Pike Plan property owners free of city fee
Common Council OKs resolution eliminating canopy charges
The owners of properties fronted by the Uptown sidewalk canopies known as the Pike Plan will no longer have to pay maintenance fees to the city.
The Common Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution eliminating any new charges against property owners in the Pike Plan section of the Uptown business district. That includes charges for maintenance of the canopies, as well as for outstanding debt related to the structures.
The resolution does not, however, release property owners from paying bills that have already been levied.
The resolution was adopted, 8-0. Alderman Anthony Davis, D-Ward 6, was absent.
The Common Council also is still considering a proposed local law that would eliminate the city’s Pike Plan Commission. That proposed law had its first
reading during Wednesday’s meeting and could be voted on by the council at its October monthly meeting.
The sidewalk canopies were built in the 1970s and overhauled during a twoyear period beginning in 2011. Since then, several business owners have reported damage as a result
of drainage problems related to the renovations.
The city has a lawsuit pending over the renovation work.
In a letter to Common Council President James Noble, Mayor Steve Noble said he wanted to eliminate the debt levied onto the Pike Plan owners and felt the Pike Plan
Commission should be dissolved.
“The owners of these 40+ buildings in Uptown Kingston are already taxed via the non-homestead system in Kingston and I believe that they should be relieved of this burden,” the mayor wrote. “The city already has assumed liability for electric
and maintenance costs related to the Pike Plan and I am now asking that the Common Council consider eliminating this tax.”
The outstanding debt for the Pike Plan would be included in the city’s 2018 budget, making it the obligation of all taxpayers.