Apartment developer must provide traffic study

KINGSTON, N.Y. » The developers proposing 47-unit apartment complex at Lucas Avenue and Bluestone Court will be required to provide a traffic study for the project and some visuals of how it will look from the surrounding area, among other requirements.

During a virtual meeting Tuesday, the Kingston Planning Board adopted a resolution requiring the developers of the proposed Bluestone Commons apartment complex at 264 Lucas Ave. to conduct a study of how traffic would be affected by the development, as well as to fill out a longer environmental assessment form providing additional details about the project. The board also required the developers to provide visual representations of how the development would appear from Bluestone Court and Lucas Avenue.

Additionally, the board referred the proposed project to the Ulster County

Planning Board for feedback. Also, the public hearing on the project kept open.

City planning Board Chairman Wayne Platte Jr. said many members of the public have asked for the longer environmental assessment form to be completed. Platte said he was inclined to agree and that it would provide a more in-depth look at the project. That could help allay some of the public’s fears, he said.

Platte also said he was in favor of a request from the public to have a traffic analysis done.

“Certainly, we’re going to provide you with some more information about traffic,” said Matthew Rudikoff, an environmental consultant for the project. “But in terms of what a traditional traffic impact analysis is, this amount of traffic is going to be far below a level of traffic that can be measured. But we’ll provide something that’s going to really give the board some more comfort about the level of traffic.”

Rudikoff said a member of the public mentioned the project would lead to 300 vehicle trips per day on Bluestone Court. He said that was a fairly accurate number and noted that if those 300 vehicles traveled within a 10-hour period, it would equate to 30 vehicles an hour, or to one vehicle every two minutes.

Kenneth Gilligan, who said he represents a number of residents on Bluestone Court, was one of four speakers to address the Planning Board during Tuesday’s meeting.

“My clients purchased their homes in large part because it was situated on a cul de sac in a quiet, single-family neighborhood,” Gilligan said. He said the proposed entrance and exit to the apartment complex is close to one of his client’s front yards and the development would lead to approximately 300 vehicle trips per day.

That is being proposed, Gilligan said, even though the developers apparently could have the entrance and exit on Lucas Avenue. He said he sent a letter to the Planning Board asking for the long-form environmental assessment with more specific information related to the traffic impact, water and sewer demands, and the impacts on the neighborhood, among other issues.

Luke Interrante, one of the developers of the project, previously said the development is proposed to consist of 47 units of housing in four two-story buildings. He said four of the units would be fully handicapped-accessible and 10% of the units would be set aside for low-income tenants.

The plan calls for 14 onebedroom apartments, 32 two-bedroom apartments, and one three-bedroom unit, along with 96 parking spaces, according to the submission to the city.

The complex is to be built by SSLI Holdings LLC, a partnership of Interrante and Stefan Sanzi, both lifelong Kingston residents.

The proposal first was submitted in early 2020, but SSLI asked soon after for the Planning Board to put off starting its review.