Penalties proposed for vacant storefronts
KINGSTON, N.Y. » A city lawmaker wants to assess a fee on storefronts in Kingston’s three business districts that have been vacant for more than six months in an effort to get them filled.
“To have a lively business district, you need storefronts that have life in them,” Alderman Donald Tallerman said Tuesday. He said there is an appetite for retail space in Kingston, and if the rental rates for vacant storefronts are fair, people will be interested in them.
Tallerman, D-Ward 5, said there are a total of more than 20 vacant storefronts in the city’s Uptown, Midtown and Downtown business districts but that the exact amount needs to be inventoried.
In an email to Common Council President Andrea Shaut, Tallerman said he believes vacant retail space is a blight on the community.
He introduced a proposed addendum to the city’s zoning law that would charge a fee for storefronts in particular areas that are vacant for more than six months. For vacant retail spaces of 500 to 2,000 square feet, there would be a $300 monthly fee. That fee would increase to $600 per month for vacant storefronts between 2,000 and 4,000 square feet, and to $100,000 per month for vacant storefronts of more than 4,000 square feet.
The fees would apply to buildings on North Front Street, between Clinton Avenue and Crown Street; Wall Street, between North
Front and Main streets; Fair Street, between North Front and John streets; and Broadway, between St. James and West Chester streets in Midtown, and between Spring Street and West Strand in the Downtown area.
“The overall purpose is to reduce the number of vacant storefronts/retail spaces in our city,” Tallerman wrote in his letter. “As you will see, there is a particular focus on larger spaces, such as the former Woolworth and Yallum’s spaces on Wall Street.”
The council’s Laws and Rules Committee is expected to take up Tallerman’s proposal during its next meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, at City Hall, 420 Broadway.
Tallerman said he has discussed his proposal with the city’s corporation counsel and will continue to do so.
In his own email to Shaut, Mayor Steve Noble referenced a letter from the Kingston Uptown Business Association (KUBA) regarding vacant and unused properties in Kingston.
That letter, from association President Elenie Loizou, encouraged the city to look at the underutilized properties to see if the owners could be encouraged to actively participate and create a renaissance in Kingston.
“I agree with KUBA that the city must research and attempt to create the appropriate policies to reduce the amount of properties that are being ‘warehoused’ by property owners in our city,” Noble wrote.