Common Council candidates’ stands on Alms House plan differ

Three candidates in a primary election race for the Eighth Ward seat of the Common Council hold varying positions on RUPCO’s proposal to rezone a portion of the former Alms House property for an affordable housing project.

A fourth candidate, Bryan Drew Andrews, who is seeking to succeed Seventh Ward Alderwoman Mary Ann Mills, who has opposed the project, did not offer a definitive opinion on the project.

Jim Rodden and Cassandra Burke, both running in the Sept. 12 Democratic primary, say they are certain how they would vote on RUPCO’s controversial request to rezone a portion of the property at 300 Flatbush Ave.

The two are challenging

Related story

current Alderman Steve Schabot, a Democrat, for that party’s nomination.

The Alms House site is located in the Sixth Ward, which is represented by Alderman Anthony Davis, a Democrat. Davis has already opposed the rezoning of the entire property in a vote taken on July 11. The measure was defeated because not enough favorable votes were cast to pass it.

RUPCO has filed a lawsuit against the city in connection with that decision.

RUPCO has now requested only a portion of the property be rezoned. The modified request means that only a simple majority of the Common Council is needed to pass the rezoning, not a supermajority as with the original, more expansive rezoning request.

Burke said there was no question in her mind where she stands on the newest rezoning matter.

“I have been an outspoken supporter of the Alms House project since it was first proposed,” Burke said in an email. “I have spoken at public hearings and Planning Board meetings, citing the abundance of data that supports the need for affordable housing in Kingston and the greater Ulster County.”

“My opinion on the project has not changed since then; I support affordable housing, especially as we see housing prices skyrocketing in Kingston, it is more important than ever,” Burke added.

Rodden, who has already earned the Republican, Conservative, and Independence party nominations for November’s general election, is also clear where he stands on the rezoning matter.

There is an “opportunity

to ballot,” in which registered members of a party may write in a candidate to challenge a nominated candidate, for the Eighth Ward Independence line, according to the Ulster County Board of Elections.

“I am not in favor of the amendment by the organization,” said Rodden, who is chairman of the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals. “I am opposed.”

Rodden said he sides with Conservative Party Chairman Richard Call Jr.’s criticism of RUPCO that the agency is attempting to bully the Landmark Place project into a neighborhood that does not want it.

“I am uncomfortable with the decision of RUPCO

to do this and extend (a buffer) to 101 feet,” said Rodden, who added that the agency is saying “we are going to do what we want ... and we don’t care, really, about the way (the community) feels.”

Rodden said it appears that RUPCO wants to “show their muscle and go ahead with it.”

Schabot, who favored the initial zoning change during the July vote, said that he is likely to favor the new request, too.

But, Schabot said, he has been away and wanted to get more information from the city’s Corporation Counsel’s Office before coming to a definitive conclusion.

Meanwhile, Bryant Drew Andrews, a candidate in the Sept. 12 primary for the Seventh Ward, remained steadfast in his support of rezoning the property, but not-sodefinitive

on the RUPCO’s project.

Andrews could become the representative of a ward now represented by Mills, a Democrat who opposed RUPCO’s rezoning at the July Common Council session.

Mills is not seeking reelection.

Andrews has earned Kingston’s Democratic Committee nod, but faces an opportunity to ballot challenge in the Sept. 12 primary for that line.

There is also an opportunity to ballot in the Seventh Ward on the Republican line.

“For the economic health of Kingston, we need to rezone this property and open it up for growth and development,” Andrews said in an email. “We need to work together as a community to create a plan for the property

that we can all live with.”

Andrews added he is “most definitely in favor of rezoning the property,” but withheld saying definitely if the RUPCO project should go there.

“My answer as to what happens on the property should be based on a collective decision of community members and go through due process,” Andrews said. “I will say, my

research and dealings with RUPCO have always been positive and professional, and with waiting lists in the hundreds at many of our senior housing facilities, I believe more senior housing is what is needed in Kingston.”

Andrews said the discussion was difficult.

“This discussion is not an easy one to have,” Andrews added. “There is much fear of change, and the idea of

any organization coming in and telling us what will be happening in our own backyard.”

The fifth candidate involved in a primary contest for the Democratic Party nod is Alderman William Carey of Ward 5. In July, Carey voted against granting the rezoning of the property.

Carey faces an opportunity to ballot challenge for the Democratic line.