KINGSTON – Last-minute changes to the agenda brought surprises to the Kingston Common Council’s Law and Rules Committee meeting at City Hall Tuesday night. An item scheduled as “Bldg Safety – Requested Amendment to Zoning Code” turned out to be a major revision, which will change the face of city streets.
By a 3-2 vote, members approved a measure to allow parking use on vacant parcels in residential zones, to accommodate structures on separate lots. This will allow new development in neighborhoods where parking space shortages currently prevent consideration.
The matter will be sent to the full common council for a first and second reading, voted upon, and then put to a public hearing, before becoming law.
The issue was raised earlier this past year, when the Irish Cultural Center applicants suggested a change to the zoning code, allowing use of a vacant lot located across Abeel Street, for overflow parking. Zoning regulations prohibit such use without an included structure.
One heckler criticized Tuesday’s decision, as pandering to developers, and was threatened with removal by committee Chairman Lynn Eckhert.
Majority Leader William Carey said the change would give the planning board another vehicle by which to assist projects.
“This gives the planning board another tool to address the issues put in front of them, without constantly granting waivers, and allow something that’s not currently permitted on the code,” Carey said, claiming it would help the one or two projects that could move forward as a result.
In addition to the Irish Cultural Center, the parking shortage was also raised regarding an uptown hotel and parking garage RFP, and several other pending projects, Gartenstein added.
Under the changed provisions, an empty residential parcel would be allowed parking use, currently prohibited, subject to a special use permit from the planning board. Restrictions including distance to the structure, landscaping, and other limitation may also be imposed.
