Former alderman remains opposed
Richard Cahill Jr. said RUPCO’s amended rezoning petition, while legal, is “immoral”
KINGSTON, N.Y. » RUPCO’s amended petition to rezone a portion of the Alms House property is legal but “immoral,” according to a strong opponent of a planned affordable housing complex at the site.
Kingston Conservative Party Chairman Richard Cahill Jr., who has described RUPCO’s tactics in the past as “bullying,” says the agency newest legal maneuvering, while legal, is another way of forcing its will on neighbors opposed to the project.
“It’s not illegal, but, in my opinion, what they are doing is immoral,” Cahill said last week. “The opinions of people near that building (the Alms House) are irrelevant to RUPCO. To them, an-
yone who disagrees with them is being prejudiced against their clients.”
Cahill, who is a former alderman and a two-time, unsuccessful candidate for mayor, said RUPCO’s aggressive push to build the housing complex, known as Landmark Place, “spits in the face” of a neighborhood that is opposed.
“They want what they want and will do whatever they want to do and destroy whatever gets in their way,” Cahill said. “All the while, falsely proclaiming themselves as saviors of the disenfranchised while, in fact, all they are concerned about is making money.”
In August, city lawmakers began to consider an amended petition to rezone a portion of the former Alms House property that, if approved, would leave zoning unchanged for a 101-foot buffer adjacent to neighboring land owners.
RUPCO initially requested the Flatbush Avenue property in its entirety be rezoned.
Prior to the Common Council voting on the rezoning July 11, a group of neighbors filed a protest petition. That petition forced the council to require a supermajority of seven “yes” votes of the nine aldermen on the board to approve the rezoning request. Five of the body’s members voted in favor, but the motion was
defeated.
RUPCO’s amended petition, which was received by the city July 11, requests the property be rezoned with the exception of the 101foot buffer from neighboring property owners. That buffer, according to the petition, would remain zoned for single-family residential use and prevent neighbors from compelling a supermajority vote by the council to rezone.
In response to a question seeking reaction to Cahill’s comments, RUPCO Executive Director Kevin O’Connor said the agency did listen to neighborhood reaction and responded.
“We are accused of not listening to the neighbors, but, in fact, we held an open house to hear their concerns, listened at every meeting and, in response, we made a major accommodation when we changed the population to be all seniors,” O’Connor said. “We also invited the neighbors weeks ago to serve on an advisory committee with us during construction, lease up and operation to continue to ensure their concerns would be heard.”
Still, O’Connor said, there were other voices to be heard.
“But we listened to other voices, too,” O’Connor said. “The loudest voice we hear comes from the 705 applicants stuck on our waiting lists for affordable senior housing in Ulster County.”
“We listened to David Scarpino, Health Alliance’s
chief, describe a recent study demonstrating the most prolific and costly population overusing hospital services are those with behavioral health issues — mostly the elderly — who are living in motels, boarding homes and shelters without the support they need,” O’Connor added.
O’Connor said the agency had every right to file its legal challenges and zoning requests.
“Just days before the Common Council’s (July 11) vote, a few neighbors filed a protest petition, as was their legal right to do so,” O’Connor said in an email. “We have responded by filing litigation that challenges their protest petition and the manner in which it was considered, as is our legal right to do so. Now a judge gets to decide. Is there something wrong with that?”
O’Connor said that, despite the objections, a majority of the Common Council did favor the zoning request. He also pointed out that RUPCO has, in the past, been faced with notin-my-backyard opponents.
“RUPCO is in its 37th year and is recognized nationally as a leading nonprofit in the housing and community development field,” O’Connor wrote. “We are the same organization that spent 10 years in Woodstock overcoming (not-inmy-backyard) opposition to build 53 units of housing, certainly not because all we care about is making money!”