An October Surprise Unique to Hudson

This October surprise has nothing to do with the midterm elections. Instead it relates to tomorrow's Planning Board meeting.

The Hudson Housing Authority (HHA) and Mountco, its development partner, are expecting the Planning Board to vote tomorrow night on granting site plan approval to the proposal to redevelop the HHA property.

Today, a group of Hudson residents, calling themselves Project7Hudson, submitted an alternative plan for redeveloping the HHA properties, which they are calling "Bliss Gardens." The plan, along with explanations of the rationale for creating it and presenting it, can be found here.  

A letter to the Planning Board introducing the plan, signed by Carla Sadoff, who is running unopposed to succeed Linda Mussmann as Fourth Ward Supervisor, explains:

Project7Hudson is a group of Hudson residents working with experts in architecture, construction, financing, landscape design, and project delivery. We are frustrated with the Hudson Housing Authority’s (HHA) current Bliss Redevelopment plan, and we are developing Bliss Gardens as an alternative. Bliss Gardens would provide affordable housing on the existing Bliss site, without extending development to 41 North Second Street. It is designed to reduce the complications, costs, and uncertainty tied to the brownfield cleanup and geotechnical challenges of Bliss Phase I. Our vision combines new homes, shared gardens, and a neighborhood park while keeping the Bliss community rooted in Hudson. The proposal is still taking shape, and we are seeking reputable developers and credible financing. We welcome residents and neighbors to help shape it.

This paragraph should have said "without extending development beyond 41 North Second Street" instead of "to 41 North Second Street," but that seems to be just an unfortunate error. 

In addition to introducing an alternative plan for redevelopment, the letter makes two requests. The first request is that the Planning Board not approve the application. The letter cites the following reasons for making this request:

• Phase II, which includes demolishing Bliss Towers, is not part of the application. HHA states that “Phase II is not part of the Site Plan application presently before the Planning Board.”
• HHA lists Phase II financing only as a “Potential Phase II Construction Loan Closing,” set for December 2029, more than three years away.
• If Phase I is built and Bliss Towers is not demolished, the site will hold about 301 units, while the environmental review assumed the tower would come down.
• Brownfield cleanup on the site still awaits final NYSDEC decisions.

If the Planning Board should decide to grant site plan approval, the letter from Project7Hudson requests that approval be given with the following "strong conditions":

1. Demolition security: Before any Phase I building permit is issued, the applicant posts a letter of credit or cash escrow, in a form approved by the City Attorney, sized to an independent estimate of the full cost of demolition and hazardous materials abatement.
2. Date certain: Demolition of Bliss Towers and Columbia Apartments begins within [12] months after the City issues the final certificate of occupancy for Phase I, regardless of whether Phase II financing has closed.
3. Deed restriction: Before the subdivision map (plat) is signed, the applicant records a restrictive covenant on the Phase II parcel, in a form approved by the City Attorney, barring residential occupancy of Bliss Towers once Phase I residents relocate. The covenant runs with the land and binds all successors and assigns.
4. Reporting: Until demolition is complete, the applicant reports Phase II financing and demolition status to the Planning Board every [six] months.

The letter concludes with this statement:

Beyond what the Board can require, we urge HHA and Mountco to make three further commitments voluntarily, as a matter of good conduct toward Bliss residents and the City: first, that the owner (41 North Second Street HDFC), HHA, and Mountco each accept full responsibility for the obligations above, binding on any successors; second, that every current Bliss and Columbia household receives a unit in Phase I at comparable rent, with no interim off-site moves; and third, that HHA and Mountco report to the Hudson Common Council on Phase II financing and demolition progress every quarter until demolition is complete.

If the applicant objects to these conditions, or the Board finds it cannot impose them, the Phase II commitment cannot be relied upon, and the environmental review’s assumption that Bliss Towers comes down has no support in the record.

Given that the Planning Board closed the public hearing on the project on September 8, it will be interesting to see if this communication is accepted into the record and if the requests made therein are discussed and considered at tomorrow night's Planning Board meeting. Whatever action the Planning Board takes, the alternative proposal has now been made public.

The Planning Board meeting, which begins at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, October 13, is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.

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