KINGSTON – As the time for the Kingston Common Council to vote on the necessary zoning law changes for a RUPCO affordable housing project draws nearer, several residents spoke out against it at Tuesday night’s council session.
Some residents said there was a lack of necessity and criticized a proposed 30-year payment in lieu of taxes arrangement.
Lawrence McCauley, a city homeowner, said there isn’t a real need
for the housing the project would provide.
“We already have more than enough of that kind of housing and if this gets built, we’re still going to have homeless people in the street because they come in from other areas,” said McCauley. “It’s not necessary. It’s not going to help the area; it’s going to hurt the area. We need to attract people to Kingston, and Ulster County, who are going to contribute, rather than take from our resources.”
Kingston resident Vince Rua agreed that the project isn’t needed and added that it would be a detriment to the city by changing its zoning away from commercial usage.
“I think the property is a gem,” Rua said. “I think it’s ideally located, minutes from uptown, minutes from downtown, minutes from Saugerties, minutes from Rhinebeck. From almost any commercial development perspective, there’s three things that are important when you make and investment: location, location, location, and I think this property has all three of those. So, to give it up for a use that is not going to generate, effectively, any new jobs, effectively not going to generate any new property taxes, seems the wrong use.”
Common Council President James Noble said the council could not make a comment on the zoning change yet, as the Planning Board has yet to make a determination on it.
The time before the local law change will make it to the Common Council for a vote is expected to be, at least, a month away.
