Mayor sets hearing on excavation rules
Mayor Steve Noble will hold a public hearing next week on a proposal to increase the oversight and regulation of excavation work when it takes place on private property.
The proposed changes are a response to excavation work at 32 Abeel St. to make way for the planned Irish Cultural Center.
The public hearing is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30, in City Hall, 420 Broadway.
After excavation began at the Irish Cultural Center site in May, neighbors complained it was causing excessive noise and damage to surrounding properties, including the cityowned Company Hill Path.
During a meeting earlier this month, the Common Council had a second reading and then unanimously adopted two local laws regarding excavation without any further discussion.
One allows the city engineer to issue appearance tickets for violations of Kingston’s Stormwater Management and Erosion and Sediment Control section of the code. The other expands a section dealing with excavation hazards.
That law requires fencing or a covering for any open cistern, well or excavation site requiring a building permit to prevent members of the public from gaining access.
Still pending is a proposed local law that would amend the City Code to require a building permit when excavation work is done in preparation for construction, enlargement, alteration, improvement, removal, relocation or demolition of any building or structure. It also would require the city engineer to review any work involving excavation before a building permit could be issued. That review would ensure the excavation complies with the city’s Stormwater Management and Erosion and Sediment Control regulations. Each local law must go through readings at two separate meetings before the full council can vote on adoption. The pending local law is expected to be voted on by the council at its November meeting.
Noble is required to hold public hearings on council-adopted laws before he signs or vetoes them.
Work at the Irish Cultural Center site led former City Engineer Ralph Swenson to issue a violation notice to the developer, which since has corrected the problems to the city’s satisfaction. The developer, though, must again go before the city Planning Board because the site plan approval for the project has expired.