Excavation permits sought
Common Council committee to review lawmaker’s request amid community concerns of work at Irish Cultural Center
Excavation to make way for the planned Irish Cultural Center in the Rondout area has led one city alderman to call on his fellow councilmen to consider legislation that would govern such work.
In an Aug. 3 letter to Common Council President James Noble, Alderman Steven Schabot said he had received complaints regarding the excavation that was done as part of the Irish Cultural Center project at 32 Abeel St.
He said the city’s Building Safety Division had investigated each of the concerns and improvements had been made at the work site in response.
“As I reviewed the constituent concerns with the Building Safety Division, I learned that there is currently no permit requirement in the Uniform Codes for excavating on private property and creating pits,” Schabot, D-Ward 8, added. “Usually such excavation is part of a building permit.
“However, currently, a property owner can excavate without a building permit.”
Schabot said the city should, therefore, consider creating local legislation that would require an excavation permit when such work is done separately from construction.
Noble on Tuesday said Schabot’s request had been forwarded to the Common Council’s Laws and
Rules Committee for review.
That committee meets again on Aug. 15.
As of Wednesday morning, developers for the Irish Cultural Center had not applied for, or been granted, a building permit for their project, Megan Weiss-Rowe, the city’s director of communications and community engagement, said in an email.
Since work began there in May, neighbors have complained that excavation to make way for the cultural center had caused excessive noise and damage to surrounding properties.
Among the complaints is that the excavation work at 32 Abeel St. has caused damage to the neighbor’s driveway at 42 Abeel St. and is causing further erosion to that property. Neighbors have also complained about damage to the adjoining city-owned Company Hill Path due to heavy construction material being stored there for a time.
Excavation of the Irish Cultural Center site goes directly up to the property line at 42 Abeel St. A construction fence divides the two properties.
In April, the city’s Planning Board gave final approval to plans for the 16,213-squarefoot facility that is to include a 171-seat theater on its ground floor, which would be built into the hillside facing West Strand and the Company Hill Path.
The first and second floors of the center are to include a restaurant with a pub space, a small stage for performances, offices, a recording studio, archives, and room for educational programs, among other features.
The roof is to have garden space for growing food to be used in the restaurant, as well as a viewing platform looking south toward the Rondout Creek, which the site overlooks.