City seeks county input on Kingstonian zoning

City lawmakers will not take action on a request to rezone a portion of the Uptown property where The Kingstonian mixed-use development is proposed to be built until after the Ulster County Planning Board has a chance to weigh in on the addition of affordable housing to the project’s design.

The Common Council’s Laws and Rules Committee held a public hearing Wednesday to take comments about the rezoning request for The Kingstonian which is proposed for two sites at the corner of Fair and North Front streets. Most of the speakers who addressed the committee commented on the project’s perceived merits and shortfalls, rather than specifically about the request to have a portion of the property rezoned so the entire development could fall within the city’s Mixed Use Overlay District.

If approved by the council, a parcel at 51 Schwenk Drive would be added to the district.

“While I appreciate and support the process of ensuring that this project be built according to appropriate regulations and standards, I urge the members of this committee and the other city, county and state regulatory agencies to move it forward without further delay,” Kingston business owner and retired police sergeant Scott Herrington said. He said the developers are wellknown local business leaders who plan to invest more than $50 million in private funds in the project.

Herrington said the “relatively small” amount being provided for the project from the state Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant awarded to the city is doing what it was intended to do: helping the developers build a parking facility that will benefit all stakeholders.

The project is to receive $3.8 million from the $10 million state grant, as well as other government funding.

Sarah Wenk, who spoke on behalf of the grassroots organization KingstonCitizens.org, said that while the developers have incorporated some affordable housing units into their project, they did so merely by expanding an already overscaled development. She also said the total amount of taxpayer money the developers say the project will require has not yet been disclosed beyond $6.8 million in state grants.

Also, Wenk said, the public remains in the dark about the value of tax breaks the developers will be seeking through a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, or PILOT, agreement; the value of municipal real estate that will be given to project; the municipal parking revenue that will be lost; the total cost of infrastructure upgrades the city will need to make to accommodate the project; and any other public grants, tax credits or subsidies.

Part of the project is to be built on a parcel of cityowned land that currently is being used as a municipal parking lot alongside Fair Street Extension. The project also calls for Fair Street Extension to be closed to through traffic.

“Given the long-term profits that the developers stand to gain, the total public investment to be made to realize this project must be outlined,” Wenk said.

Other speakers in support of the project noted the additional parking that would be created, as well as the economic benefits and jobs they said it would bring.

The Laws and Rules Committee will continue to accept written public comments about the rezoning request through the close of business Friday, Jan. 24. Comments can be submitted to the City Clerk’s Office, City Hall, 420 Broadway, Kingston, N.Y. 12401.

In the meantime, the committee has moved forward a resolution to again refer the project to the Ulster County Planning Board for comment. The resolution still must be voted on by the full council, which meets again next month.

The Kingstonian is to include 143 apartments, of which 129 would be rented at market rates. In addition, the project is to comprise restaurant and retail space, a boutique hotel, a pedestrian plaza, a footbridge crossing Schwenk Drive between the new development and Kingston Plaza, and 420 parking spaces, of which 130 would be for the residents.