KingstonCitizens.org advocacy timeline: 2007 – present

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Established in 2006, KingstonCitizens.org is a non-partisan, grassroots, volunteer organization committed to nurturing transparency in local government through public engagement and participation.

We’ve created this timeline to provide a comprehensive public record of our campaign advocacy since 2007. You can review our entire history or choose from one of the 25 categories to select a campaign category that interests you.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please write to:   rebecca@kingstoncitizens.org

Welcome to KingstonCitizens.org!

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Established in 2006, KingstonCitizens.org is a non-partisan, grassroots, volunteer organization committed to nurturing transparency in local government through citizen engagement and participation.

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GUEST ARTICLE: No place like home

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Penn Court Apartments, fall 2024  (photo credit:  Rokosz Most)

 

Kingston Housing Authority tenants at Penn Court face two-years-long relocation, destination uncertain

By Rokosz Most

Plans to demolish the 32 units that make up Penn Court, a low-income housing development owned by the Kingston Housing Authority (KHA) in the city of Kingston, in order to build up a new four story senior housing building in its place, have affordable housing advocates on edge. Worried for current residents who will have to move during the two-years long project and questioning the veracity of the ever-shifting relocation plans communicated so far. 

The demolition and redevelopment is to be undertaken by Mountco Construction.

Spokespersons for both the KHA and Mountco, the KHA’s private partner in development, have insisted that no residents will be displaced.

Speaking to the planning board on October 22, Executive Director of the KHA, Harolda Wilcox, asserted that all tenants displaced by the demolition would be relocated to the Rondout Gardens Apartments, another KHA-owned property within the city limits.

“We have units at Rondout,” Wilcox said, “that they will be relocated to, but they still have the first right to return, so once the completion of the construction is done they will still get first opportunity to move back to those [newly constructed] units.”

Along with the 131 units of the Rondout Gardens, the KHA currently manages 350 other rental units over four other properties spread across the city of Kingston- Colonial Gardens, Wiltwyck Gardens, Leonard & Vera Van Dyke Apartment- formerly known as the Stuyvesant Charter Apartments and Brigham senior housing, owned by Jobco Inc out of Lake Success, NY. 

Skeptical with Wilcox’s explanation, City of Kingston Common Council alderwoman Michele Hirsch wants more details.

“To say that during a housing crisis, 32 households can be permanently relocated to [another KHA property],” Hirsch said, “I don’t see how that’s possible unless they’re warehousing apartments that we don’t know about.” 

Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha, likewise interested to see the actual plan as it was written, had her office reach out to the agency responsible for administering housing and community development programs in New York State, the HCR.

According to the HCR, as of November 15, no relocation plans spelling out the address where the tenants will be moved have been submitted. However the agency did note that the KHA may need to begin relocating residents prior to their official application.

“They’re announcing publicly there’s a plan,” says Hirsch, “and there’s no plan that’s been submitted.”

Since October 10, the tenants of Penn Court have been receiving 90-day notices of their impending ‘permanent relocation’- the official terminology of their move spelled out in the KHA letter- which specifies the duration of the project as 24 months. 

Expressing apprehension at how the KHA might react if they were identified in print, all tenants of the Penn Court apartments interviewed for this article requested that their real names not be used.

Mr. Moran, a tenant of Penn Court for years says he received his letter, but says the letter doesn’t specify where he’ll be relocated to.

“I don’t know if it’s Rondout or down below [Colonial Gardens]. I haven’t been notified as to where at.”

Grateful to have options for housing with the KHA, he doesn’t hold any illusions about being able to make it out in Kingston’s private rental housing market.

“I’ve seen the prices, man,” says Moran. “It’s crazy. Especially when you’re on a fixed income, you know. SSI (Supplemental Security Income).”

Across the way, Miss Millie says her letter doesn’t tell her where she is going to be moved either. A relative newcomer to Penn Court, she admits the imminent move and the proposed duration of the project inconveniences her but that she would even endure living in a hotel if it meant she could return to a KHA building. Her main concern is that she stays in the city. 

“If I was allowed the freedoms I have, within reason, then I wouldn’t mind as long as it was still local and I could get to work. I definitely wouldn’t want to go to a DSS (Department of Social Services) hotel and have to deal with DSS and rules and stuff.” 

She’s held the same job for five and a half years and relies on public transportation to get there. She points out that she has a son buried in St. Mary’s cemetery, across Flatbush Ave, one hundred yards away from her front door. 

“So, yeah, I plan on dying here.”

Miss Millie says that the KHA letter instructs that letter recipients will be relocated between January 15th and April 15th, 2025. 

“We’ll be permanently relocated with a right to return to the new building… We’d know where we’d be moving 30 days in advance. And that’s if we’re in good standing.”

Back across the courtyard, speaking from the door of his apartment, Mr. Seamus, fears the upcoming move. 

 “All I know is I can’t afford O’Neil street,” says the sixty-year-old, who uses O’Neil as his shorthand for the private rental market in Kingston. Born here in the city, lived his whole life here, Mr. Seamus wants to stay near his sister. “I can’t move far away. I’ve got health problems.”

As anyone who has looked to find housing within the KHA universe knows, vacancies are typically few and far in between.  A waiting list opens only sporadically, never failing to attract hundreds of new applicants. 

Over the course of three days in 2023, (August 15 through August 17), the KHA received approximately 1,500 applications. This year, after accepting applications for just the Van Dyke apartments, the KHA reported approximately 200 applicants on the waitlist for one-bedroom apartments and approximately 150 on the list for two bedroom apartments. Portfolio-wide, as of October, the KHA reported approximately 1,000 people on its waiting list.

Over the course of 2022-2023, typical amounts of vacancies were four to five units per building. Due in part to redevelopment efforts among its properties, currently the KHA reports approximately 39 units vacant across its entire portfolio. 

Back in May, vice president for Mountco, John Madeo, told the KHA board of commissioners that instead of units at the Rondout gardens, the residents of Penn Court would be moved to vacant apartments at the Leonard and Vera Van Dyke complex. 

Then back in July, at a time when Mountco and the KHA had been looking at demolishing three completely different buildings, this time in the Rondout Gardens, Madeo shared still a third version of where vacancies could appear in the KHA portfolio.

Speaking at a meeting with affected residents, Madeo was more expansive as he gamed out what the plans to relocate residents might actually look like in practice.

“The first thing we’re going to do is look at, are there any vacancies here at Rondout. If not here, we’ll look at other housing authority developments, whether it’s Van Dyke, whether it’s Wiltwyck, whether it’s Colonial Gardens. If we still don’t have any vacancies, we’re going to look outside [the KHA properties] in Kingston.”

When push comes to shove, if enough units aren’t available across all KHA properties, the expectation that any rental housing affordable to low-income tenants in Kingston’s private real estate market will be available is a longshot.

Included as part of the City of Kingston’s Comprehensive plan for 2024, a housing market analysis noted that “there is insufficient housing for households earning 0-30% AMI and 30-50% AMI in the City of Kingston with a 1,060 rental unit gap between the 1,455 renters earning 0-30% and the 395 units considered affordable to this population and a 145 rental unit gap for the 1,145 renters earning 30-50% AMI”.

Even if Madeo has not been made aware of the dearth of housing which exists in Kingston’s private market, and Mountco has been in partnership with the KHA since 2019, the KHA certainly knows. 

The public authority administers the City’s Section 8 Housing Voucher (HVC) Program, through which it provides up to 180 vouchers. Again, from the city of Kingston’s comprehensive plan:

“Due to the extremely limited housing stock available within the City, oftentimes the vouchers end up needing to be returned after an already extended 6-month period to try to locate housing.”

In the same report, a needs assessment also notes “at any given time 100 housing choice voucher holders do not have access to housing in the City due to lack of inventory. With no other options available, 100 voucher holders in 2023 had to seek assistance from homeless shelters.”

Speaking to Madeo at the meeting in July of 2023, an unidentified tenant from one of the Rondout Gardens buildings slated for demolition perhaps said it best.

“I’m sure you realize it. It was in [Cosmopolitan magazine] that Kingston is the place to be. We all know that no one’s going to be looking for another place in Kingston, because it’s going to be impossible to find.”

“If we can’t find anyplace else,” Madeo said at that meeting, “then we’re going to have to take care of you and put you in a hotel while we renovate your unit.”

According to Hirsch, a hotel would not be a viable option for a permanent relocation as it’s not comparable housing, which is a standard raised by the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Act of 1970, (URA) the federal law which governs the displacement or temporary relocation of tenants receiving federal subsidies. The same law also raises questions about the 90 day notice the KHA has been mailing to the Penn Court residents.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires that the notice may not be issued unless a comparable replacement dwelling is available and the displaced person is informed of its location. Received by tenants, the notice does refer to relocation within other KHA owned housing units without specifying the location.

Not clearly understood by those tenants facing relocation are the motivations behind the KHA’s push for conversion of various properties in its portfolio of Section 9 housing over to Section 8, and the financial opportunities which become available once a public authority partners with a private developer. 

Rennie Scott-Childress, majority leader of the City of Kingston Common Council, and chair this year of the KHA, explains the commission’s partnership with Mountco like this. 

“The issue is the board recognizes that A, we need to renovate a lot of our properties. They haven’t been renovated in 20, 30, 40, 50 years. So the question is, how do we get renovations done? So you put out a request for proposals and it could be a not-for-profit, it could be a for-profit. From the replies, we look and see which one is going to give us the best deal from our perspective. A company like Mountco, their money doesn’t come from rental profits. They don’t make a profit, per se, from selling their interests back to us. Their money comes from being able to use tax credits. But in order to qualify, they have to be at least part-owner. These are all state rules. And so that means we’re in league with a private company, but we are not becoming a private company. Keep in mind, we are a state authority and we have certain requirements by the state of what we have to do, so we can’t become a private entity. The main thing is that Mountco is looking for those tax credits.”

When the Division of Homeland and Community Renewal wouldn’t sign off last September on the previous redevelopment plans Mountco had pursued to demolish and redevelop the three buildings in the Rondout Gardens, Mountco switched to the demolition and redevelopment of Penn Court instead.

“The State has their own priorities,” Madeo explained during a September KHA meeting. “They pushed back on Rondout Gardens and want the state sites prioritized.”

Phase two of a of three-part renovation plan was reconfigured to lead with the renovation of Colonial Gardens and Wiltwyck Gardens as well as the demolition and redevelopment of Penn court, all state subsidized properties which would realize 223 units of rehab and new construction with 60 units; 50 of them at Penn Court.

During the process of large scale, multi-unit renovations, developers find it handy to have a few vacancies to fall back on. Madeo calls them ‘swing units’.

“And then I circulate those units going forward, when that unit becomes vacant again, the other tenant goes back there. In the industry, it’s called checkerboarding. You move this person here, you move that person there…”

This complicated logistical puzzle may lend insight to multiple occasions in which members of the KHA or employees of Mountco have been heard to muse openly about whether some tenants might not prefer to move out of the county – or even out of the state – if they could.

Any of the tenants renting units at the Rondout Gardens affected by the ‘Streamlined Voluntary Conversion’(SVC) which the HCR signed off on last September will be able to take HUD funding with them in search of affordable rents in the private market, no matter how far flung, wherever they can find them.

Scott-Childress explained during an interview in July. “They’re both Section 8. It’s all under the same rubric. Some of those vouchers go with a person. So if you got the personal one, here in Kingston. You could say, oh, you know what? I have to move to San Diego. You could take it with you to San Diego.”

Mr. Moran for one, would be game for a big move. “If they moved me to Florida, I would love to go,” he says. “I miss the beach.”

But he’s an outlier. The majority of the Penn Court tenants interviewed want to stay right here in the City of Kingston. So if it’s to be a permanent relocation to Rondout Gardens, like Director Wilcox said, that’ll work, they say. Wherever it will be, as long as it’s in the KHA portfolio, there’s no place like home.

Addendum:

With legal counsel listening in (Jeff Sculley, Catania, Mahon & Rider), Executive Director of the KHA Harolda Wilcox and Vice President of Mountco John Madeo answered questions from reporters outside a City of Kingston Planning Board meeting on Nov 18.

Rokosz Most: When are you guys going to submit an application to HCR that specifies where the tenants are going to be moved to?

John Madeo: We’ve already submitted a preliminary, what’s called a technical application submission. We’re waiting for the state to respond. Once they give us their comments, then we’ll submit the application. We’re hoping that’s going to happen within the next 30 days, before the end of the year, let’s say.

RM: Do you think you jumped the gun sending the 90-day letters to the tenants before the planning board has agreed to grant you waivers?

Harolda Wilcox: No. Legally, we had to. Even if we don’t get a closing, which we’re hopeful of, we have to have the 90-days out prior. It’s HUD rules.

RM:  At the last planning board meeting, you indicated that all 32 households would be moved to Rondout Gardens. I don’t know if that’s plausible.

Madeo: I don’t know if that’s what we said.

RM: That’s what [Wilcox] said.

Wilcox: We’re working on it. We have units held for them.

RM: But 32 vacancies at Rondout Gardens. It’s probably going to be more likely spread around the KHA portfolio, I would think.

Wilcox: Most of them are going to be at Rondout Gardens.

Madeo: But if we have to move somebody someplace else, we will.

RM: And you all don’t see anybody ending up in hotels?

Madeo: I don’t think so, no. I mean, that’s a last resort. And it’s our obligation to relocate people. But that’s not where we’d like to put people. 

RM: They’re permanently relocated, but with an option to return.

Wilcox: Yes. That’s the idea. 

Madeo: That’s a fair way to put it. But it’s not 32 [vacancies]

RM: No?

Madeo: There are 32 units, but they’re not all occupied. 

RM: How many are vacant? 

Wilcox: Off the top of my head, I can’t tell you. I’ll let you know. 

The project to demolish Penn Court and redevelop the property requires waivers because at the size and scope that Mountco intends is currently at odds with the newly adopted form-based code which requires any new buildings conform with the context and character of a surrounding neighborhood.

Board member Robert Jacobsen explained the board’s hesitation so far to grant the waivers.

“If we Grant these major waivers then how does that affect other projects that come before us? Because we’re basically ignoring what the code is. I am in favor of the housing. I am in favor of the building. I think it’s a great building but it’s a building that’s really meant for our Midtown District that has an overlay district,” said Jacobsen. “It has height requirements that allow for that type of height, or even higher. It just doesn’t feel like it’s the right place. It’s a very densely populated residential two story complex through all of colonial gardens, Stuyvesant Apartment and the whole code that was formulated around the existing structures wants to keep it that way. and yet, with this building, you’re just packing so much in and that that’s what I’m struggling with.” 

Rokosz Most is a freelance journalist.  You can follow his work at Autoeroticgentrification on substack

The City of Kingston’s composting program “rots”!

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Photo credit: Julie Noble

By Rebecca Martin

The City of Kingston’s composting program “rots”!

Composting is the process of  breaking down organic waste, like food scraps, to create nutrient-rich compost. This process involves rotting, or the destructive dissolution of organic matter. When we remove food waste from the waste system, with composting,  we are actively diverting food scraps from our regular trash and turning them into nutrient rich soil. It is essentially taking food out of the landfill where it would otherwise decompose and produce harmful methane gas; this helps reduce environmental impact and conserve resources used to produce food. 

According to the EPA, 22% of our waste stream is food scraps, meaning it is the largest single category of waste sent to landfills

Composting’s benefits include saving our community tax dollars. Kingston’s garbage is hauled more than 250 miles away to the Seneca Meadows Landfill. The tipping fees are extremely expensive and are getting more so with each passing year. 

As it pertains to environmental justice, Seneca Meadows Landfill is located in Seneca Falls, a small town of a little more than 9,000 people. They are enduring great harms living next to one of the largest active landfills in New York State that accepts trash from communities like ours.

Established in 1953, Seneca Meadows landfill has a permitted waste capacity of 6,000 tons per day. The landfill will reach capacity by the end of 2025, coinciding with the expiration of its existing permit. They want to profit as much as they can and kick the can down the road to expand their capacity by 47 acres and extend their permit in 2040.  Here’s what Seneca Lake Guardians, made up of community members living in Seneca Falls, think about that. We must understand  how we are contributing to their community harms and stop it.

Recently, Ulster County announced it wanted to find a landfill of its own in the county with much public outrage.  Now imagine how Seneca Falls community members feel about communities like ours sending our unending stream of trash there. 

It’s unjust and unfair.  

It’s why the county must approve its Zero Waste Management plan that it’s been working on for a long time, and why we endorse a landfill in Ulster County.  Why should we place the burden of our waste on a community 250 miles away? The only way that we are going to make changes is to take on the burden  right here at home.

Zero waste is key and composing is an opportunity for Kingston residents. Let’s get the ball rolling to take responsibility for what we are throwing out.  Sign-up to Kingston Organics.  I’ve taken pictures of my weekly haul to show you just how easy it is to get food scraps, meats, bones, etc. out of our waste stream.

Step one:
Make a designated can for all of your food scraps. You can capture meat and bones, too. I’ve lined mine with a bag that I can wash and use again for a couple of months of collection.
Step two:
I collect my food scrapes for a week to deliver on Sunday’s. Kingston has a number of locations that are close to you that you can deliver to.
Step three:
I visit the location in the Rondout to bring my food scraps for composing.
Step four:
There is a simple passcode to access the bins (you’ll get the code once you sign-up)
Step five:
Dump and go! By doing so, you’ve contributed to eliminating unnecessary food scraps from our waste stream, making less emissions and saving tax dollars in tipping fees from delivering our trash to Seneca Meadows, some 250 miles away.

Vote YES! on the Community Preservation Fund Proposition on the Back of Your Ballot

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This election season City of Kingston voters will have four ballot measures to consider. One is for establishing a Community Preservation Fund!

Sounds good but what is it?
Following on the success of models in Red Hook, New Paltz, Marbletown, and Gardiner, this fund will be used for the preservation of open space, lands of exceptional scenic value, marshes and wetland, undeveloped shorelines, public access to preserved lands, hiking trails, and historic places and properties. Land may only be acquired from willing sellers and cannot be otherwise taken. 

How will it be funded?
With a real estate transfer tax on high-end real estate transactions. Most Kingston residents will never see this tax. Kingston renters and homeowners will NOT be affected by the tax. This tax is only for purchasers of Kingston real estate. The tax would be 1.25% on only that portion of a real estate sale above the Ulster County median sale price, or $123,500.

Who will oversee it?
The fund will be overseen by a citizen advisory board with seven members appointed by the Kingston Common Council. A majority of the members appointed shall have demonstrated experience with conservation or land preservation activities. No member of the Common Council shall serve on the board.

For more background on Community Preservation Funds, see Geddy Sveikauskas’s in-depth article on the subject from July 22, 2019 in the Hudson Valley One. 

Community preservation

For more details about the Kingston Fund, visit Campaign for Kingston Community Preservation Fund: preservekingston.vote.



Development and Environment go Hand-in-Hand

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Local marketing and public relations consultant Raleigh Green’s recent commentary “Housing vs. Environmentalists” (August 21, 2024) starts with several wrongheaded assumptions that demand correction. In contrast to Green’s conjecture, development and environmental protection aren’t incompatible; Ulster County and New York State do provide explicit guidelines for developers; and the affordable housing crunch isn’t a result of environmental policies.                                                                             

For starters, Green relies upon a tired old dichotomy that pits development against the environment. Few in politics believe that sustainable development is equivalent to being anti-development. As a consultant for developers, Mr. Green should know well established zoning and planning trends have produced longstanding guidelines with incentives for Smart Growth. The most successful and responsible developers apply this approach. 

Green falsely asserts that no one knows where building is supposed to happen in Ulster County despite the fact that the Ulster County Open Space Plan has been readily available to the public since 2007.  Moreover, all successive policy adoptions have tracked this plan in identifying priority and growth conservation areas.  In fact, following the guidance from the Open Space Plan, municipalities have had the opportunity to change their zoning to limit development in outlying areas and strategically promote it where infrastructure already exists. The Open Space plan makes clear to planners and policy makers where development should occur. In short, municipalities have changed zoning plans to encourage this mindful approach.

Nor is Ulster County’s lack of affordable housing a result of a purported tension between development and the environment. Instead, the lack of affordable housing is a consequence of a complex set of factors including a failed political will to implement plans for over two decades. In 2005, the Ulster County Housing Strategies Plan clearly mandated the development of affordable and mid-income housing. Without committed political support, affordable housing projects stalled. Increasingly, the community and policymakers have recognized a need for decisive action, making a renewed and concerted effort to plan and implement affordable housing. For instance, the Ulster County planning office has developed a Housing Smart Communities initiative that encourages communities to change their zoning codes to support  Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). The governor has generated financial support for homeowners who are willing to build ADUs in communities that have adopted this zoning strategy. Zoning changes that accommodate ADU’s relieve short-term housing pressure. 

Green falsely states that town zoning effectively bans any form of building. The zoning law emerges directly from a community’s comprehensive plan.  Those laws help to organize how land is developed within a municipality, providing rules and principles for land use. The very essence of zoning is not to ban building but to guide it and protect investments by assuring that developers comply with the law. 

The City of Kingston just revamped its zoning code in significant ways to redress the housing crisis and provide clarity about development. The new Kingston code allows for more types of housing within a walkable distance while incorporating standards that encourage diversity. 

Green further contends that Ulster County is unclear about protected lands.  Yet local and state laws explicitly provide guidelines and standards for protecting wetlands, water resources, historic sites, and endangered species and their habitats, as part of “critical environmental areas.” Any capable development team can utilize The State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR), to save time and money by an initial site assessment, which is required prior to a full submission to planning boards. Furthermore, these environmental laws are not unique to Ulster County: They are universal in New York State. 

Ulster County has plenty of space for development that fulfills housing needs, protects the environment, and enables Mr. Green’s clients to make profits. The county’s open space plan plainly identified “priority growth areas” that could accommodate a significant amount of housing, while also reducing the carbon footprint that sprawls into open spaces with no infrastructure. The consonant goal is to protect land rich in natural resources while creating more complete and equitable communities. The most successful developments harmoniously achieve both goals. 

Economic data tells us that new luxury housing development in our rural open spaces does not bring revenue to local governments. Instead, tax rolls are actually highly burdened by sprawl.  Housing, developed away from community centers, adds substantial fiscal burdens to municipal budgets, including public infrastructure, road maintenance, and emergency services costs. Those expenses far outstrip the taxes residents in developments pay. These municipal losses don’t include the tax breaks often given to developers to encourage their projects. On the other hand, development in areas with existing infrastructure is both fiscally responsible, more environmentally sustainable, and profitable.

When communities develop in priority growth areas, they efficiently utilize the infrastructure already paid for by the public. With transportation networks in place, workers and families find affordable housing with easier access to work and schools and seniors are able to age in place with greater services available to them. This is not social engineering – it’s democracy. When communities rather than private developers decide for themselves how to address citizens’ needs in a way that reflects their values, they exercise self-government. By working within the policy guidelines of documents like the Open Space Plan and the county’s housing initiatives, municipalities can engage with developers in ways that harness the public good for development. The path to cooperation and coordination is one that requires developers and their paid consultants to be transparent, cultivate trust, and develop a consensus rather than to dictate plans and to pursue backroom deals. No one advocates a hardline against development; rather, citizens want Smart Growth. 

Mr. Green may ask where his clients may find and build housing with existing infrastructure? Only a failure of imagination can lead to such a question. In Kingston, we have existing infrastructure in need of development in Midtown and the Rondout. In the Town of Ulster, the Hudson Valley Mall awaits development from someone with vision. These are just a few examples. 

Mr. Green criticized the Woodstock Land Conservancy (WLC), implying that the organization was obstructionist to developers and to those advocating for affordable housing. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mr. Green is no neutral observer who simply seeks answers from WLC. The Kingston Wire neglects to mention that Mr. Green is a paid consultant for developers.  As an ethical matter, both Kingston Wire and Mr. Green should be open about his affiliation with developers. Transparency would bolster the journalistic integrity of the Kingston Wire and provide readers with a better context in which to evaluate Mr. Green’s argument. The WLC plays a valuable role in our community and has consistently stood shoulder to shoulder with citizens against projects that threatened our municipal drinking water source (Niagara Bottling’s effort to bottle and sell Kingston’s municipal water source) and air quality (Glidepath’s peaker plant project 600 hundred feet from a residential area in the Town of Ulster). WLC has also championed affordable housing. 

Like so many other actors on the political landscape, Mr. Green creates division by perpetuating an outdated narrative about the tensions between the environment and development. The two are not opposed – they’re congruous. Now more than ever we need developers, consultants, elected officials and policymakers who understand that we need effective investments that promote equitable economic and sustainable growth. Development is not an either/or proposition when it comes to sustainability, inclusion, and investment. Developers and consultants can make a good living while respecting the community’s zoning and environmental regulations. Contrary to what Mr. Green believes, we all know that communities need developers to achieve affordable housing goals. But, no one advocates for rudimental, undifferentiated development. Instead, smart development helps everyone.

KingstonCitizens.org
Rebecca Martin, Lynn Eckert, Sarah Wenk, Marissa Marvelli, Tanya Garment, Giovanna Righini

TownOfUlsterCitizens.org
Laura Hartmann

New water bottling plant inquiries in Town of Ulster in 2024

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By Rebecca Martin

Last month, we received a call from a resident who learned that the Town of Ulster was facilitating discussions with a water bottling plant poking around Enterprise Drive and Boices Lane.

A decade ago, the proposed Niagara Bottling project abandoned its controversial plan to build a plant near TechCity that would have drawn water from the city of Kingston’s reservoir after a five month long coalition effort led by KingstonCitizens.org.  “Any impact that we might have made is a reflection of strong resolve, partnerships, commitment, patience and perseverance by us all. It is a great illustration of Democracy at work in the Hudson Valley.” we were quoted saying back then. KingstonCitizens.org went on to change the water powers law with a referendum to protect the Kingston community in November of 2015.  The coalition of partners included The Woodstock Land Conservancy, Riverkeeper, Esopus Creek Conservancy, Food and Water Watch, SaveCooperLake.org, Catskill Mountainkeeper, NYPIRG, The Wittenberg Center, Mid-Hudson Sierra Club, Red Hook Conservation Advisory Council, Clark Richters and Kingston News, SUNY Ulster Environmental Club, Scenic Hudson, Sustainable Saugerties, Slow Food Hudson Valley, Town of Woodstock, Town of Red Hook, City of Kingston Common Council and Conservation Advisory Council and Kingston and Woodstock NY Transition.

Recently, with the support of our sister group the TownOfUlsterCitizens.org, a FOIL request was submitted to learn as much as we could about a proposed water bottling plant in 2024 before alerting City of Kingston officials and our independent water board.  What we learned was that although some water tests were requested by the unknown company, according to Supervisor James Quigley, the project was thought to be “dead”.

In 2014 and 2015, the City of Kingston residents unambiguously told our local, county and state officials that we don’t want our municipal drinking water to be bottled and sold. Also, it is even clearer today that current climate conditions (such as recurring and more severe droughts) and the unrelenting growth of the bottled water industry are masking our current water crisis and hindering efforts to provide reliable drinking water for all.

We remain vigilant.

RESOURCES: 

WATCH:  August 14, 2024:  Kingston Water Board discusses, briefly, KingstonCitizens.org’s outreach and Supervisor James Quigley’s FOIL response letter.  “Water tests were requested, but no application was submitted. It was a non-starter at this time.”

READ:  KingstonCitizens.org letter to the Kingston Water Board re: a Potential Water Bottling Plant/Facility in the Town of Ulster in 2024

READ:  Supervisor James Quigley’s FOIL letter response

Helpful materials for City of Kingston charter reform discussion

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By Rebecca Martin

A municipal charter is the legal document that defines the organization, powers, functions, and essential procedures of city government, and the City of Kingston Common Council might be picking up charter reform again in 2024.

Laws and Rules Council Committee in March, 2024

“Kingston lawmakers mull charter revision” in the Daily Freeman

If they are successful, it will be the first time since the fall of 1993/1994 when the city first adopted a city manager form of government. The outcome was abruptly overturned a year later, and Kingston became a strong mayor form of government (which continues to govern us today).   You can read the whole sordid tale by Tom Benton.

The politics of that time period left us with a charter that is plagued with problems, and that we have raised for over a decade. In our efforts to find original materials and learn the truth about the trajectory of that process , we’ve collected many helpful materials that are now accessible to the public.   It includes timelines, a copy of Kingston’s early charter (with amendments from 1970 – 1985), the proposed City Manager form of government revision from 1993 and more.

For those interested in following along, please review the KingstonCitizens.org City of Kingston Charter process for all sorts of helpful materials on Kingston’s Charter.

 

Who is Ulster Strong?

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Ulster Strong is a relatively new local platform with a mission that deploys “Economic development strategies designed to diversify and strengthen Ulster County’s economy and quality of life by organizing support for investors and their partners in government from the business community to help advance impactful projects; Mobilizes the public to become active participants in project review processes; Educates the public about the community benefits of smart growth projects; Provides balance to public discourse on economic development issues and acts as a resource for investment and development prospects.” 

Orchestrated by Dan Ahouse, the principal of Stockade Strategies, a consulting firm that organized some of the strategies for the controversial Kingstonian Project (once listed as “current” to now “former” client), he was quoted in a recent article written by the Rockland County Business Journal:

“What Ahouse noticed was that planning and zoning meetings were filled with opponents of the project but no one was speaking on behalf of the business community that favored it. The strategist noted that groups opposing development have become adept at organizing and spreading their message. “I was thinking about my experiences organizing political campaigns and my understanding of activists,” said Ahouse, adding that what became clear was the business community needed to employ similar grassroots tactics to have a voice when projects are navigating through the planning and zoning board stages.”

They have officers and board members and likely consultants – who are not identified – that handle their communications and social media.  As a private entity, there isn’t any way to track who funds them and that might include developers with deep pockets who want to bring projects to Ulster County for profit, whether they are in our community’s best interests or not.

They are clever, working to emulate the work of groups like ours as a service to their corporate clients. But they haven’t anything in common with us – a volunteer, community-based organization committed to improving the quality of life of Kingston residents through accountability and transparency of their local government.

It is of course true that not all of their projects are bad.  But political operators need watchdogs, so keep an eye on them. You can be sure we will, too.

June Primary: Q&A on Early Voting and Primary Day

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Early voting has begun in a closed Democratic primary election contest in Kingston.  It includes a citywide Mayoral race and seats in Wards 1 and 4.  

In all of Ulster County, those who can vote early in the June primary include (as per the Ulster County Board of Elections): All registered Democrats in: Shandaken, Woodstock, Saugerties, Kingston, New Paltz, Gardiner and Hurley; All registered Republicans in: Shawangunk; All registered Working Families Party in: Saugerties.

Early Voting: June 17 – 25
Primary Election: June 27


If your municipality is not listed, it’s because there is not more than one candidate seeking a spot on the ballot for any given party during the General Election ballot in November.

Here are a few helpful key questions and answers to help you during this primary season.   Get out and vote!

 

  1. What is a primary election? In a primary election, each political party selects its candidates to run for office during the general election in November. The candidates who get the highest number of votes in the primary election go on to run in the general election.

 

  1. Can anyone vote in a “closed” primary? During a closed primary, only voters registered with that party can take part and vote.

 

  1. Do I have a primary to vote in? Not all election districts have a primary.  If there is not more than one person trying to seek a particular party line on the general election ballot, there would not be a primary.

 

  1. What if I am not registered in the party that I want to cast a vote in? In NYS, as a current, registered voter, you must have changed your party affiliation by Feb 12 to the party you want to vote with.  If that is not done,  you will not be registered with that party and you cannot vote because in NYS primaries are closed.

 

  1. Can I vote for a person if I do not live in that municipality in a primary election? A voter may only vote within their local voting district for any election.

 

  1. Can I register today and vote? NYS currently does not have same day registration.  This year, that was only available on June 17 as the last day to register as a NEW voter. Under the current law, only on that one day could you register and vote.

 

  1. What happens if I am not in the voter rolls and I did register to vote? You can vote by affidavit ballot, which is then counted by the Board of Elections.  If you have met the criteria to vote after their investigation your vote will be counted.  If your registration does not fit the criteria, it cannot be counted.  The BOE will then send you a letter explaining why so you can correct it for the next election.

 

  1. Why are there no referendums on the ballot? Referendums appear on the ballot in General Elections in November and not during a primary contest. 

 

  1. Why would I not have a ballot to vote on? In the city of Kingston, there is a citywide democratic primary for Mayor. That means that every registered democrat can vote during this primary election.  If you live in Wards 1 and 4, your ballot will include a primary contest for your democratic representative on the Kingston common council.  

 

For more information, visit: 

Early Voting Information: 
https://elections.ulstercountyny.gov/early-voting/

Frequently Asked Questions:
https://elections.ulstercountyny.gov/frequently-asked-questions/

Find your polling place:
https://vic.ntsdata.com/home/ulster

Voter Registration Deadlines: 
https://www.elections.ny.gov/VotingDeadlines.html

 

 

 

Ulster County and City of Kingston Discuss Rights for the Hudson River

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By Rebecca Martin

The City of Kingston and Ulster County are both discussing the Rights of the Hudson River. It’s time.

With major threats that include PCBs, anchorages, transmission cables, radioactive discharges and more, community members in the City of Kingston and Ulster County have been working with elected officials to bring forward legislation and memorializing resolutions to imagine providing rights to the Hudson River and its watershed.

Ulster County: FACEBOOK EVENT

Ulster County Legislator Phil Erner has been collaborating with community members from The Eco-Assembly to bring forward legislation for Rights of the Hudson River.  On June 1, the Ulster County Legislature’s Energy, Environment and Sustainability Committee passed a resolution for a public hearing on July 18. LISTEN to that discussion that begins at 10:00.

The request will go to the full legislature on June 13 for approval.

City of Kingston:   FACEBOOK EVENT

In the City of Kingston, Paul Tobin and Chief Mann, the Turtle Clan Chief of the Ramapough Lenape Nation with the support of Julie Noble, the city’s Environmental Education and Sustainability Coordinator, recently introduced Memorializing Resolution #95 calling for a “Bill of Rights for the Hudson River, Also Known as the Mahicantuck, and its Watershed and Ecosystem” to the Kingston Common Council’s Laws and Rules Committee that passed unanimously in May and that will go to the floor on June 6.  The council is discussing many important items that we are following, this being one of them.

Please join our Facebook events linked above for important updates and to learn how you can participate. 

 

RESOURCES

LISTEN: On the Green Radio Hour with Jon Bowermaster “Does nature have rights? A conversation…”

 

 

 

City of Kingston Form-Based-Code and the real barrier to creating affordable housing

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By Rebecca Martin

At the recent Kingston Common Council Laws and Rules Committee meeting on April 19, Director of Housing Initiatives  Bartek Starodaj provided an update on Kingston Forward and Kingston’s Form-Based-Code environmental review process, announcing that the zoning code would be in front of the common council (the lead agency of the review process) soon for a vote. There was alot presented that included Parking Standards, SD Waterfront, Density, Short Term Rentals in Accessory Dwelling Units, Minimum Parking Amendments and Inclusionary Zoning Provisions.

The Kingston common council will be presented with a final Common Council Zoning Discussion #3: Implementation and Enforcement “deep dive” on Monday, April 24 at 6:30pm.  The meeting is open to the public.


HUD vs. ACS for Kingston AMIs

The Inclusionary Zoning Provision segment outlined that for seven (7) or more apartment units, the Area Median Income (AMI) is being proposed at 80% for affordable and 120% for workhouse housing units (the percentage for workhouse in the 2.0 version increased by 20% in the 3.0 version).  

120% AMI is considered market rate housing. 

According to Starodaj, the AMI was set by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) where both the City of Kingston and Ulster County AMI numbers were the same. But Ward 9 Council Member Michelle Hirsch pointed out that the American Community Survey (ACS) data, which is an ongoing survey that provides data each year about the social, economic, housing and demographic characteristics of communities, shows that the City of Kingston’s AMI is nearly $30,000 less than Ulster County’s.  For a household of four people, 80% AMI in Kingston was $47,072 while Ulster County was $76,800.  Hirsch also shared concern that those who rely on Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV), a program that enables the lowest income households in NYS to rent decent, safe housing in the private housing market by providing rental assistance, would unlikely be able to find or afford an apartment in the City of Kingston.  

Meanwhile, Bartek expressed concern that by “deepening” these percentages for those living in Kingston under 80% AMI could lead to chasing away developers from building in Kingston.

A new housing study for Kingston?

The City of Kingston has changed dramatically since it adopted its most recent comprehensive plan on April 5, 2016 and Kingston, like most communities around the US, got hammered during and following the pandemic.  Council member Hirsch asked if the City of Kingston had a housing study that would look at all the AMIs and current housing stock in the community to provide the city with a plan to help make good decisions about setting housing standards now.  “The whole point of Form-Based-Code is to provide housing for people that need housing and can’t afford it.  The incomes in Kingston don’t line up with what is being proposed here.”  she said.

PILOAH and Affordable Housing Fund

“The fear is that if the developer can’t find a way to cover affordable units in it’s development they will walk away.” – Bartek Starodaj 

Recently, KingstonCitizens.org wrote about the city proposing a policy that would allow developers to be able to opt-out of 10% Affordable Units with a Payment-in-Lieu-of Affordable Housing. It included an Affordable Housing Fund as a placeholder without any clarity on policy and procedure that turned up in recent version (3.0) of the Kingston Form-Based-Code.  Later, we stumbled across a request for proposal (RFP) from December of 2022 with a timeline for the city to hire a consultant for guidance on creating the fund by April even though a PILOAH hadn’t yet been adopted.

We followed up with Bartek in an email to ask what had become of the RFP where we copied local housing advocates and members of our common council. He confirmed that the city had established an RFP committee for this project, which included a representative from the Common Council (when we asked Council President Andrea Shaut, who would typically assign a council member to serve in this manner, she told us that she wasn’t aware of the committee or who from the council participated) and after reviewing the submission (s?) earlier this year ultimately declined to hire a consultant.  We asked for minutes and to learn who served on that committee, what consultants responded and why the city chose not to proceed.  After several attempts, we were told to submit a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) in order to receive that information.  

During the Laws and Rules committee meeting, Barbara Graves-Poller, the City of Kingston’s Corporation Counsel, said that she would provide the council with information about the PILOAH and the Affordable Housing Fund in the coming days. Hopefully during tomorrow’s public “deep dive” that information can be shared publicly. 


Parking requirements are one of the real barriers to creating affordable housing in Kingston

Michael Kodransky, a new resident in the City of Kingston and an urban planner, waited hours that evening in order to provide the council with his COMMENTS on what the city needed to do in order to remove barriers for the creation of more affordable housing.  

‘’What stirred my desire to share comments, is being alarmed around parking requirements of the Kingston and Ulster County planning board recommendation around the minimum parking requirements. I have been working with around 10 other people (residents) in Kingston who are equally alarmed. They include parking similar to euclidean zoning and that is not what form-based-code is. If you haven’t been following the news lately (Harpers Magazine: Lots to Lose), parking is in the news quite a lot, and the reason is is because housing crisis in Kingston is a national crisis, there’s a shortage of housing all across the nation and it’s forcing municipalities to reevaluate their parking regulations if they exist. And those municipalities like Buffalo, Hartford, that are abandoning their parking regulations are seeing new development.”

“At this juncture in Kingston to consider putting in parking requirements when there is a housing shortage, when we know according to the 2030 climate action plan that 40% of climate emissions come from driving trips, studies increasingly show that the inclusion of parking undermines multi-model policies. We don’t have any travel demand management ordinance in the city or any understanding of existing private parking that currently exists. It seems like the planning board at the city and county did a copy and paste job from guide books that are being abandoned all over the county. It’s like they haven’t been paying attention to what’s been happening over the last 20 years in the urban planning space. Every week, a new municipality around the country is abandoning their parking requirements…to see the planning board in Kingston and Ulster County recommend to put them in does not make any sense.”

“I encourage the common council to seriously look into this issue, because it increases the cost of construction, and it doesn’t seem as though the planning board on either the city or county level has spoken to any small or medium scale developers to see how this impacts their financial feasibility or banks or insurance to understand what the underwriting for small scale developments would be with these types of requirements. Essentially, these councils and boards are making market intervention recommendations without actually understanding the market implications and the implications on the production of housing. The costs of these types of requirements trickle down to everything else. Services, too.”

“That is correct.” said Ward 3 council member Rennie Scott Childress.  “We agree with you.”  said Ward 4 Rita Worthington

“I encourage you to accept the code that the consultant proposed with no parking requirements. There’s a reason they did that. They listened to what people were saying and what the policy outcomes were that we asked for which is affordable housing. A place that’s connected and affordable. This is an irrational burden for developers and the community. Listen to what the consultants proposed, there is a reason. The public was asking for these outcomes that were reflected in the consultant’s recommendations.”

Paying it Forward: KingstonCitizens.org Supports the Town and Village of St. Johnsville, NY’s Effort to Protect their Drinking Water Source from Nestle

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In 2018, we learned about a potential drinking water deal between Nestle and the Town and Village of St. Johnsville, NY, North of Kingston located on the Mohawk River in the Hudson River watershed.  Quickly, we identified the advocates working on this problem and outreached to them in order to offer our support and experience from the ground where we were successful in knocking out the Niagara Bottling proposal who was looking to purchase 1.75m GPD of our drinking water supply back in 2014.

Five years later, their community wrote to alert us that they had succeeded in beating back the Nestle deal. What’s more, is that the community members who were on the frontline went on to run for office and win elections to replace both the Town Supervisor and Village Mayor in St. Johnsville, NY. 

We must pay it forward when so many community members provide their invaluable time and expertise to protect their community from the privatization of their municipal drinking water source.  In that spirit, we will continue to offer our support to communities as we have done now for a decade. We believe that those who experience the same positive result will do so, too.

When did you first learn about Nestle coming to your community?

In 2018, the St. Johnsville Chamber of Commerce announced that Nestlé Waters was granted permission to perform a study of our municipal water supply as they had an interest in sourcing water.

What were they asking for? 

At that time their request was simply to study our water supply.

What is your municipal water supply? Do community members have a say in how it’s managed or sold?

Our primary water supply comes from Congdon Springs in Ephratah, NY- about 7 miles from the village. Our secondary water source Is the Burgess Well, which is located within the village. Residents do not have a say in the way water is managed or sold.

How long have you been organizing around this problem? Can you list all of the members of your strategic group, and how did you all succeed?

Community members began watching this study since the fall of 2018. Since 2022, our group has been very actively following. Dawn White (now the new mayor of the Village of St. Johnsville), Phoebe Sitterly (now the new supervisor of the Town of St. Johnsville), Jordan McDaniel and Katrina Caringi championed this effort.

What have you learned throughout this process? 

If something doesn’t “seem right”, it probably isn’t. Don’t be afraid to stand up and advocate for what’s important!

How did KingstonCitizens.org help your effort?  Are you interested in providing the same support for other communities that find themselves in this position? 

Back in 2018, we met with Rebecca Martin and she was kind to offer guidance. Through time, the lessons that KingstonCitizens.org learned has proved to be very helpful. We were given hope that there was something that could be done to stop them and we would be happy to help other communities.

Are we on our way to privatizing public housing in the City of Kingston?

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By Rebecca Martin

There are around 481 apartments managed by the Kingston Housing Authority that some say accounts for approximately 10% of the City of Kingston’s population. It is a critical source of deeply affordable and stable housing for very low and extremely low-income individuals, and particularly for people of color, single mothers, people with disabilities and seniors. 

Over the last 20 years, budgets have been dramatically slashed for annual funding for repairs and everyday operations. These cuts have impacted both the availability and the habitability of housing. It has forced residents to live with heating system and plumbing failures, water leaks, pest infestations, peeling lead paint, and harmful mold. Years of deferred maintenance has caused the cost of repairing these homes to skyrocket. Steadily, public housing in municipalities are being taken over by private investors to manage and maintain these properties.

What is the Kingston Public Housing Authority? 

According to its website, “The Kingston Housing Authority (KHA) provides homes for low-income City of Kingston Families and is an organization with a proud history and enviable reputation. In 1948 its dream of quality, affordable housing for area citizens was formalized. In 1953, it was put into action with the opening of Colonial Gardens. Over the years, hundreds of apartments were constructed and have provided the foundations for family and elderly communities around Kingston.”

The Authority is governed by a seven-member board, five commissioners that are appointed by the City’s Mayor with two elected members by the tenants

Today the Housing Authority manages six different communities that include:

  • Colonial Gardens
  • Colonial Gardens Addition
  • Wiltwyck Gardens
  • Rondout Gardens
  • Stuyvesant Charter
  • Brigham Senior Housing

The KHA’s properties serve residents with Area Median Income (AMI) that, according to HUD, include Very Low Income (31-50% AMI) and Extremely Low Income (0-30% AMI). 

In a recent post, we reported on Kingston’s Form-Based-Code including in its most recent draft a Pilot-in-lieu of Affordable Housing (PILOAH) that would lead to an Affordable Housing Fund. Last week, we learned that the city staff had already hired a consultant to provide guidance on creating a fund even though a PILOAH hasn’t yet been approved. Although the verdict is still out as to whether or not that’s a good idea, if it does come into play, then this is the population that that fund should serve. 

In a 2021 report by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, DiNapoli found that the Kingston Housing Authority “did not provide adequate oversight of Authority operations. As a result: Budgets were not entered into the financial system and financial transactions were not properly captured; Adequate oversight of disbursements, bank transfers and bank reconciliations were not achieved; $6.51 million in disbursements and bank transfers were made without review or approval; $1,035 in management fees were incorrectly billed; Financial system access was not properly administered.”  

When important programs fail, it’s generally due, at least in part, to poor management.  Privatizing our public housing complexes in Kingston as a preferred solution to deferred maintenance is a bad outcome that is not well understood by the community. 

Privatizing public housing in the City of Kingston: Mountco awarded bids on Stuyvesant Charter in addition to four other public housing complexes.

At last month’s Kingston Common Council caucus, Ward 9 council member Michelle Hirsch provided an update on Kingston Housing Authority developments, including the most recent Request for Qualifications (RFQ) issued by the Kingston Housing Authority in October of 2021 of a redevelopment and new development proposal for four of Kingston’s public housing complexes that include Colonial Gardens, Colonial Gardens Addition, Wiltwyck Gardens (all state funded complexes) and Rondout Gardens (the sole federally funded complex).  

As an aside, can the KHA mix federal and state housing complexes together for an RFQ?

The RFQ request was seeking developer applications to be submitted by January of 2022 for a developer selection to be made by February, 2022.   Because the Kingston Housing Authority hasn’t any minutes or documents listed on their website, we don’t know how many applications were submitted or how the projects were rated before Mountco Construction and Development (Mountco) was awarded the bid. According to sources, they are already walking through the Colonial Gardens Addition and Rondout Gardens. If that’s true, then we presume those will be the first on their list for improvements. 

Four years ago, the Kingston Housing Authority issued an RFQ for the Stuyvesant Charter Apartments, which was also awarded to Mountco.  They are currently making renovations and moving residents into “pods” while making these improvements.  According to Hirsch’s update, a ribbon cutting is slated for May where folks from Albany are expected to attend. 

Who is Mountco, what are their goals and is our community comfortable that they are a key player in Kingston’s public housing? 

The City of Kingston looks to be well underway in privatizing its public housing complexes. According to the NYS Public Housing Law article 58, it says that the “Sale of dwelling units by authorities” of any state or federal public housing project requires the “local legislative body in the case of a municipal project” to have a say in the sale of public housing units.  Did the Kingston Common Council weigh in and if not, should they have?  What about the general public? How can we engage on what happens to public housing in Kingston in order to provide input to protect our most vulnerable residents?

If you have concerns about public housing in Kingston, you can contact your council member. Ward 3 council member Rennie Scott Childress also serves on the KHA board. You can reach out to him, too, independently to learn more.