Zoning board can flip Irish center rejection, attorney for city says

The Kingston Zoning Board of Appeals has the authority to overrule a decision by a city commission that denied permission for construction of the proposed Irish Cultural Center on Abeel Street, a city attorney said Monday.

Assistant Corporation Counsel Mary Lou Christiana said the zoning board can negate the September decision of the Kingston Historic Landmarks Commission if the developer files an appeal with the city.

“The applicant can file an appeal with the Zoning Board of Appeals within 60 days of the landmark committee’s decision being filed,” Christiana said. “If the applicant does so, the ZBA will

take up the matter when the appeal is received.

“The zoning board cannot take this up on their own, but only if the applicant appeals the Landmark Commission’s decision,” Christiana noted.

Christiana said she knew of no appeal being filed as

of Monday morning, and Zoning Board of Appeals Chairman James Rodden said the matter is not on the agenda for the board’s next meeting, scheduled for Nov. 9.

The Kingston Historic Landmarks Commission issued its denial on Sept. 25, meaning the zoning board’s December meeting would be after the 60day appeal window. Rodden, however, said the

board could hold a special meeting if an appeal is filed after the November meeting and before the deadline.

Information was not immediately available Monday about whether the developer plans to file an appeal. Ronald Pordy, the attorney for the project, did not return a reporter’s phone message Monday.

Pordy said after the commission’s Sept. 25 meeting

that the developer was disappointed with the decision.

The commission voted 4-3 against issuing a “preservation notice of action” for the proposed Irish Cultural Center, which would overlook the Rondout Creek. The notice is required before construction can take place.

The project also would require approval by the Kingston Planning Board,

which still is considering the center’s proposed site plan.

The Irish Cultural Center, if built, would be a 16,213-square-foot structure at 32 Abeel St. and include a 171-seat theater and a 70-seat pub.

It would be constructed on a 0.44-acre parcel bordered on two sides by private properties and to the rear by the city-owned Company Hill Path.