC with these changes and any others that may not have been noticed . . . YET. Essentially starting from the beginning. If the new materials that were installed without consent are not approved by the Commission, they must be removed and replaced with what is.
Because that process may take weeks or months, in the meantime, the only activity
anyone should see at these sites is the removal of any fencing and construction barriers. With construction halted, there is no justification for continuing to inconvenience the public with barriers associated with work that is not permitted to continue until further notice.
great, now an eyesore in the prime section of Hudson will languish unfinished for who knows how long. This is not Williamsburg - just let the construction go on so the town looks functional and not mired in bureocracy.
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