Saturday, January 31, 2009

PUBLIC HEARING FOR TUBBY ROW

This would be an announcement to all my Rondout Neighborhood readers.

An issue has come t
o our attention that your quality of life may be altered depending on the outcome of a Planning Board meeting next week.

The owner of the Tubby Row Houses on Spring Street has submitted plans for a serious renovation of the building that would increase its occupancy levels substantially.

If the owner, Gordon Taylor of Altodena California, is allowed to proceed, he will renovate the structure to house 17 single bedroom apartments and one three bedroom apartment.

Alderman Senor and I are both concerned that this use would have an impact on the well being of that neighborhood. Although the structure is technically in Ward Eight, it will affect that portion of Ward Nine a great deal.

Basic plans for any dwelling require 1.5 parking spaces per bedroom. This reason alone is cause for concern, since there is limited parking onsight.

The owner made it known to the Planning Board that he had spoken to most of the neighbors around the building and has gotten plenty of support. Robert and I have doubts.

To allow this change in use, the Planning Board and possibly the Zoning Board will have to make changes and a special permit must be issued.

There will be a Public Hearing on this property on February 9th at 6pm at City Hall.

Alderman Senor and I are asking all of the neighbors who have an opinion either way, as to the change in use, to come to this meeting. There is plenty of parking behind City Hall and the side door entrance has an elevator for your convenbience.

To contact Alderman Senor before the hearing, call 339-2955


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It will make no difference at all if we attend. The planning board and zoning board are just puppets for the highest bidder. Who cares if the Landlord lives in california or Iraq, as long as he keeps the property up. He has a property manager and as long as codes are enforced there should not be a problem. After renovations are complete he will be re-assessed and be paying more in taxes, whats the problem.
Parking on Brewster street is a mess and you do nothing to fix that Mike. Worry about your own ward first. Senor a big boy and can take care of himself.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you should focus on the good old boys on the Boards appointed by the biggest pickpocket of them all.

Where will Kingston be when Sottile's campaign contributor Iannucchi passes away? Kingston to clean up the mess of another developer.

Anonymous said...

Once again someone wants to do good in Kingston and he hits a stone wall from you and Senor. Why try to increase the value of the property which would increase the tax base just leave it as is. Just like that old trash building on Henry Stret.

Mike Madsen said...

Hey 9:18 'On occasion, someone will ask that I use the Blog to announce what's going on in the neighborhood. I post something local almost every third time.

If I were to miss this public hearing or any others that have such an impact on a neighborhood, I would get reprimanded again. Don't you think?

Also, the other side of spring St is Ward Nine. It does affect the whole neighborhood. All I want is for everyone to be aware so, any voices in support of against have the opportunity to speak. I'm sure Gordon does good work and the Planning Board will do it's proper job.

Oh, and parking is terrible everywhere in Kingston, not just Brewster St.
Thanks for stopping in!

Anonymous said...

My question is: How many apartments are currently in place? Is developer adding to the building apts or taking away the number of apartments currently and combining units? The last time I drove by that faciltiy it was not in the best of shape. But I am concerned about an owner/landlord who doesn't live in or near the City of Kingston taking possesion. And would these apartments end up in a Section 8 designation? We have enough of those scenarios in the city at present.(pieces of our city properties being held hostage by developers)

It is good to see that neighboring alderman can communicate a common interest.Things/projects can get done if there is a common concern.
If there is a public speaking event at the planning board they need to open up MORE time for citizens to speak and not just a 10 minute window for all.Had previous dealings with planning board and to allow a total of 10 minutes for all to address their concerns is not really a public forum but rather "courtesy" to the public. Makes the citizens feel that the board has already made up their collective minds and that they are just going thru the motions when dealing with the residents.