Poughkeepsie’s Historic Preservation Board staunchly opposed the plan, refusing to issue a certificate of conformity. This prevented the developers from obtaining the necessary licenses to proceed, and they appealed the decision. City legislators supported it, and the developers sued. The case is continuing.
Despite the lawsuit, the city recently closed the sale of the property and is working with developers to find a solution. “We have a housing challenge – it’s called a crisis – and the location is perfect for market-priced homes,” said Poughkeepsie mayor Robert Rolison. . The current agreement will preserve the Pelton Manor, a historic building that has been vacant for nearly a decade, for public use. It was originally slated to be converted into apartments; It is now home to an arts institution.
That is not enough for the opponent. “It’s a pretty typical no-dealer for guys,” said Ken Stier, a freelance reporter who moved to the neighborhood from Brooklyn four years ago and is an opponent of the plan. good boy here. “The villa, and its small but precious river view, are a gem in a historic district that has been greatly reduced,” he said. The area, he continued, will be “fully privatized and filled with high-end housing.”
Meanwhile, Poughkeepsie’s protection committee is in a precarious position. Of its seven seats, three’s terms have expired, and two more are set to expire this summer. With five of the seven seats won, it would be easy for the mayor to replace them with commissioners more sympathetic to the plan. So far, that hasn’t happened.
“I am not replacing them because they are involved in this proposal, because it is not the right thing to do,” said Rolison, the mayor. But the future is still a question. “I haven’t done it for the time being,” he said, “but I’m not going to lock myself into something.”
The consequences of a local government that fired their historic conservation committee leaders have so far been few. In Durham’s case, the town could lose its status as a certified local government. This designation comes from a federal, state-administered program that provides towns and cities with some financial assistance and training in return for maintaining preservation standards. New York has 75 such certified local governments, including New York City.
“The situation in Durham is extremely disappointing,” said Daniel McEneny, division director at the New York State Office of Historic Preservation, which oversees the program. Mr. McEneny’s office wrote two letters to Mr. Marriott, who oversees the town of Durham. Both letters explain that Durham’s protection committee is currently short of a quorum to function. So far, the town has not responded. “If we don’t get a response, we’ll start with an audit,” said Mr. McEneny, which is the first step in removing Durham from the federal program.
Mr. Ciccone recently wrote an email to Mr McEneny asserting that his dismissal sets a dangerous precedent. “This is metastasizing from a local esoteric problem,” he wrote, to a major threat to local historic preservation committees everywhere.
