fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Holiday Gift Subscription
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

New apartment complex approved for downtown Gardiner

by Frances Marion Platt
April 14, 2016
in Politics & Government
0

After more than two years of review before the Gardiner Planning Board, a small development in the hamlet originally intended as a commercial extension of the Gardiner Gables shopping center has finally gotten the green light — as a residential complex.

The parcel, located at the southeast corner of Sand Hill Road and Route 44/55, has long been the property of Gardiner Gables owner Robert Colucci. In his original mixed-use concept, Colucci proposed to renovate an existing two-family home on the property and construct a second building that would have retail and office space on the ground floor and apartments upstairs.

The two-family home portion of the proposal didn’t arouse any controversy. But various aspects of the commercial development ran afoul of hamlet design guidelines that had been incorporated into the town’s zoning code since the construction of the first phase of Gardiner Gables in 1998. The Ulster County Planning Board also sent Colucci back to the drawing board, and in the summer of 2012 he decided to scale the project back and submitted an Amended Site Plan.

The new structure to be constructed will now be an eight-unit apartment building. At its meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 15, with Paul Colucci recusing himself, Paul Muessig recently resigned and Joe Hayes and Mark Rausher absent, a bare quorum of the Planning Board unanimously approved the Site Plan Amendment, subject to a list of conditions.

Among the conditions, several were intended to address issues in the plan that were holdovers from its original commercial conception, deemed inappropriate for the heart of the hamlet. The most controversial of these, and a thorn in the side of the project from the get-go, was exterior lighting that town planner Jim Freiband repeatedly characterized as excessively bright for the village setting, especially in the driveway and parking area.

“There’s a lot more light here than is essential for a residential lot,” said Freiband. “It’s needed for the parking spaces only, not the drive — that’s what headlights are for.” He suggested the use of bollards to mount the lights for the parking area, rather than overhead poles, and that they be placed on a timer so as not to shine in the neighbors’ windows all night long. “We want the equivalent of a 75-watt incandescent bulb. Your design should limit it to one footcandle, in the area of parking only.”

Sand Hill Road neighbor Linda Geary spoke up during the Public Hearing portion of the meeting to agree that lower lighting should be a priority. “Some developments in the hamlet haven’t had enough lighting scrutiny” by town officials, she said. “It isn’t necessary to have commercial lighting. Whatever you can do to make it look soft and low-key, please do it.”

Part of the problem, according to Freiband, was that the site plan used three different symbols to designate lighting locations, but did not include details about the fixtures to be used. “We intend to meet the minimum requirements on lumens. We don’t intend to exceed that in any way,” responded Robert Colucci. He agreed to add details of the specific fixtures, pole heights and lumens dispersed, and also to add timers to the plan.

Among the other visual conditions to the plan imposed by the Planning Board came in response to the elevations shown at the meeting, which did not appear to depict enough differentiation in the façades of the apartment units as recommended in the zoning code. “With the Creamery, we had them do some variation in color to break up the pattern, make it not so monotone,” noted board chair Mike Boylan.

“This rendering doesn’t do it justice. The intent was to add some accent, such as shakes,” said Colucci. “Fifteen years ago, with Gardiner Gables, there were no hamlet guidelines yet, and I feel we kind of set a standard. I see us exceeding that with a different kind of veneer or siding, a different color.”

Other conditions set by the board included submitting a modification in the drainage plan to the town engineer for review; adding handicapped access and a second handicapped space for the side parking area; documentation of an easement connecting to the adjoining lot; quantification of plantings in the landscaping plan; and depiction of several other construction details such as curbing and the connection to the town water lines. The applicant indicated that none of these would present a significant problem, whereupon the board voted to allow the project to go forward at long last.

Tags: apartmentsgardinergardiner government
Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher
Previous Post

Maynard Keefe passes on

Next Post

Gun-control advocates refute pro-gun arguments

Frances Marion Platt

Frances Marion Platt has been a feature writer (and copyeditor) for Ulster Publishing since 1994, under both her own name and the nom de plume Zhemyna Jurate. Her reporting beats include Gardiner and Rosendale, the arts and a bit of local history. In 2011 she took up Syd M’s mantle as film reviewer for Alm@nac Weekly, and she hopes to return to doing more of that as HV1 recovers from the shock of COVID-19. A Queens native, Platt moved to New Paltz in 1971 to earn a BA in English and minor in Linguistics at SUNY. Her first writing/editing gig was with the Ulster County Artist magazine. In the 1980s she was assistant editor of The Independent Film and Video Monthly for five years, attended Heartwood Owner/Builder School, designed and built a timberframe house in Gardiner. Her son Evan Pallor was born in 1995. Alternating with her journalism career, she spent many years doing development work – mainly grantwriting – for a variety of not-for-profit organizations, including six years at Scenic Hudson. She currently lives in Kingston.

Related Posts

New Paltz Town Board member Esi Lewis hired as County’s Chief Diversity Officer
Politics & Government

New Paltz Town Board member Esi Lewis hired as County’s Chief Diversity Officer

February 5, 2023
Congressman Pat Ryan calls for Central Hudson president to resign
Politics & Government

Congressman Pat Ryan calls for Central Hudson president to resign

February 2, 2023
Uproar in New Paltz over plan to abandon green electricity
Politics & Government

Village of Saugerties mulls joining CCA this spring

February 2, 2023
At Saugerties sewer plant, water disposal isn’t as simple as you might think
Politics & Government

Saugerties sewer plant in need of mechanical upgrade

February 2, 2023
Saugerties contractor works towards correcting previous building violations
Politics & Government

New Paltz discusses proposed zoning code update

February 1, 2023
Woodstock Library feels it can move ahead without exemption to zoning law
Politics & Government

Councilman Bennet Ratcliff challenges McKenna for Woodstock supervisor

January 31, 2023
Next Post

Gun-control advocates refute pro-gun arguments

Trending News

  • One-man crime spree comes to end after Kingston man runs out of luck 3.7k views
  • Saugerties to host inaugural Snow Moon Festival February 3 to 5 2k views
  • Visit Kingston’s 12,240-square-foot squat, centrally located with wood-burning fireplace 1.8k views
  • The Bruynswyck Inn Oyster & Clam Bar offers fresh seafood and Shawangunk views 1.7k views
  • 20-foot, 10-wheel big rig overturns in Saugerties, injuring driver 1.2k views
  • Neighbors protest Ulster County Veterans’ Cemetery flagpole spotlights 753 views

Weather

Kingston
◉
43°
Cloudy
7:02 am5:17 pm EST
Feels like: 36°F
Wind: 13mph N
Humidity: 59%
Pressure: 30.04"Hg
UV index: 1
TueWedThu
41/32°F
48/27°F
39/36°F
Weather forecast Kingston, New York ▸

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Holiday Gift Subscription

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing