Vigilance still needed regarding Kingstonian

Dear Editor: It is only with determined community input — much of which was maligned and criticized by the developers, their attorney, their consultants, their supporters and, sadly, by some members of our local government — that some improvements and changes, including the addition of 14 units of affordable housing, have been made to the proposed Kingstonian development (“‘Affordable workforce housing’ units added to Kingstonian proposal,” Oct. 24, 2019).

We should not be satisfied, however, that the developer is now, after all these months, providing some affordable housing, because affordable housing was required by law all along. It should not have taken such an effort by the community to merely have the law partially complied with. Where were our public servants? Who were they serving?

We have to continue to hold the Kingston Planning Board, the Planning Department, the Common Council, the mayor and all those involved with the project to ensuring the application and review process is done with transparency and per the law.

Affordable housing is just one component. We are talking about putting a large commercial and residential development in a historical district, a stone’s throw from the Senate House. We need to be vigilant to ensure that environmental, aesthetic, traffic and other community concerns are addressed.

The role of city government is to represent the interests of the entire community, not just the developers; and ensuring that process, not the players, dictates how a proposal is reviewed and decided. Sadly, the signs of an unbiased, ethical backbone have been rare.

Neil Millens Kingston