Council rejects rezoning request
The Common Council has rejected a petition to change the zoning for a property on Montrepose Avenue at West Pierpont Street.
During a virtual meeting Tuesday, the council voted 6-2 against changing the zoning of 2-16 Montrepose Ave. from RRR, which allows single-family residences, to RT, which is the city’s Rondout District.
Majority Leader Reynolds Scott-Childress, D-Ward 3, and Alderman Don Tallerman, DWard 5, were the only members to vote in favor of the change. Alderman Patrick O’Reilly, a nonenrolled voter who represents
Ward 7, was absent.
Alderwoman Michele Hirsch, D-Ward 9, said she stood with her neighbors in opposing the zoning change. She said the change would lead to density, traffic and environmental problems from any project built on the parcel.
“As a council, we need to be looking at zoning changes for the greater good of the whole community, not just for the benefit of the landowner,” Hirsch said.
Architect Andrew Wright, who owns the property, said previously that he wanted to create 13 market-rate and two affordable apartments in a structure to be built on the 0.81-acre parcel in the city’s Ninth Ward. The market-rate apartments were to have two bedrooms apiece, while the affordable units were to have one.
Wright’s proposal also included off-street parking and a small park on the site.
City Assistant Corporation Counsel Daniel Gartenstein previously told council members they could not consider Wright’s proposal when deciding about the zoning change. He said the request was not about a particular development but was about an owner asserting his property was improperly zoned.
Wright did not formally present the project to the city Planning Board for consideration, but it was discussed at city meetings and so became linked to the zoning issue.
Neighbors of the property were vocal in their opposition to the zoning change, saying, in part, that Wright’s proposal would change the character of their historic neighborhood. They also raised concerns about the loss of the ecosystem on the forested property, among other issues.
Alderman Tony Davis said he opposed the zoning change because the city’s “Kingston 2025” comprehensive plan calls for the preservation of physically constrained land as open space, or for agricultural or low-density residential uses. David, D-Ward 6, said constrained land is not considered suitable for future development and includes areas of steep slopes and flood hazard areas. Taking that into consideration, Davis said he did not feel the Montrepose Avenue property was suited to be rezoned.
Scott-Childress said the property abuts the RT zone so it would be normal to think of adding it to the Rondout District. He also said he understands people being concerned about what might be built on the property but that such concerns are based on conjecture. It’s possible the property could remain vacant, Scott-Childress said.
Additionally, Scott-Childress said merely changing the zoning does not do anything to change the property.