A public hearing on the City of Kingston’s plans for the acquisition and redevelopment of a 3.5-acre property at Broadway and Garraghan Drive was met with both opposition and support during a public hearing last week. The site, which once boasted numerous mixed-use structures and contained 361 families in the 1960s, was cleared by urban renewal. It has remained vacant ever since.
Mayor Steve Noble’s plans for the space include approximately 200 new units of mixed-use housing along with 30,000 square feet of commercial and non-profit space. The proposed project will include landscaping, infrastructure improvements, and various amenities aimed at revitalizing the area.
The city claims the project will promote economic development by creating jobs, expanding housing options, increasing affordability, and addressing the challenges posed by large vacant lots in one of Kingston’s main business districts. What is being proposed is expected to boost the city’s property- and sales-tax revenues.
At the public hearing in the council chambers at city hall on Tuesday, October 29, Bartek Starodaj, Kingston’s director of the office of housing initiatives (OHI), described the site as “ripe for repurposing,” adding that developers have had decades to make their mark on the property and it still remains vacant.
Opponents
The proposal is part of the city’s plans to use eminent domain to acquire 42 properties owned by Hudson Land Development Corp, Rondout Landing at Strand, and JAF Partners.
Daniel Hubbell, a partner with the propertyowners’ attorneys Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna, LLP, submitted a letter at the public hearing opposing the proposal, claiming among other reasons that the City of Kingston lacked the authority to eminent domain powers to a municipal agency, in this case the office of housing initiatives.
“As set forth below, OHI lacks the authority to condemn the property and has otherwise failed to comply with the applicable processes and standards in attempting to do so,” read Hubbell’s letter. “As the City of Kingston should be aware, it can only exercise its power of eminent domain if: (1) it comports with the state and federal constitution; (2) it has the proper statutory jurisdiction or authority; (3) it complies with the requirements of the Eminent Domain Procedure Law (EDPL) and the state Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA); and (4) a public use, benefit or purpose will be served by the proposed acquisition.”
Some residential and commercial neighbors of the property shared their opposition for a variety of reasons, including problems of parking, traffic, and an already strained and aging municipal infrastructure.
Victoria Johanet, who lives at 70 Broadway, expressed “utter disappointment,” saying the city’s plans would remove “a beautiful green-space oasis in the Rondout neighborhood” and replace it with what she called “hysterical not historical” development of a “monolithic, cubical five-story building” that “looks cheap, ugly, and void of any character.”
Supporters
Ulster County planning director Dennis Doyle said he believed the project would help address some of the area’s housing crisis, citing statistics showing that approximately twelve percent of owners and 29 percent of renters were spending over half their monthly income on housing costs.
“This housing crisis requires creative and bold actions to help resolve our housing issues to ensure the long-term livability and sustainability of our communities, and confronted with a major housing crisis the city has move boldly,” Doyle said. “As the city has looked for opportunities to meet its housing needs it seems most natural if not overdue that is gaze fell upon major vacant parcels that remain like missing pieces in a puzzle from that reckless idiocy of urban renewal. These remaining portions that are under discussion in this public hearing have remained vacant for over 50 years.”
Doyle doesn’t believe eminent domain should be a first solution to address a public need, but he said that “a 50-year loss of opportunity” at the property made it appropriate in this case.
“This requires a commitment from all parties to negotiate fairly and to assure that whatever the process to get there the promise of housing envisioned by the city is realized,” Doyle said.
Tim Rands, a neighbor of the property, also supported the city’s proposal as a clear path to honoring the community lost to urban renewal.
“It is common knowledge that the heart of the Rondout was ripped out during urban renewal several decades ago, and residents and visitors to the area have dealt with the resulting blight ever since,” said Rands. “As a six-year resident of the Rondout, I often am saddened by the state of the neighborhood and wishful for development that will restore the area to the robust and lively neighborhood it once was. Adding housing and commercial space to the neighborhood is critical to enabling this to happen.”
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