Violations corrected at Irish center site
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Violations have been corrected to the city’s satisfaction at the site where the Irish Cultural Center is to be built, a Kingston official said Tuesday.
City Engineer John Schultheis said the developers corrected all of the problems listed in a violation notice the city issued in August. But ongoing maintenance is necessary for the site at 32 Abeel St. to stay in compliance, Schultheis said.
Schultheis said an inspection of the site amid Tuesday’s heavy rainfall did not reveal any sediment coming from the site, one of the violations cited in the August notice.
“We have found that they have made progress and are in compliance with the plan they submitted,” the engineer said. “They have installed those measures.”
Excavation at the site, which
overlooks the Rondout Creek in Downtown Kingston, took place earlier this year, and the violation notice was issued by thenCity Engineer Ralph Swenson on Aug. 13. (Swenson retired earlier this month.)
The Aug. 13 notice said several problems were found during an Aug. 9 visit to the site by Swenson’s staff and members of the the Kingston Planning Department. Among the problems: There was no stabilized construction entrance, a silt fence was not fully embedded, and untreated drainage was migrating off the site and causing erosion to the cityowned Company Hill Path, which connects the site to West Strand. The notice
also said the slope along the property lines was not stabilized, and the driveway at 42 Abeel St., next door, was unprotected at the top of the slope to the excavation.
Neighbors have complained excavation at the site, which covers slightly less than half an acre, has damaged surrounding properties and Company Hill Path.
The Irish Cultural Center is planned to be a 16,213-square-foot facility that would include a 171-seat theater and a restaurant with a pub space. The ground floor is to be built into the hillside facing West Strand and Company Hill Path.
The city Planning Board approved the project’s site plan in April, but the developer did not obtain a building permit within the required 120 days from that date. That means the site plan approval expired and must be obtained again.