Irish center decision uncertain
Kingston Planning Board continues to review the plan for the Rondout proposal
KINGSTON, N.Y. » A July Planning Board decision on the proposed Irish Cultural Center in the Round is uncertain, according to a city official.
City Planner Suzanne Cahill said that a 6 p.m. public hearing has been set for July 10. After that, the board will continue its review of the plan.
Asked Friday if she thought the board would make a decision, Cahill said she could not say.
“Honestly, I can’t answer that because a lot of their decisionmaking is based on what they hear at a public hearing and other comments we may receive in writing,” Cahill said.
Cahill urged those interested in commenting in writing to send
letters to the Planning Office or email before the July 10 meeting. The correspondence will be provided to the Planning Board members, Cahill said.
At a June Planning Board meeting, representatives of the proposed center outlined changes to the project’s site plan in response to comments received from the Ulster County Planning Board,
as well as the city’s Historic Landmarks Preservation commission and the state Historic Preservation Office.
The changes include modification of the exterior of the facility and a reduction of onsite parking from 18 spaces to eight.
The planned 16,213-square-foot structure at 32 Abeel St. would include a 171-seat theater and a 70seat pub. A banquet area previously included in the plan has been dropped.
Ronald Pordy, the attorney for the project, has said a revised
site plan for the project was submitted to the city on May 24.
He said on-site parking, for instance, was changed in response to comments from the county Planning Board and the state Historic Preservation Office to provide for a larger turning area for vehicles entering and exiting the site, as well as to provide a sidewalk for pedestrians accessing the building. Additional landscaping also was added to the lot, Pordy said.
With the change in the
parking, the project is seeking a waiver for 47 additional on-site parking spaces required under city zoning law, Pordy said. He noted the project site is within 400 feet of two municipal parking lots and that operators of the facility would provide shuttle services when peak use is anticipated. Pordy said shuttle service has been successfully used for other events in the city.
He also said some visitors to the center would come from trips to other businesses in the city’s Rondout area.
Pordy said the owners of the Irish Cultural Center site also own property across Abeel Street and that if the city eventually allows parking as a primary use on vacant land, the developers would seek to take advantage of that.
The project initially also called for a large metal trash bin to be used for refuse removal, but that has been changed to the use of bins that can be wheeled to the street for collection, Pordy said. He said that would reduce disruption to neighbors.
Addressing a concern raised by neighbors, Pordy said the developers do not anticipate having to perform any blasting on the site as part of the building’s construction. He said, though, that if blasting is necessary, it would be done following city rules.
The 0.44-acre parcel where the center is proposed to be built is bordered on two sides by private properties and to the rear by the cityowned Company Hill Path and a retaining wall.