Planning Board, Regular Meeting

1. 0:06or we uh um as is common when a new mayor is elected uh they'll change out their teams and that's happened with this most recent election as well. Um boards and commissions across the city have new faces and new participants including this one. We also have uh new adviserss and consultants. And so it's my pleasure to introduce our new attorney, Andrew Clark with the Albany Law Firm of TRK LLC. And uh welcome. Glad you joined us. Say something about yourself. >> Thank you. Thank you for this opportunity. We're looking forward to working with all of you and the public and serving the city in any way we can. >> Good. Well, we'll find lots of ways for you to touch that. Um the mayor is also interviewing engineers um with plans to have someone in place by our March meeting. Uh but I'm very happy to be able to say that uh Chris Bertram has stayed with us to help out
2. 1:10during the during the transition and uh and it's so valuable because his knowledge of the projects is uh is the best and is a great adviser and a great uh um person to have to my right and I I'm going to pronounce his law it's law firing firm but I think I'd like Jane what's the name of this firm and Ludis. Sorry, I was told that was a good side joke, but apparently it wasn't very funny. Um, >> the firm is Barton and Luke Judas, and you've been with us for two years. >> The firm's been with us for seven, eight years now, the city, >> right? So, this is going to assure that we don't lose any more time as we go through the various transitions we're going through. So, thanks again and appreciate it and appreciate the service that you're providing. One last announcement. Uh we have a third uh uh new board member appointed. Nathan Woodh Hall uh has accepted the mayor's
3. 2:13appointment to the planning board. He's out of the town right now, so he's missing his first meeting. So, we're going to volunteer him for a lot of a lot of extra duties in today's meeting. He'll be joining us uh as a regular board member in March. There are no other uh announcements or updates. I'll call the meeting of the uh Hudson Planning Board to order. U we have no bill bills to approve. So we'll move right into approval of the minutes from the January 13th meeting. Any changes or corrections to the minutes as distributed? Accept the minutes. Motion is made. Is there a second? >> Second. L would you call the role, please? >> Yes. >> Conradman absent. Mr. Michael, >> yes. >> Mr. Shki, >> yes.
4. 3:15>> Mr. Spear, >> yes. >> Mr. Thank you, Linda. Um, I'd like to reorder the agenda just a little bit to bring uh committee reports up to the front of the uh of the meeting tonight. A couple of of updates that I'd like to share with you. One, um, over the last few weeks, I've met with uh the leaders of the CAC and HPC to explore uh ways that we might work together more collaboratively. Um and out of those conversations came a decision that we would create uh informal liaison between our two groups. Uh not between the planning board and CAC and the planning board and HPC. Um and since Rich I think since uh Nathan has just stepped down from the CAC I asked him if he would serve as a liazison to the CAC. Um and he has agreed to do that. The role of the liaison is informal. It's it's not a new layer of bureaucracy. It's just to keep a dialogue open between these three groups so that when projects may overlap
5. 4:19or u somehow relate to more than one of us, we can share contact and and collaborate together. Um, I went ahead and asked Nate if he would serve the CAC leazison, but I wanted to wait until tonight to see if anyone wanted to volunteer to be the liaison with the Historic Preservation Council. Um, do Okay, great, Peter. Thank you. Um, we can talk more about what this looks like. It's not a designed uh relationship yet, and we're going to be building the bus while we drive it. But I think the main thing is to keep lines of communication open between between these various groups. Uh last thing I'd like to say under this item in the agenda, uh fees and escrow. Um um it usually when a new chairman or a new leader takes over a committee, it's a good idea to kind of look at the finances of the organization, make sure that the systems that we have in place are sound and working. Um the so we're doing that uh now and Jean has for the
6. 5:25last two years Jean has really taken the burden of managing the escros and the fees. Um and for my view that's not fair to put that on a volunteer board member but you've done it and you've done a great job with it. We appreciate it. But as a part of Linda's expanding duties uh I've asked Linda if she would take over the management of that aspect of our work and Jean didn't disagree with me. was completely so over the next month uh uh Linda and Andrew and I will be kind of looking over the systems that are in place tweaking them where necessary looking at the transparency of the process and uh that's really the only finances we have as a group. So um but it's an important uh it's an important part of our management of those assets because they are the the fuel that drives our process. So, um I anticipate that we'll be bringing an agenda item to the March meeting for the board to discuss and act on uh if we implement any new procedures
7. 6:28or um approaches to managing that part of the uh that part of the work. Um so, if there is no more uh business under the uh committee reports, uh let me just make sure refer to my notes. Nope. We're going to move into uh the next order of business, which is old business. Uh we have several projects we're going to be getting updates on tonight. Um I think there's some very exciting uh developments occurring amongst you you all. And so we're excited to be able to be a part of the discussion uh that helps you imagine the future that you seek and be a partner with you to make sure that that happens in the best way possible. Our first uh um presentation is um 41 North Second Street Housing Authority Project. So, you all want to come forward, introduce yourselves, and then the floor is yours. >> Thank you. Thank you all for having us
8. 7:29here tonight. My name is Smith. I'm the Hudson Housing Authority Chair. I have been on the board for going on six years now. I'm also born and raised in the housing authority. I just moved out 15 years ago. My parents still live there. So um my goal was to make a change. There was nothing happened there. No renovations, nothing. Just deteriorating um buildings. So um that made me want to join the board and make a change. Um so enough of me. I'm going to move right into handing it over to our executive director, Jeffrey Dodson. >> Good evening everybody. Thank you for having us back. Um always it is exciting for me to be here as we move forward to this project. Uh the Hudson Housing Authority was established in 1965. Uh and it was developed for seniors, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and low-income families. Um it wasn't the buildings weren't actually constructed until 1973.
9. 8:33Uh and it is all located at 41 North Second Street. Um there the the project is absolute currently. There's been no major renovations on that property since 1973. Uh the systems are very poor from the elevators to the wiring to the plumbing um to the facade. Um it's literally very obvious. Um and I always invite people to come down for a tour. Uh because our folks are living in deactivated conditions and that's not the purpose of it uh of the building. It was established to provide safe, sanitary housing for our residents of life that are uh less fortunate. Um to that end, we've been working on this project since I've been here for three and a half years um specifically, but the idea of getting something new in Hudson for our folks has been ongoing um for seven years. And by the way, the the the building was declared obsolete prior to me arriving. So at least 10 years prior. Um so it's very urgent and critical um
10. 9:38that we uh entertain this project and we develop something new and so my uh development partners Marco and I have uh the housing authority have developed this project a two-phase project which we'll go into more detail about but the first phase is going to be 166 units four stories uh just 31 more units uh than we have now because we have 135 um And the beauty of it is that unlike other redevelopment projects who move folks away and send them somewhere else, no one will be displaced. Uh because we're going to build first and on and our underutilized side of the property, other places on our property, relocate those residents, and then uh go into the second phase of the project. So with that, I introduce John first. He's our attorney. My name is John first. I'm an attorney at Mad Rider McKenna in Newberg, New York. I'm a local land use here, Mico and Hudson Housing Authority.
11. 10:40So, let me just um bring up to speed a little bit procedurally. I know we've got a couple of new faces here. Um as Jeffrey had mentioned, this project has been in the works for years. Uh but over the last year in 2025, we've been before the planning board uh at four separate occasions. During those times, we've presented various different concept plans. uh you know we've come to the planning board sought feedback revise and whatnot. So we've been going back and forth with the planning board with respect to conceptual plans in 2025 at least on four different occasions. As Jeffrey had mentioned this is a two-phase approach because mainly um you know they have the existing building has to remain so they can um you know clear it out get people moved and then they can't really work on that existing building until the other buildings are done. uh that's why they have the phase approach. So what we're looking here because it's a phased approach from a seeker perspective from your seeker environmental review we're going to look at the entire project the whole concept plan we've provided a concept plan and
12. 11:43we've looked at a lot of things from the conceptual level on the grander scale we've looked at uh we submitted a drainage report uh we've submitted parking and traffic analysis we've done a revised EAF the part one which includes the entire phase one and phase two but specifically Typically for the planning board, we're only looking for site plan approval for phase one. So you're going to have a lot of the site plan details only for phase one, but you're going to have enough conceptually for phase one and phase two for secret purposes. Uh the project has evolved over the year based upon feedback. Um the last meeting we had was in October 2025 and that's where we kind of met with the board and we kind of in our mind we had that final conceptual plan that we were ready to move forward with. We had a detailed analysis with respect to the parking uh and the traffic and so based upon the feedback we received in October we took it to the next level and we provided all the details that are required for site
13. 12:46plan review and for the sequel review. We provided elevations and site plans, private landscaping, lighting plans, the SWIP for both phases, parking and traffic analysis was revised. Um, like I said, the EF was revised. So, we feel we're at the point where we we'd like to move forward to scheduling a public hearing and getting it referred to the county. I know we've got some new board members, so we want to introduce the project, but we just want to keep it in mind that, you know, we'd like to kind of push it forward as quickly as we can while you guys still do your due diligence. The other thing the board uh accomplished back in October was they declared their intent to be lead agency. They then circulated to be lead agency. So, the 30 days has passed. I believe they got a lot of comments back from the other boards. Nobody was really interested. The one simple thing you can do tonight is at least declare yourselves lead the agency. Uh that's probably a simple procedural step if you're ready to take that. Otherwise, I'm going to turn it over to the site
14. 13:49civil engineer who's remotely uh logged in. Joe, can you hear me? I want him to kind of go through the site plan because we do have a couple of new board members. >> Yes, I can hear you, John. Um I will if I can share my screen I could pull up the plan as well. Is everyone able to see the plan on the screen? >> Yes. >> Great. Good evening everyone. As John mentioned, my name is Joe Nitra. I am with Weston and Samson um the engineer for um this project. And as John had mentioned too, um this is an overall layout of our uh site showing phase one and phase 2. So in phase one we have um building we are calling uh B1 on the north side of State Street. It is an L-shaped building with a underpass and
15. 14:54parking off of North Second Street up where my cursor is here and a secondary parking lot off of State Street um over here. This building is uh four stories. It has a basement um where my cursor I will highlight it on this end over here. It has a basement level and this is due to the grade as you go along State Street. Um if you've been out there, um you have a grade difference of uh almost about 20 ft from over here at North Second Street. Um intersection down to the end of the property. Um we have a main foyer uh entrance off of State Street that will connect directly to the parking lot um behind the building. And we also have uh our underground storm water detention um that we have fully designed and provided a drainage
16. 15:56analysis for underneath uh both parking lots. Um the one to the north here and the small parking lot uh to the west over here. Uh all utility, water, sewer connection point of interest will all be along State Street. As we move down to uh what we are calling building A1, where my cursor is over here, this will also be part of phase one. Um we have a connection being made from Columbia Street to State Street. Um if you've been out to the site and you're familiar with it, there actually is a an existing retaining wall. I'll zoom in. right over here along the property and um on our site is actually about 8 7 to 8 ft higher than what is actually in State Street. So, as part of this
17. 17:00project to make this connection work, um we will be eliminating that retaining wall, but we'll ultimately end up having um a retaining wall that will run along the parking lot all the way from BA from pretty much State Street through Colombia so that we can make this connection work um between Colombia and State Street. Uh again, we have our proposed storm water retention system underneath the parking lot for the building and the parking lot. uh as part of uh phase two which we um included in our FEAF um part one um as part of the seeker process. Uh there is a proposed building right now. It's very conceptual again an L-shaped building. It is the thought possibly um that will be coming in over on this lot. So we when we did our drainage analysis um and it's in the reports we uh
18. 18:04analyzed as if this lot was developed. Um so everything is sized accordingly. Um so after phase one uh the the systems that we have will basically be considered oversized uh until this new development happens and then it'll be uh sized adequately. But everything has been designed now to include uh this phase 2 development over here on this part portion of the property. Um in the meantime, we have also proposed a small retaining wall again running on this end of the building following my cursor from State Street to Second Street. uh that will go in place so that the buildings that are existing can remain while we are under construction. Um there'll be a slight grade difference based off of our final elevations. So this retaining wall will be necessary to keep these other buildings active while
19. 19:06we are constructing building A1. Uh again this building will have its utilities um connected off of State Street. Sewer, water, drainage, everything will connect into State Street. Uh the final piece of the puzzle here is this uh four town home lot uh little tiny lot off to the uh corner of North Second Street and Columbia Street. Uh we have four town homes going in with uh park eight parking spaces total. Again, we designed our storm water um detention system. There'll just be some pipe storage, a small little lot uh underneath the parking lot, the only place we can really put it. And um there is a small retaining wall that we will need to be putting in along that parking lot in order to uh make the grading work be between the existing home two-story building that is there and this parking lot.
20. 20:09Those are the updates since the last time that um we've been here. The plan has basically been more fully developed. We include a grading plan, a landscaping plan, now erosion control plan, construction details and as I mentioned the full uh drainage report which uh gives the whole design for both phases phase one and phase two. >> Thank you Joe. Um we also have the traffic engineer engineer here. He went uh he went through a detailed analysis. So you'd like to give a brief summary again because there's so many board members to talk about the parking job Mr. Chairman members of the board John Canning principal with the firm Killy Horn Planes. So from a traffic perspective traffic perspective this application hasn't changed much has been able to sit through October. Uh it's still a proposal to increase the number of units on the site by 141 from 135 to 276. The project is proposed to have a total
21. 21:12of 174 parking spaces available to it in the combination of onsite and on the blocks fronting on it and the projected peak parking demand based on surveys of the existing facility is 167. So that leaves us seven fewer uh than the spaces that are provided. Peak parking demand is overnight because residential parking peaks when everybody's at home. Uh we did prepare a detailed traffic and parking study. We submitted it to this board. It was reviewed by uh your consultant who indicated it generally followed uh standard engineering practices. There were some inconsistencies and we responded addressing them. Um overall it's a very walkable community and uh the additional 16 141 units are projected to add 62 trips to the surrounding roadways. We studied five intersections generally are good volumes are relatively low and there be no change from this modest increase in traffic activity. So that's a a 30,000 foot summary of the traffic in Far. If you have any specific
22. 22:17questions, I'd be happy to answer everyone. Parking lot from State Street to Columbia Street. Is that going to have an entrance and exit on both streets, State and Columbia Street? >> At this point, it is proposed to have I can't see it. >> Yes, that is proposed. Okay. Thank you. Board has any other questions? You know, we're here. >> So before we start our discussion, like to ask Chris if you have any additional content you would like to >> I don't have any additional content right now. We haven't had a chance to review the application package. I do know it's complete. I downloaded all the files. Um so as soon as we have, you know, thorough review done, we'll get a comment letter out to you guys. >> And any any comments? Uh, no further comments. I think we'll wait for the engineers review and then the board could be guided accordingly by whatever is determined in there. And of course the board can ask the applicants
23. 23:19anything that comes up since they're here and we're here. Jeff, any additional comments from your team? >> Uh, just that this project is is essential and uh just so we can folks can understand why part of the urgency I already told you about the building is dilapidated. The second part of it is that uh the state has slended us for October of 26 to close. It's important that we meet that window because if we don't it can delay the project another 6 to 9 months due to period which is not uh a good thing to do. Um the residents are already in dire streets and this building is over here. So thank you. So, I would echo Jeff's comment that this project is essential uh and important for Hudson and the planning board, I think, would seek to expedite as much as possible while still staying within the the requirements that state places on us. Welcome. >> Um I'd kind of like to make a broad comment about about how I think we will
24. 24:24approach working with you on this. Uh the history of of affordable housing in our country is uh not always a great story. Uh our first efforts in the mid-century uh were um to create monstrous um um u institutional structures that were not welcoming and friendly to the folks that lived there. uh they were not good for the cities that they were in because they created uh restricted areas of of uh living for people living on low wages or in poverty. Um and that DNA that were in those early designs still gets carried forward and um you know we need to be thinking about places of dignity uh places pride places of belonging of people who live on low wages and affordability may not be able to take as many vacations as some of us. They may not be able to see the beauty of the country around them. they only
25. 25:26have their own town and we uh believe that that they deserve to have beauty just as much as any of the rest of us and that's a guiding philosophy that I hope to carry through this project but the problem is that DNA can gets carried forward and if you look at the bliss towers you can see that it carries the DNA of the early 60 affordable housing movement um and we've now learned having lived with it for over 50 that there are so many things about that design that really diminish the quality of life of the residents and frankly don't it doesn't really belong in the community. It doesn't feels like something that got parachuted in the architecture, the design, the scale, the appearance. So I think what we need to be sure that we do is not carry forward uh the DNA as or at least minimize it as much as we can of those early 1960s project. The folks that built Bliss Towers I'm
26. 26:29sure were dedicated civic leaders that thought they were doing the very best for their community. Um, but the fact that it's been there for 50 years and even though I agree with Jeff, I took my tour last week and it's in pretty rough shape, folks. And I think probably it started out not being that well constructed in the beginning. So, but it lasted 50 years. So that should give us pause that we're making a decision as we deal with this process to build housing that will probably be with us beyond 2075, 2080, 2090. We're building a site that will serve multiple next generations of Hudson residents, families, children grow up, their children may grow up in in this facility. So, it it needs to be expedited, but it also needs to be done with thoughtful consideration about what this new piece of Hudson looks like and how it's going to define so many lives
27. 27:32in our cities. So, we need to do better than to just follow past models. Um the current best thinking for affordable housing emphasizes human scale uh integration into existing neighborhoods, dignity of design, durability of materials, sense of home rather than a sense of an institution and we need to al also overlay green design as we move through the next 50, 60, 70 years. We need to be thinking about sustainability. We ought to look at US Green Building Council guidelines and other national guidelines that might help inform our thinking. Taking time to get this right is our most important uh job at the planning board and on your team and Jeff and we want to do it with you or we can support the lives of future generations. I would conclude by saying we're not getting to talk a lot about the design tonight because we don't have a lot of information yet. We've seen your elevations,
28. 28:34but I will tell you, we have work to do because there's an awful lot of the mid1 1960 DNA still existing and we need to look at it. We need to study it. We need to understand what does it feel like to be a human being in a family living in that space? How do we make it the best possible experience for them? we can not simply do what we've done in the past, but look at the paths forward in terms of how we think about investing our time, money, in these people's lives and in our community. Any other comments or discussion from board members and I would just um you know second everything that you just said and Jeffrey, I appreciate the tour you gave me. I guess it's a couple years ago now. So, I feel uh like um 100% loyal to my neighbors in Bliss Towers and um the urgency I completely understand. Um and uh I just I'm happy to be on the planning board to try to make this something that works for everybody. I share a lot of the concerns that Ron points out in his point. Uh and I hope
29. 29:38that we get to work together to make something that brings us together. I feel like there are elements of the designs that have been put forward in the past that do repeat the mistakes of the past um and would harm um when we have an opportunity to actually do some repair. So, I'm excited about that opportunity to have conversations about making this work for everybody. But the comments I would say that as as it's been explained to me, there will be opportunities later in the process to have deeper, richer conversations about design. And um and so we'll look forward to having those conversations. I would add one footnote. If we built the building exactly as it is today at your elevations, it would still be a million times better than the existing facility. >> So this is not about, oh, all is lost. This is horrible. This is about it's good. Let's make it better and let's work together to make sure we do. Is that covered? Andrew, Chris, others. Thank you all. Thanks for your hard
30. 30:40work. >> Thank you. You're certainly not clean agency before you leave. >> We we believe we're heard you need to take an action to do that. >> Yeah, I think we should take a motion to declare yourself queen agency just for purposes of the record. So we are going to take action tonight to declare ourselves lead agency on this project. I would like to hear a motion to that effect. >> Sheen moves. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Okay. And you call the >> Yes. Yes. Mr. Shansky. >> Yes. Okay. So, the Hudson Planning Board is now your lead agency and off we go.
31. 31:45>> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> We're going to take a brief uh brief pause so that I can use my stamp. And while we're doing that, the team from 724 726 Columbia will be getting ready also. Well, I think more than one copy though. >> Yeah, you have to get back. scanned in
32. 33:03three or more. Okay. >> Yeah. introduce yourself. >> Yes, sure. Good evening. My name is Charlie Gotautle. I'm the land use council of Whiteman Austerman and Hannah in Albany, New York and welcome to the new board members. I am hopefully going to continue to be a familiar face to this board. Um I've been in front of this board going on about six and a half years now working on some really exciting projects uh in the city of Hudson. Um so here this evening on behalf of Gman Initiatives Foundation uh project 724 726. Um just to refresh your memory for those who haven't seen the project um this is
33. 34:07a public theater space which will have a restaurant element to it that is accessory to um some offices and a kitchen. Um we have been before the planning board I want to say for about over a year. Um again there are no exterior changes. We are going into an existing space that is next to the return brewery. Um there is however in the back where the alley is uh in August of 2025 we uh got the city council to agree to a land swap. That land swap is if anyone familiar with the alley um long alley behind the building or in front of the building however you want to position yourself there is currently the end of the alleyway does not follow the actually publicly owned street. that actually goes on to Galvin Initiative's property and then exit onto the right of Rome. So, we're going to formalize that through this project. So, now that'll be city-owned property all the way through
34. 35:09to the access point and then a little pocket park kind of entrance into the theater space will be created where the alleyway should have always been. Um, so this creates an entrance into the theater. Um and again this whole idea in this area of the city where the depot district is and other projects is to kind of create a neighborhood feel here. Um so we last we had public hearings in July, we had public hearings I believe in November and then the public hearing was closed in December. Um we had responded in November to engineering and other comments. Um at the December meeting we did not yet have an engineering review. Um, we certainly believe we've addressed those comments. Um, so actions this evening that we would like to entertain are any outstanding and engineering questions. Um, but we do think we're in a position now for approval of this, which would be site plan approval, uh, reubdivision approval to file the new plat that creates the new alleyway. Um, as well as
35. 36:14a secret negative declaration. The city council did their own secret negative declaration when they discontinued that portion of Long Island. Uh but this board has to do a negative declaration as well or it's playing boards. You guys want to walk them through the members. I hope you all can see this. Um this is the return brewery about half of the total building. This is the part of the building under consideration um Columbia Street, Long Alley and State Street. So um basically what Charlie was just explaining long alley currently technically runs like this but you can't
36. 37:17actually enter a street if that explain the angle of children people coming in. So a big factor that everybody takes the street property that was under government's ownership and I think it's been swapped now. So the idea would be to create a new um you know improved access out onto the street and this is the little parking entry that Charles spoke about. We actually have a little opportunity to do some trees and as a matter of interest this was the old um foundry building for the Gert Woods Company. So this part of the building is very fine 19th century uh facade you know foundry and this part was actually rebuilt in the 1950s as a car show when we were going to restore the facade the way it was when it was a Cadillac show just >> so um after a lot of discussion we developed a plan where ballards protect
37. 38:21any pedestrians here. We checked all of the sight lines and hopefully the engineers have also agreed that this was a safe way to enter and exit street. Uh we've got all of our egresses in place and now we just site Chris any comments or questions? >> I've not had a chance to review it since the last submitt. Um, so again, as as soon as I get, you know, into it next week or two, we'll get a full comment letter out and hopefully you've addressed all the comments that I had. >> And then we can bring it back in the March meeting and probably vote to approve based on this final review. >> Thank you. >> I would just ask given that our commission was was from November 2026, if you come across something early enough, an issue we can change, reach out. We'll fix it and that way we're on track for March. Before you leave, any comments, questions from an exciting project? Great.
38. 39:37The 405. We're not going to hear about 405. By the way, >> I'm walking property Long Beach Street, formerly known as Tel Helsinki is a commercial venue restaurant. We would like to reopen it while making some improvements and also some minor expansions building more gross floor area. Yeah, that's basically the gist of it. There's not much changes that we're proposing other than that one minor expansion
39. 40:39that could go into more detail on those items. I'll I'll be brief. So currently this exists and you know was until fairly recently functioning nightclub and restaurant. The proposal was to add a stair and elevator here to make it properly accessible to everybody, some additional bathrooms and then bring a corridor down and creating a kind of pavilion space for secondary activities, you know, um events, an event space. And um I think with that comes a hopefully nice successful landscape development of the currently kind of empty yard that's there. So you know we hope it will be an enhancement. We also have a parking and traffic analysis underway. At the uh last meeting, the board members raised question about a previous parking arrangement that was in place with the county at the adjacent lot and uh they've sent us some language regarding that arrangement and what it's
40. 41:42convenient questions, comments. Thank you for coming. >> Walter, you're 1416 North Fourth Street. >> After this, so this is an interesting situation. I'll be very brief again. When we began this project, we economically extend the Hudson public hotel guest turns onto this site. We did our research with the code officer determined that there is an error in the city maps and that what was designated as a historic district extension was not in fact an actual
41. 42:45historic district extension. It had not been voted on. So we proceeded to develop a project and then Carol the number one sleuth managed to find a document somewhere buried at the bottom of the drawer in the back of the file path that proved that this had been incorporated into the historic district and um to paraphrase the uh HPC which we had been referred to by this board uh you'll knock those buildings down over our dead bodies. So we are here >> uh to save ourselves and those members any uncomfortable and so what we're proposing to do is and this is a little bit of a slight hand but I hope it's acceptable. we had submitted and were under review for a site plan that showed a new building and instead we would like to basically swap that out with you and consider a site plan that maybe two existing houses going to have 14 hotel rooms and I believe six parking spaces >> for a long um we're not able to do that
42. 43:52because the houses are in the way so um we have too few rooms this proposal with 12 rooms, but at the moment we're not proposing any additional parking. >> Um, so I think we have two options. We can either treat it as a new project and start from the beginning or we can just say this is the same function as the previous the route you're getting from A to B is a little more complicated, but it's the same function. So the board might consider this just to be a continuation of the same project and vote to approve. >> That would be Andrew. >> Yeah, that would be fine. I just wanted to clarify vote to approve at the appropriate time. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Thank you, >> Chris. >> Um the only question I have is the existing garage is there. Is that staying as part of this? >> Okay. When is the appropriate times? >> So after completing secret review and
43. 44:55conducting the public hearing reviewers are going to remain because of that fluke in the record and you're going to still make them into how many rooms did you study? >> 12. >> 12 each. >> Uh no 12 total between 10 buildings. Two buildings and they there were apartment buildings, >> right? And a garage stay. Yes. How's that going to be utilized? So, um, do you want to address that or should I >> It's storage at the moment. Probably just remain the same. >> All storage for this complex here. This was all one parcel, right? >> So, um, this is now being treated as a separate business. So, utilize that garage for >> Are there going to be any exterior repair? Is there update upgrades to that garage? >> Yeah. Well, not to the garage. I mean, it's in relatively decent shape at the moment, so we're not proposing anything for it. >> Okay. >> I mean, we can take out and go out and counters and repaint it. It's It's in pretty good shape from the outside, at
44. 45:58least. >> So, so the exteriors of the building will be restored, but remain as is >> and then the interiors will be completely renovated. >> Yes. We thought the most um interesting approach to this would be to leave everything as is. So, we would replace the windows in kind and in the existing openings, including some interesting arrangements in the back and keep all the little bits and pieces that were added on over the years because we found that we actually could make it function fairly well that way >> while bringing it up to code and also addressing the accessibility requirements. >> Oh, yes. So, we we will have a that's a really good point. We're introducing a ramp here that comes I don't know if you all know this building. There's a kind of interesting um second story addition that comes out over uh I guess it was a carport and this was a residence and so we're going to utilize that to make a
45. 47:00ramp and access uh to get into the first guest room here so we have an accessibility. >> What's the relationship between all these parcels? Is it all one entity? Is the Helsinki place? like what can you tell the story of all three of these? >> So >> what's the relationship between this? >> So originally this was one parcel. Now we're treating this as a separate entity because it's a different business. This will go with the hotel and this will be what will it be a club nightclub restaurant or no? Yeah. >> I mean they all tie together in some way in the end. 405 being sort of the performance or you know restaurant aspect of the operation though it's undertaken by a different entity not the Hudson Public Hotel LLC and then this is simply an extension to the current project underway at Fort Memorial. >> Yeah.
46. 48:02>> Thank you. >> I'd like to pull the board way kind of feel we need to go. Do you want to just continue the project? uh uh on the path we're on or do you want to entertain the idea of going back and starting the process over? >> I don't see why we need to start over unless there's something I don't understand. >> Yeah. Continue. So, what do we need to do next? >> So, if you bring us up to speed on seeker status, I understand that the board classified the action and circulated its intent to service lead agency. Is that accurate? >> That's correct. And that was based on the pro the first application before >> and we've also established escrow on both 405 and this project. >> So it would be appropriate to recirculate that notice of intent to be lead agency with these revised plans to interested and involved agencies at this time so they can see the updated shift in plans. And if the board agrees with that, I
47. 49:04think it would be appropriate to accept a motion to that effect. Can I give us the language again? Uh the board could re uh circulate its intent to service lead agency based upon the updated plans. Based on that, is there a motion from the board? Okay. Second, Jane. Okay. What else do we need to just Oh, we need to vote. Of course, that's a good idea. Thank you, J. You've been on the board five years. >> Miss Hoffman, >> yes. >> Mr. Michael, >> yes. >> Mr. Shki, >> yes. >> Mr. Speeder, >> yes. >> Mr. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. tomorrow. Where should I drop >> building department
48. 50:13>> building inspector gets a copy, >> right? >> We were given a copy for the city clerk, >> right? >> But I don't know if they still want them or not. >> If you leave them here, she wants it. She'll keep one. Okay. Father will come. Yeah, one for us, one for the inspector, one for you to do three additional copies and one one for yourself. Thank you. Thanks again. Thank you. Now, our next order of business is new business. Learn about 22 Park Place. I'm not sure if you guys would like >> I can't hear >> I'm sorry. I said would you like to see the plans? I've submitted the plans previously but
49. 51:18you can circulate around the table if anybody wants to look at it. >> Thank you. Right. Um, hi everyone. Um, my name is Milad. Uh, I am, um, entrepreneur. Um, small business owners. Um, uh, I was, uh, I was in Brooklyn for a few years. I had several cafes and coffee shop and restaurants in in Brooklyn. Um, one was Silver Service Cafe, one postark. um was operated for about 15 16 years and uh co happened and um it was like you know unfortunately had to close but fortunately I moved out of state and found this beautiful community um I was very community oriented everybody loved what I was what I had done and um they want me to come back and do it again but I think I'm finally coming to so um I found this very cute um area That was Antonio Park. It used to be um
50. 52:22I think art dealer. It's very small. It's about 7 600 something square feet. Um I spoke to the building inspector. Um he was um sort of on board with going and uh we're not doing much of a change. be putting in the hoods like you know some small cooking apprentices and pretty much we have a small like um dining area uh I would say 12 to 17 18 seats more or less so um it's a very small operation um tend to get food from I guess from the local farmers and um you know buying about beers and wines from local brewery and um um the wineries so forth. Um for past two years I work in several different locations in Hudson to get familiar with the markets about so I can you know about provide
51. 53:24the best food so I'm all about quality and providing good food for community for concept. So yeah, have any questions? >> What exactly is your business? Do you serve food? You know, is it a kitchen? >> Yeah. So, we have a small kitchen. Um, we would be focusing on some grilled meats that's marinated. Um, some sides, some vegetarian options, some gluten-free options. Um and we also have an option of having with um you know some drinks. Um I tend to focus on homemade drinks and u also we have an option of having a beer and wine and maybe a cocktail too >> mostly dinner or lunch and dinner. >> Um yeah I would try to have like you know lunch uh and dinner. So we would have start from 11 12:00 and then go to about 8:00 most weeks and then on the
52. 54:28weekends about 10:00 I would say. >> Um like would you plan like having like any live like live music bands at this establishment? >> It's very small. >> It's very small. So if you have it would be very private very small like issue with noise. No, it's the location of the place is a standalone building. So, we are not going to have any noise problem regardless. >> Um but um if you do anything is um is very minimal and private. Nothing to be like. >> Okay. >> And on one side is a empty lot, right? Or driveway. And on the other side is um >> it's a residential. >> Oh. >> Oh, it's a hotel, right? >> It's a char. >> Yes. Yes. So there are no residential buildings even on that block. I don't think >> there's there's one residential building to to the left. >> Okay. Okay. >> Which I like to think about. >> Okay. >> Which is an apartment building on Park Place in Columbia Street. Yes. An
53. 55:32apartment building on Park Place in Warren. So there are residential areas there. So, as far as I understand it, you know, where I'm immediately close by is there's a hotel to my right. Um, but to my left is a residential building which has four or five apartments, >> right? >> On the other side of the empty. >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Make sense? >> Yeah. It seems like a nice location for a little restaurant to me. >> Andrew, do you have any contribution to the conversation? Not at this point. just the preliminary looks. It looks like a very straightforward project and and uh without a lot of artists to over but uh but and it's exciting. Your PowerPoint that you posted on the portal was really attractive. It made me hungry. >> Yeah. >> Great. I promise. >> Is there anything else for tonight's discussion? >> Thank you so much for coming. Just out
54. 56:33of curious, how long do I discuss, you know, just how long should we like, you know, we be looking at this? >> Is there anything that the board is looking for from the applicant at this point in time? Is there any outstanding materials? >> Board should probably establish ESCRO for reviews. Um, so that's a motion you might want to take up right now. >> Um, do they provide a short form? Did you do a short form AI in the submitt? >> Um, not sure. I don't think so. >> Okay. It's you probably should prepare a short form. I'm guessing it's probably a type two action. >> Um but that that's just is safe to prepare. It's a small it's a simple form to do. >> Yeah. No. >> Um Jane, any recommendations on this? We've done in the past a minimum of $1,000 and then depending on the size of the project it would increase up to five 10 $50,000. So >> you understand how the escro works.
55. 57:35>> Um I do understand what escrow is but I don't understand how is that applying to the board here. >> Jean, would you explain what >> I said I do understand what the meaning of escrow is but I don't understand how is that applying to the board. >> Okay. We have hired an consultant, an attorney, engineer. They take your application and your paperwork. They review it and that cost money. We don't pay for that. The applicant pays for them. Sure. So whe $1,000, $5,000, and there's money left over after we approve or not approve the project, the remaining money just goes back to you. No problem. >> And that's for Sorry, I worked on for clarity that's set forth in the city's code section. >> Sure. >> I don't have it off hand, but I can provide it to you. >> Sure. >> What a $1,000 espro. >> Do you have any recommendation because you're the one that does this work? >> Probably going to be a couple meetings
56. 58:37at least for me to come down and review it or, you know, next consultant. Um, the attorney's coming down and you're going to have to pay him. So I would say four >> at least to start with >> and your office reviewing this application. You have any idea? >> I would echo that recommendation. Okay. I think at least that was 400 and an escro. >> Oh, I thought it was 400. >> No wonder he looks so happy. >> So we're recommending 4,000. Okay. >> Is that a burden or hardship for you? >> Of course it is. Yes. I'm a small business owner and everybody else trying to >> Well, we could just round up. But >> we could set a escrow lower so it's not such a burden on hand. And if we need monies, we could always we do an amendment, do a replenish the escro for more money. >> So, you're saying it would cost $4,000 to process this application. >> You've got to figure you're paying for Andrew's time to come down. Um it's not cheap my time uh reviewing it. It's you
57. 59:42know a couple hours 3 4 hours at least review time. >> Okay. >> I would recommend if the board is going to go with the reduced escrow that we just monitor it so there's no issues getting out >> to be fair to the applicant and to be fair to the board. >> Yeah. >> Is very good at keeping on top of our >> So I'm listening for a figure. What's the recommendation? Oh, >> 4,000 >> 4,000. >> Maybe you can drop it down to 25, but be aware that it might go up from there depending upon how extensive the review gets. >> What's a time frame that I should be looking at getting you some answers? >> What time frame for getting answers? >> Um, it's up to you guys. >> It's a couple weeks. We >> should before the next meeting. >> Yeah. >> You mean approval? Yes. >> Oh, no. A few months. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Right. Probably what, three or four months? >> Well, >> and I would hesitate just to give a rough estimate, but generally the
58. 1:00:45procedure follows this board, get satisfied with the application, do the seeker classification and NAGDC if appropriate. Then you have to schedule public hearing, do that, and then take final action on an application. So the escrow we would be carrying for a multi, you know, three or four months. Gives you an idea how long you have to be separate from that money. >> Yeah. And any money that's not spent comes back to you to get >> fine. It cost you how much of space sitting in. So trade phone numbers with Lyndon tonight. She's our board clerk and if you have any procedural questions, she'll be able to advise you. >> Thank you so much. >> Should we get that? >> Just so we can start for $2,500. Thank you.
59. 1:01:54And >> who's making for a motion? >> Oh, I was just going to add something, but >> perhaps it's inappropriate, so stop me. >> I would have a hard time imagining that this project wouldn't be approved. >> Yeah. >> And that everything you're putting into it, you know, is is going toward an approval, if that's helpful. >> I don't foresee any issue. >> Thank you. >> Depends on the quality of your home. I would say Bob, but we can >> we can argue all night about that. We're very glad that you're here. >> Yeah. >> So, we have a motion and a second for a $2,500 escrow to be set out. >> And is there a roll call? >> Both. >> Yes. >> Miss Convers. >> Yes. >> Mr. Michael. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sheffy. Yes, Mr. Sweet. >> Yes. >> Look forward to hosting our board
60. 1:02:56meeting and get your place next fall. >> One more night. You need to write a check to the city of Hudson. Drop it off to the treasur's office. Sure. >> Tomorrow. Thank you. Thanks so much. Yes. Say what you need. >> Okay. Thank you. And finally, we're going to hear from Gigi's wine bar. >> And are are you ging >> um I just have some paper copies of some um floor plans and a site plan that we submitted on the portal. Um just because I'm not an electronic user. So if you want to take one of each, I'll let you give us a few questions. Well, good evening again. Charlie Gotley from White House, Indiana venues council for the Hudson Depot District LLC as well as Wine Bar. I'm here this evening
61. 1:04:02with GI Fairchild to my right will be the uh owner operator of the proposed wine bar that we're here to discuss this evening. Um, importantly, the depot district, um, I was involved with that entire permitting process. That is now a that's now a building. It's a reality. Um, so this this wine bar is going to occupy one of the commercial spaces on the ground floor. That is 1,521 square ft at the existing building at 76 North 7th Street. This is in the GTCC zoning district. So, the wine bar is a permitted use with site plan approval from your board as an eating and drinking establishment. Um, a little bit of history behind the existing building, the depot district building. I think we started application process in 2019. Um, late this summer, it went through a few different site plan amendments. Um, in August of this year, I believe it was, we saw a site plan amendment
62. 1:05:04related to some landscaping in the rear. We had a public hearing um and now the depot district building is about 40% tenant occupied. Um there are five commercial spaces on the ground floor. There's a pet store that is tened that space and GG's wine bar would be the sectors. Um, we initially thought when this wine bar was proposed that she could simply just go in and get a building permit considering that this commercial space has already been approved by the planning board for commercial use. Uh, but we did get a rejection from the building inspector stating that that was more geared toward retail or office as opposed to an eating or drinking establishment and that's why we're here this evening. Um you'll see we provided the most recent approved site plan um as well as a preliminary floor plan that shows seating of the wine bar and exactly where the space will be on that first floor of the depot district building. The hours of operations will
63. 1:06:08be Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 400 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Friday, Saturday 400 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. Sundays 400 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. There will be anywhere between 2 or four employees. Uh based on the floor plans that are in front of you, max occupancy is around or 40 to 50 people. Uh they will serve wine by the glass and by the bottle for uh consumption on premises only. There will be light food that will complement the wine. Uh cheese, nuts, shakureri boards. But I say this only because there will be you know a warming equipment but this is not a commercial kitchen. So there will be no major commercial appliances uh in the restaurant. Um very similar to our last application. um you know uh something of this nature. So again we are using a existing building occupying existing space 1500 square ft very clearly a type two action under secret. So there is no secret
64. 1:07:10review at all but it is worth noting that the depot district building itself went through a wildly comprehensive secret review back in 2021 which considered this commercial space. Um, and and I'm not sure if the planning board knows this, but again, this is something that can speed up the review process for these small business owners that are looking to come into the city of Hudson. New York State general city law and your own city zoning code does not require public hearings. You may on your own discretion if you find out as though there may be an impact to public health, safety, and welfare. So, in our cover letter that we submitted to the planning board, we noted that we really don't need a public hearing on this small application for a number of reasons. One is I counted from 2021 until August of 2025, the depot district building had about 15 public hearings. The last one being in July and August of 2025 where no residents had shown up and
65. 1:08:15that's when the building was constructed. Um, and I think that's most notable because sometimes complaints come with a building after it's constructed, excuse me, constructed and impacts start to be realized. Um, additional reasons why we think the planning board should consider waving the public hearing. It's a small tenative space. It's a secret type two action which by state regulation inherently will not result in environmental impact. No commercial kitchen, no external changes whatsoever to the existing building. The depot district has constructed a pedestrianfriendly North Devin Street now. Um, so we have street trees, ADA compliant sidewalks, crosswalks, and about 20 on street parking spaces that are new. There is no off- streetet parking required for this project. It's a principally permitted use and again we've already had numerous public hearings on this building. Um so with that said, we ask that you wave the
66. 1:09:16public hearing requirement. Another addition um that's in my cover letter is I went through each your planning board as site plan review criteria. So we identified for you how we meet each of the site plan review criteria. Um, just very quickly, a lot of them are inapplicable because we're not disturbing any ground. We're not building any structures. We're not changing the facade of the building. We have a pedestrian friendly project site. I noted the street improvements and the pedestrian improvements. We're not increasing impervious surfaces. Landscaping remains as approved. We're creating a walkable n uh neighborhood. Uh there's no w water bodies or wetlands. There's no outside storage, no exterior changes. So, um G, you will introduce yourself, but one of the things um as we were kind of rushing to make the planning board submission is she would like to be operational given the lease with the depot district building in May. Um so there are ways
67. 1:10:22and I know we talked about planning board process with the the last applicant, but we don't have to do this in four months, right? It's a secret type two action. There's absolutely no doubt about that. You can make that decision tonight. Tonight, you can also refer it to the county for review because we are within 500 ft of Columbia Street, which is a state right of way. Um, we also ask that you wave the public hearing given the history and small nature of the project. With all that said, we could respond to any questions you have this evening by the March meeting. And so, by the March meeting, all this can get done. we can be approved. We can have a small business owner in the city of Huffington. Um, so there's my spiel. Gigi, if you want to say a few words, uh, introduce yourself, that'd be great. >> Hi, good evening. Thank you for being here tonight and welcoming me. I'm Gigi Fairchild. I'm the owner of the Cafe, which is currently located in Picy. Uh, and so this project is also going to be named Anna, but it's going
68. 1:11:26to be contra, which just means the counter. Uh it's named after my grandparents Anna and Pierre. Um they are a big inspiration of mine uh since I was a young girl and is still with us. Um their home uh were from the Caribbean and their home was the center of their community where they hosted people for coffee and tea and small plates and wine and all the deliciousness. Um and so I named my company after that. Uh my cafe is doing really well. It just came from there. And um I'm really excited to bring um our wine bar to Hudson. Uh it will be a very intentional space. It's not a place that you just pop into. It's a place that you plan for, a place that you uh bring people to, a place where you go to celebrate um all sorts of the things that life has to offer. So, um I'm very intentional in my space. If
69. 1:12:30you're ever in Pikipsky, come visit my cafe. Uh lots of live plants, lots of sage that burns in the space. So, it's all good energy all around. Um and so I want to bring something that um encourages community and warmth and good vibes. So, uh very excited about this wine bar. Uh do you have any questions for me at all? Yes, you mentioned the the judge project up there with the G Enterprise went through like 10, 12, 15 public hearings and it was eventually approved by the board approving it. It was for a commercial retail space, not a wine bar. So, you're changing it. that one area from commercial space to the wine bar. >> Correct. >> Okay. >> Secondly,
70. 1:13:33it was approved and accepted by Columbia County planning board. I remember >> Yes, it was >> because there's a county building right six street 610 State Street and then you mentioned states uh Columbia Street being the state highway. Yep. Which falls under that review. Please let me know this is for you because the changing it from retail space to the wine bar. Do we need to do any public hearing because when it was originally accepted it was all retail space. And secondly, do we have to go back to Columbia County uh board supervisors requesting their input because accountability is right across the street and the state highway is there. >> Sure. So this sorry >> sorry this application would trigger the general municipal law referral to the county as I think the applicant articulated in their presentation. So to
71. 1:14:36answer that part of your question, yes. And now the second part of your question, the city's code language is discretionary. It's not mandatory. And I'm just pulling it up here. It's 325-35 site plan development approval section 3A. In deciding whether to convene a public hearing, the planning board shall consider the level of public interest in and the desire for a public hearing and the potential for the proposed plan or amendment to adversely impact the public's health, safety, or welfare. So, it is discretionary language left up to this board. I'm sure some of the board members are more familiar with the history of the project than I am. And I'll also uh touch on the seeker part where this project would be a type two action. And just so everyone's on the same page, that's the state type two list where it categorically lists actions that are will not have an
72. 1:15:38environmental impact. And I think it's 9 C9. I don't have it in front of me, but that's when there's a renovation or construction less than 4,000 ft in an existing permitted use. >> Yeah, it's a C9 and it also falls under C18, which is reuse of an existing building for a nonresidential use where you don't need any area there. >> Um, I guess my question is I think it's in everybody's best interest for the project to move along as quickly as possible and for you to be operational. Um, and I might be wrong here, but it just seems like if we could have a public hearing and engage the public and allow them to participate and collaborate, why not if it doesn't slow it down? Um, just because that is being a good neighbor to put it simply
73. 1:16:40maybe. Does does a public hearing ha in have to slow down the process? >> Not necessarily. No. So long as it is noticed properly and conducted according to the code. What I will say there is a required county referral. So we would the board would at least be waiting for that to come back. And I'm not sure when the county meets down here. I could look into that. Make sure it lines up with the board's next meeting date. I don't know what off hand. >> Get it out tomorrow, but they won't hear it until next month. >> And when does their meeting line up with our board? >> So, would that mean that putting this on next month's agenda, a public hearing for this project on next month's agenda would come before the county meeting and thus not slow down the process at all? That's >> Sure. Brilliant. >> So,
74. 1:17:42I just think it's nice to let the public have their say. And if it doesn't slow down your process at all, I don't see what the purpose of giving over that would be. >> So, is that an action item? >> If the board wants to schedule a public hearing, then it would be an action item. I would also recommend, not sure how we've previously done it down here, but I think it would be appropriate to classify this as a type two action exempt from further abuse for clarity of the record. If you could do that by accepting a motion to that effect, >> why don't we combine those two into one motion, a public hearing? >> Absolutely. Got to >> hi. Um, so having the public um vote, are they voting? Um, so explain to me if you could what what exactly happens in a public hearing. They they listen to what I want to do and then they can say that they don't want this or not. >> It just gives them an opportunity to voice any concerns or ask any questions.
75. 1:18:44It's up to this board >> um to make the final decision. The public doesn't get to vote. We can take what they've said and questions they've asked into consideration or not. It's really just a gesture, I would argue, on a gesture from us and you to the public to say, "We're a community. We'd love to hear your input." They also might just have a really good idea. >> Yeah. >> You know, it's not it's it's um honestly, I don't imagine there will be much to say about this because it seems like a very sweet project that fits in beautifully to what is happening already and people have already talked about a lot. So, I don't foresee anybody having anything major to say. It's just kind of a nice part of this process to allow for public engagement if it doesn't slow you down in any way. >> Right. But I I wouldn't be able to apply for a permit or start any construction until that happens. >> Oh, no. >> Okay. Well, you >> that is my answer is yes. You you can't do it until that whole process is
76. 1:19:47through, >> right? >> But whether we have a public hearing or not, it sounds like that's not going to slow down that process from approval because we still need county planning board. >> The county planning board will meet after our next meeting. >> Okay? >> So, you'll have to wait just as long with or without the public hearing. >> And so, my argument is why not? It's it really isn't going to have an effect on your timeline, right? >> And it just means that the public feels like they're a part of it. >> So, when is that next meeting? >> It would be the second >> and then you're probably looking at April for approval. >> Yep. And I think um you know the anxiety you're likely feeling on this side of the table and that you saw on the last applicant side is the small business owners are trying to make investments and you're facing um the unknown right we all know planning board process because luckily I met them four nights a week but um it is hard how do we make that investment that's why I appreciated your comment at the at the the last matter saying this is kind of a vanilla application worth investing in the city
77. 1:20:50of Hudson. Um and and so I think that's where that anxiety comes from. Um and so what I would say is if we can if the board does agree that a public hearing is necessary, you know, my last plea that we don't need a public hearing is the city legislature made it discretionary for a reason and they made it discretionary to not bog down small applications with unnecessary meetings. So this board should appreciate the legislative discretion that the city council had in making the public hearings discretion. But that said, I understand the timeline. Um, and certainly it's the board's decisions. >> Well, that was why I was asking these questions. Are we bogging you down? And if not, >> why not? Because I don't want to bog you down. I think it's a great project and I hope you're up and running as soon as possible. >> And and I don't I'm not saying I think it is necessary. I just think it's nice. >> I love the idea, too. I I agree. um you know being in where I am I've got a lot of feedback from the folks around me and incorporated some of their ideals into
78. 1:21:52the cafe that I now um own. Uh but but again like just uh so now he's set for the next meeting potentially getting approval by April meaning that that wishes until the construction start. Uh yes, >> but that would be true with or without >> because of the county or >> and so um one of the things we can explore and maybe this is something someone on the planning board can help with um is you know as we get through the review process and positive feedback is relayed um then I think it's more comfortable maybe applying for a building permit and then having that building permit review proceed And then once the planning board approval comes, the building permit can get stamped so we don't have a lag uh in in the the process. >> I mean, I support anything that sort of expedite the the the project that you want to make happen for all. So
79. 1:22:56>> we need to talk about >> Not yet. >> Not yet. >> Um I agree with you and the applicant and bringing small businesses into the city. We need more. board is open to that. I agree with it anyway. I assume the board does too. As far as the wine bar, we already have two breweries there. One on the course the street, one right next door to it. The alcohol is being served. It's already there. A little wine bar is not going to affect the media area. I don't think it's going to affect the breweries because they serve beer. I don't know if they serve anything else. I haven't been in there like bourbon. But uh and as far as a public hearing, yes, it will not slow down the process, but I don't think because the two breweries were there, the most being served and it's been accepted. They're
80. 1:23:58open. I assume they're making money. They're still open. They're crowded every weekend. I don't see a need for a public hearing. I don't want to waste the public public's time and I don't want to waste our time sitting through it and we've been years not years past applications in the past they go on and on and on and on and it's usually repetition. I don't see that happening with your application. So, I myself don't think we need a public hearing. Let's take these one piece at a time. Let's deal with the public hearing first. Any other comments about whether or not we schedule a public hearing on March 13th? >> Yeah, I feel like I'm I'm also of the mind that given the I feel like everybody did their job here. I feel like the code enforcement officer sent you guys to us for a good reason. Um, but I also don't know that we really need a public hearing because of the
81. 1:25:00nature of the of the changes that you're making. And I do really feel, you know, an obligation to support you in your effort to bring a business here. I also really do connect with the instinct to try to bring the public into conversation around this stuff. So there's ambivalence, but I think wanting to sort of make a place where people can come and build stuff very easily. I want to make it as simple and easy for you as possible. So my instinct is to agree with the path that you had laid out and to not have a public hearing. >> Any other comments? >> Um well I mean thinking about it I mean you know Gabby does raise a good point. um you know as far as trying to just try to it's kind of like an introduction to the public but I but I als but I also understand the opposite view that you know you don't necessarily want to prolong the process unnecessarily but I am I think I'm more leaning on the side that the public hearing may not be a bad idea.
82. 1:26:02So if I could summarize the discussion, um public hearing would not slow the process. It would add an additional component to the process, but we're not going to be able to deal with this in in any kind of an action until the April meeting anyway. So it just adds an element. Um and I think uh Gabby's excuse me, Gabriel's >> No, Gabby's fine. Okay, Jimmy, I think your argument is comp is persuasive that anytime you have an opportunity for the public to feel like they're part of a conversation, it's good and it may actually be good publicity for you. >> So, uh let's uh get a motion on the floor on the public hearing uh either either or a motion to hold a public hearing in our next uh board meeting. >> I think you've got some date and time. uh March 16th to 6 p.m. >> Yeah, me too. >> It would just be incorporated in our regular meeting.
83. 1:27:04>> You just got to make sure you state that date. Okay, very good. >> Make the resolution declared a type two refer to county planning and set the public hearing for split those because I don't know how the board is going to vote vote on this public hearing split. So >> I have a question to make it even more complicated. Um here's next meeting is March 13th >> or is it >> should be the second is it 10th isn't it >> because another way around this is if you have a if you have a special meeting >> excuse me because um if you don't hear back from a county based on a referral within 30 days you can then take action because February is short I don't think there's 30 days in between today and March at this city hall, >> right? >> It would be both virtual and in person. So, we have a motion on the floor for the public hearing March 10th, 6 p.m. Uh, there's a motion and a second.
84. 1:28:10Who need a second? I I think just for clarity, so there is an active motion to schedule public hearing, correct? It's an affirmative action. So for it to be scheduled, we'll need an affirmative majority vote. A vote of yes is for the hearing. A vote of no is against the hearing. >> Hey, Chair Bald. >> Yes. >> Congress absent. Miss Hoffman, >> yes. >> Mr. Michael, >> yes. >> Mr. Schedy, >> no. >> Mr. speaker. >> No, I actually think one more person at the vote yet because you're a board of seven and so you need four votes to house. >> You do need an affirmative vote of the board fully constituted. So for seven member board all our votes are on a base seven if you would >> not of just the people here. >> Well, we learn something every day. So failed. >> So we failed. We will not have a public hearing >> there. Um ity. Now, we're going to move on to the second item, and that's the
85. 1:29:13type two action. Could you provide the language for that? >> Sure. I I think it'd be appropriate for the board to accept a motion to classify this action as type two for purposes of seeker and exempt from further environmental review. >> I'll make the motion. >> Okay. Second, second. Yes, >> yes Michael. >> Yes, >> Mr. Shki. >> Yes, >> Mr. Speaker. >> Yes. >> And does the county referral require an action? >> Uh, yes. We should do that on the record language for that. >> Just mo motion to refer the matter to the county planning board versus pursuant to the general municipal law. >> Thank you. Is there a motion? >> Make a motion. It's okay. >> Yes. >> Miss Hoffman. >> Yes. >> Mr. Michael.
86. 1:30:14>> Yes. >> Mr. Shy. >> Yes. >> Mr. Spear. >> Yes. >> So, what's the next step in this process for the applicant? >> I think the board could establish an escrow account in its discretion. And I think the recommendation was $1,500. I understand there's no engineering review on this and I think our review would be fairly limited. So that seems appropriate to >> the only thing I would ask um look at the parking and see what the parking of a wine bar versus a commercial space will do. I know you did extensive private parking. You know, my answer is going to be >> it's not required. >> If you're interested to observe, it would look at >> Yeah, you're right. It's not required. >> And I'm assuming is your business model that you're principally going to uh your customers are principally going to be the folks that are living in this in the complex or >> Okay. So, it's there's a lot of walkability involved in your plan, which
87. 1:31:17is great since we don't require parking anyway. >> Yeah. And it goes back to the theater project at 724 Columbia where the idea is to build this neighborhood. Um, and there was the parking assessment done for that one as well. Um, which kind of shows that, you know, you go to the wine bar, you go to the brewery before you go to the theater, and then you go to that gentleman's restaurant to have something to eat. And and we're starting to build a community here. It's really cool to see. >> You might be fine. I'm guessing you're probably >> Yeah, we'll take a look. I just have to say >> yes I do you could accept it as long as the 1500 was okay you could accept a motion to establish an escro account the amount of 1500 move second >> second >> okay yes Mr. Mr. Spears yes Congratulations. >> Thank you. Nice to have you.
88. 1:32:21>> Thank you. >> To check >> to the treasure. You got it. >> $1,500. >> Yep. We'll get that out tomorrow. >> And then he'll put his out to the knowing that it's going to >> Okay, we'll do. >> Good luck. >> Thank you. >> Um, is there any further business, new business for our board to consider? new business. We got a 90minute meeting here. >> So if that's instead of celebration, I'm just repeating a jerk.

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