Redevelopment of a key parcel of Hudson River waterfront is likely to be rethought after a plan was unanimously excoriated last week at a public hearing in Poughkeepsie.?The 14.5-acre former Dutton Lumber site along the river off Water Street is being renovated to turn a former contaminated industrial site into usable and potentially invaluable real estate to assist Poughkeepsie”™s revitalization. ?Since the site is in both the city and town of Poughkeepsie, the project needs both governing bodies to approve zoning changes for it to move forward. The hearing was a continuation of the  public hearing begun in July that covers the proposal”™s generic environmental impact statement, which addresses potential impacts. The GEIS must be finalized before zoning changes can be approved.?But plans by developers were panned by all 15 speakers who addressed the City Council Aug. 29 at a full house, public hearing on the GEIS submitted by New Jersey-based O”™Neill Group-Dutton L.L.C.
The developer proposes three buildings, each five stories high, set back about 45 feet from the river. The buildings would contain 586 units of mostly one- and two-bedroom for-purchase apartments. The new complex, as proposed, would also include about 8,500 square feet of commercial space. ?No support for the current plan has been voiced by public officials. At the hearing, the public expressed concern about density, traffic patterns, aesthetics and the proposal”™s foreclosing a riverfront property from viable use by the public. ?“This is way over scale,” said Fred Schaeffer, a board member with the nonprofit Walkway Over the Hudson, the group who led efforts to open the popular pedestrian span looming just south of the Dutton site. “I think everybody is going to be embarrassed by this.”?Almost all the speakers complained about the paucity of the proposed 12- foot-wide walkway the developers would put along the river, which would not be landscaped or separated from the complex”™s main roadway, and which as designed, would double as the emergency vehicle access route to the complex.
“This is one of the most important parcels on the whole Hudson River,” said Holly Wahlberg of Poughkeepsie. “We don”™t have to accept a poor project just to get the site cleaned up.”?“It is quite frankly poor design,” said Carolyn DeMichele, of Poughkeepsie. “It looks like the (Marriot) Residence Inn on steroids.” ?Beyond the alleged physical shortcomings of the proposal, DeMichele, who is a real estate broker, said it is likely to be an economic loser by not taking into account the area”™s dormant housing market. She said more than 400 single-family houses are for sale in the area, not including pending foreclosures and numerous vacancies in rental units.?After the hearing Louis Kaufman, project manager for  O’Neill Group-Dutton L.L.C., indicated he would take the comments to heart and seek to “scale it back.” But he said economics are a driving factor, saying developers need to recoup enough on the project to make it profitable.
