Neighbors of a pair of properties on Prospect Street were hoping the Village of New Paltz Planning Board might be swayed by their concerns about the character of their neighborhood being irreparably damaged by their proposed additions, but it may be historic preservation that wins out in the end.
Prospect Estates, LLC — principal Bassam Serdah — is proposing significant work on adjoining properties at 5 and 7 Prospect Street: The former would include the demolition of a single-family home to be replaced by a two-family dwelling, the latter would see an addition built onto an existing single-family home for conversion into a two-family home. But some neighbors suggest that the plans for both properties are exploiting a zoning loophole for an area that sits at the line of the B-2 (core business) and R-2 (residential) districts, with the former allowing for three bedrooms of unrelated occupants in each single-family dwelling to rent individual rooms to students attending SUNY New Paltz.
During a meeting held on Tuesday, June 20, Alison Nash, who lives on Prospect Street, said the neighborhood is largely longtime owners and renters, including a mayor and members of the Village Board, Elting Library Board and Shade Tree Commission.
“The neighbors know one another and one another’s children,” she said. “It is such long-term residents who create an active and rich community life.”
Nash said that two other properties on Prospect have already been converted by Prospect Estates for such use, with the planned addition of ten bedrooms to their existing 17 and accompanying parking spaces “an increase in density of 58 percent,” and an increase in the number of residents since the departure of the previous owners of 5 and 7 Prospect of 245 percent.
“The proposed development with its preponderance of rental by the rooms will adversely affect the character of the neighborhood, devalue my property and create many nuisance factors,” Nash said. “As we all know, a house with nine room rentals likely to be college students can bring much noise.”
Christine Marmo lives on Huguenot Street but owns a two-family house on Prospect Street that she rents to two families. She said her concern is less with students than it is with the setup, single bedrooms with individual bathrooms and common areas.
“With this scenario the students don’t have a chance to integrate into our community,” Marmo said.“There is no house, just a bunch of rooms filled with students who often don’t know each other and don’t necessarily like each other but are forced to share bathrooms and kitchens. It’s like a dorm without an R.A and with less privacy. There’s no oversight, no accountability in addressing unacceptable behavior. Students do not benefit from this aarrangement, but the landlords certainly do: With each room rented more money comes their way.”
Marmo said she believes students and long-term residents can coexist in mutually beneficial settings.
“Decades ago when I was an undergraduate, houses were rented by students where one student held the lease,” she said. “In my case Ellen, the student, held the lease with our landlord, and Ellen vetted potential roommates who were compatible with the household. Yes, these were households and we knew our neighbors, who were professors with young families, who saw that we shoveled snow and kept the house in good order. We were invited to picnics. We were part of the community.”
There are other potential obstacles standing in the way of the plans for 5 and 7 Prospect Street: The plans still have to attain zoning approval, and there are water runoff issues that are still being discussed. But the proposed destruction of a barn and carriage house as part of the adjoining projects may prove insurmountable, even though both are in states of disrepair. In addition to the structures providing screening for neighbors, both from Main Street and proposed parking on the planned developments, there is some question as to their age.
“Historicity is governed more by age than by the current state of the building, so that the building may not be habitable but it may be at such an age that it may fall within an historic review,” said Planning Board Chair John Litton. “But we don’t know.”
The Planning Board voted to seek guidance from the Village’s Historic Preservation Commission, which next meets on Monday, July 10.
Marmo said she hoped the commission will agree that the loss of history would be too much to bear.
“I’m reminded about the historic post office building that was torn down in Kingston years ago it was replaced by a cheap structure that housed Planet Wings, which is no longer even in business,” she said. “The only way to see the original post office is to dig into historic records.”
Meanwhile, the Planning Board will continue reviewing the plans for 5 and 7 Prospect Street to determine whether they fall within the municipal zoning code.
“We are limited by what the code says,” said Planning Board member Zach Bialecki. “Right now we’re just trying to determine if everything matches the code and trying to understand how the residents’ real concerns fit into the code, and if there’s any aspects of the code that can address those.”
The next meeting of the Village of New Paltz Planning Board is scheduled for Tuesday, July 18.
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