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Saugerties Times - Features | 11/19/2009 |
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The Question of Access
Residents, developers weigh in on public access at proposed hotel/convention center |
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by David Gordon
As the largest, most conspicuous proposed development in recent memory, the hotel/convention center proposed for the site of the former Cantine Mill on Partition Street has elicited no small amount of opinions. Ranging from those who feel the project will revitalize the whole south side of the village, to those who thing it will block the public's view of the falls over the dam and eliminate the possibility of someday creating a public trail from the Saugerties Lighthouse to the Village Beach. Public access is not a component of the current plan.
The Partition Street Project proposes a three-story, 30-room hotel, a 7,200 square-foot ballroom-catering hall, an adjoining 3,000 square-foot function room and a restaurant. The principal investors in the project are Tom Struzzieri, the owner of Horseshows in the Sun (HITS); John Mullen of Leading Edge Development and Congressman Maurice Hinchey.
LIABILITY AN ISSUE
Mullen said he is sympathetic to the desire for public access, but allowing the public to walk through the project subjects the owners to potential risks. The liability would be too great, he said. "It can be dangerous down there," he said. "I wouldn't want to be responsible for anyone getting hurt."
Mullen did indicate that talks are ongoing with the village for a possible ceding of some of the land along the riverfront, at the bottom of the cliff, for a public walkway. And, he said, if it could be worked out safely, the power plant and coffer dam could be a scenic attraction.
DO PUBLIC DOLLARS BUY PUBLIC ACCESS?
Dock Street resident David Radovanovic said that while earlier plans for the project did not explicitly promise access, the design of the project was such that a stairway leading down to the river, which he says would have at least allowed the public to access the creek and view the falls. He pointed out that the village applied for and received a $780,000 Restore New York grant from the state, and included the earlier version of the plan with the application, though it's not clear if that was a decisive point. In any case, the public access is warranted, says Radovanovic. "If the public paid part of it, the public should be allowed to use it," he said.
A reading of the earlier plan does not specify public access, though the presence of more than 1,800 square feet of retail shops and 16 apartments within the project would imply that members of the public would be free to browse the site. An application for public funding includes the shopping and dwelling units; these are not present in the current plan. David Radovanovic has posted a copy of the earlier plan, created by Ashokan Architects in Kingston, on his blog, http://saugerties-ny.blogspot.com.
Indeed, at a recent public hearing, the most frequent comment was that public access is necessary. Public comments also focused on the mall-like appearance created by placement of parking lots between the street and the buildings, traffic congestion and on the potential of lights on the site to disturb neighbors. However, many of the people at the public hearing supported the project and said they see it as a benefit to the village with or without public access.
NOT THE BEST VIEW
Congressman Maurice Hinchey downplayed the significance and desirability of public access to the site. He said the area has many access points to the Esopus, and citizens won't be banned from stepping foot on the property -- anyone can walk onto the lot and look at the river, just as people can stop near any restaurant and look at the surroundings. He stressed the weight of the projects positive impact. "This lot has been empty for 30 years, and there was a burned out factory for some years before that," said Hinchey. "I think this redevelopment is one of the positive things done in Saugerties in this decade."
Hinchey noted that the area already has "a pleasant walkway, out to the lighthouse. I have walked it." As for the possibility of extending that walkway into the village center, Hinchey pointed out that all the homeowners along the route would have to give permission for public access, a scenario he considers doubtful.
The village has a beach on the river, and the town has several others, Hinchey said. The Partition Street site is not the only access point, and it's not even the best view of the falls, which he said can be found on the other side. Hinchey said he is not the primary developer of the project, and is not working on the details. Struzzieri is doing that, while Mullen is working on a hydropower dam that will supply electricity to the project.
CONTINUING TO PRESS FOR A COMPROMISE
Still, citizens continue to propose compromise solutions that could give the public access while maintaining the owners' ability to offer privacy to guests. For instance, said Barry Benepe, the chair of the town's historic preservation commission, a pedestrian walkway along the top of the cliff could be closed when the conference center was in use by an organization or for a private celebration.
Like Radovanovic, Benepe recalled the earlier site plan, which showed a walkway along the cliff and a stairway to a kayak or boat landing on the river. "I'm not aware that this was open to the public, but it made public access possible," he said. "We're not going to stop on this (public access); we will continue to press for it."
Jeffrey Anzovino of Scenic Hudson said that trails included in the Hudson Valley Greenway cross private property, but the landowners are guaranteed by the state to be free of liability for injuries to those using the trails. These trails can actually promote business for restaurants, as hikers may stop for meals at the restaurants along the trails, have a meal before hiking or stop after a hike. Restaurants on the Newburgh and Kingston waterfronts have found that public trails have increased their business, he said. Anzovino confirmed that discussions are ongoing between Struzzieri and the village for access to the riverfront below the bluff on which the complex would be built. However, he said, this is not what people at the public hearing were asking for, and it should not be a major change in the plans to allow for a strip of trail along the top of the bluff for hikers.
It should be possible to separate people walking along the trail from restaurant patrons through the use of raised decks for the patrons or plantings between the restaurant proper and the trail, Anzovino said. Scenic Hudson has helped businesses work out ways to provide recreational uses for property that enhance restaurant or similar commercial projects.
Since the property is not zoned for the type of development Struzzieri, Mullen and Hinchey are proposing, the village has the power to impose conditions in the zoning change or special permit, Anzovino said.
"I hope they do it," he added.
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© 2010 Ulster Publishing, Inc.
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