NOTE:   If you live, own or work in the City of Kingston, please sign our petition. We will be submitting signatures collected up until 3/4/19 with our official Pos Dec request.  We encourage residents to keep signing!  Additional signatures will be delivered during public comment at the next Planning Board meeting on 3/18/19.

Dear members of the City of Kingston Planning Board,

We are writing in regard to the proposed Kingstonian Project (the “Project”) by the applicant Kingstonian Development LLC and JM Development Group, LLC and a Positive Declaration of Significance (“Pos Dec”) under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”). The Positive Declaration states that as Lead Agency for the SEQRA review you will be conducting public scoping, which will include a public comment period.

Upon reviewing the Environmental Assessment Form (EAF) as a record before the Planning Board as Lead Agency, we have identified a number of significant potential impacts. Therefore, as required by 617.7(a), the Board issue a Positive Declaration and the preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for this project.

We also request a public comment period of 90 days on the Draft Scope for the Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) and to hold a public scoping meeting to allow for greater public participation. By doing so, this will ensure that no potentially significant adverse impacts are left out of the DEIS and all environmental concerns are adequately addressed as required by SEQRA.

The Scoping process is particularly important for a project as complex and multi-faceted as this one.  For instance, the Project has the potential to impact aspects significant to the Stockade National Historic District, including the topography, individually significant buildings like the John Tremper House (1 North Front St) and the Senate House, potential archaeological resources, as well as the state-designated heritage area. The visual context and community character of this district will no doubt be impacted.

Affordable housing issues also need to be thoroughly studied in the context of the number of units that have been created since the Three County Regional Housing Needs Assessment: Ulster, Orange and Dutchess Counties from 2006 - 2020 (RHNA), The market demand for affordable units in the context of all available county, region, state and HUD data and the affordability of the rentals in the context of the Area Median Incomes earned in the Kingston Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).

For these reasons and more, a Positive Declaration in SEQRA and a public comment period of 90 days on the Draft Scope for the Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) is important for this Project. We also request that you hold a public Scoping meeting to allow for greater public participation, helping to ensure that there are not any potentially significant adverse impacts left out of the DEIS and all environmental concerns are adequately addressed as required by SEQRA.

Thank you for your consideration of our request, and a response would be appreciated. We look forward to participating in the SEQRA review of this Project.