The Kingston planning board last week unanimously approved a permit amendment for the Hutton Brickyards property at 200 North Street in Kingston. The move will allow the owner to move forward with additional hospitality facilities, including new cabins, a restaurant, a spa and a new entrance and parking lot at Lindsley Avenue.
The resolution was unanimously adopted during a virtual meeting on Monday, April 26, with conditions, including compliance with a public access plan and maintenance of a portion of the Empire State Trail that abuts the North Street property.
Kevin McManus of North Street Brick Works detailed the planning that went into a crushed-stone parking area at Lindsley Avenue, including the likelihood that it will be “assisted, valet parking” for guests of the property. McManus said that the project had taken into account prior comments during planning board meetings.
“One of the things we were able to do was to decrease the footprint of that area, reduce the number of trees that would have to come down, and reduce the amount of grading that would have to be necessary,” McManus said, adding that a potential issue of architectural significance was resolved with a mitigation measure he described as covering a demarcation layer with crushed stone, something they planned to do from the beginning.
“We just had to modify the grading so we weren’t cutting in the parking area at all,” McManus said.
But while the permit amendment was granted, it wasn’t always a smooth process. A recommendation from planning board chairman Wayne Platte, Jr. that a portion of the Empire State Trail on the Hutton Brickyards be widened and paved was deemed “unrealistic” at present by Joe Eriole, a representative of the property owners; Eriole added that there were ongoing property rights issues that needed to be addressed before the owners committed to some improvements, even those they supported.
“We are in continual discussions with the departments of city hall and the mayor’s office with respect to various property rights related to the long-term development and improvement of this area, to which we have every reason to want to aggressively pursue,” Eriole said. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”
Also discussed were permitting issues for certain upgrades already undertaken on the property, which city planner Suzanne Cahill said was in the process of being resolved.
“I know that there are still outstanding issues with respect to some of the permitting and lack thereof,” Cahill said. “So it’s an ongoing issue that they’re working to straighten out at this point.”
Future expansion of the Hutton Brickyards could include opening additional guest cabins, a 100-room hotel and a 40-unit residential development. In the nearer future, work will focus on a restaurant that’s opening this spring, and various public access trail improvements and expansions.
“The last most significant step…is a fixed pier and a bulkhead construction along the [Hudson] River, that supports the river, and allows a structural pier to be fixed to it, which would allow for waterfront access to the property,” McManus said. “Consistent with the [building] code this would have operational conditions with it, but this would now be a connection with the prior northern spur and would give quite a bit of access to the river.”
City officials stressed that the various projects in the near and distant future means there will be considerable oversight with each step.
“It is a special permit, so they do have to come back for periodic review,” said Platte. “We will be able to revisit [issues] periodically when those do come up.”
Cahill agreed.
“This is continually evolving,” she said. “As the project grows and changes with the needs not only of the site, but the community, we’ll revisit this from time to time as a planning board and possibly make changes to accommodate different uses.”
Hutton Brickyards, located at 200 North Street in Kingston, is a sprawling events space with lodging along the Hudson River which opened following development delays in the summer of 2019. The space, which hosts everything from weddings to craft fairs, can also accommodate live music, with capacity for 3,500 concertgoers. Bob Dylan performed a pair of shows at Hutton Brickyards in June 2017. As for the next big event at Hutton Brickyards, the pandemic holds the cards.
“Because of Covid there’s no big events planned,” McManus said. “The first might be in October of this year. There are weddings that are planned, but they don’t start until June. Really, the operations would be limited right now to the restaurant when we’re able to open it, and the cabins when we’re able to offer them.”
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