The best source for local news from Marbletown, Rochester & Rosendale
Published the 1st and 3rd Friday of each month | Vol. 28, Issue 11
Chicken of the woods mushroom lectures PAGE 21
June 2, 2023 | $1.00
Eight honored at Rondout Valley Central School District
Dry weather makes bird feeders more important
PAGE 8
PAGE 19
Delay for Accord Granary project inspires public conversation Cherries Frustration expressed by both sides
Ann Belmont BSP Reporter The Accord Granary building at the corner of Granit Road and Towpath Road has stood empty for decades. Accord LLC is the name of a group planning to restore and reuse the historic building as well as several others that occupy 2, 4 and 8 Towpath Road. Henry Rich, who owns Accord Market, is one partner, and Renn Hawkey is the other. They have applied for a zoning change enacted by the town in 2018 called Economic Enterprise Overlay [EEO]. Before opening the public hearing, town supervisor Mike Baden explained: “This is a two-step process. The first step is to petition the Town Board for a zoning [change] ... There is a second step … site plan approval by the Planning Board,” which requires a public hearing as well. An architect for the project, Scott Dutton, made a presentation. His Kingston firm has “completed a number of historic preservation projects.” He explained the proposal as currently visualized, using maps on easels. “We’re proposing to use the existing entrance at Granite Road and Towpath … the first structure we refer to as the Sears House. That is proposed to be four guestrooms, a hotel.” Another existing structure, the "Blue House," will be “a two-bed-
Amber Kelly BSP Reporter
The Granary as it stands. Photo by Ann Belmont
room apartment on the second floor to be used by the owner-developers,” with the downstairs as extra room. The "Yellow House" at 8 Towpath is proposed to be a bike shop. The parking lot will mostly be an already paved-over area. "We’ve wrapped the parking along the power-line edge of the property. The lines you see in brown are wood-chip paths. Those would connect the parking to the structures.
“The tall barn will have 11 guest rooms,” Dutton continued, "eight on the upper floors, three on the ground floor, with a small lounge. So that’s a total of 15 bedrooms for [the hotel] and two for staff.” A new 1,500-square-foot "wellness" building is planned over the footprint of an existing
See Granary, page 4
A walk to remember, Rosendale’s Memorial Day parade Grace Molenda BSP Reporter The Town of Rosendale’s Memorial Day parade fused traditional festivities with meaningful ceremonies to honor those who died in military service. The parade was organized by Rosendale/ Tillson American Legion Post 1219, with Commander John Creegan and other flag-bearing Legion members heading the lineup. On Monday morning, Commander Creegan led the parade from the Tillson Firehouse to Rosendale Cemetery where a moment of silence was followed by a ceremonial bugle call and rifle salute. The parade then continued toward St. Peter’s
Cemetery where Legion members performed a second, brief service in honor of the fallen resting there. Sounds of music and celebration returned as the parade approached Main Street. Spectators waiting for the procession at St. Peter’s Church were greeted by a seemingly endless stream of participants. American Legion Auxiliary members danced to music played by the Saints of Swing, and Legionnaires in a fleet of classic cars were followed by the Ancient Order of Hibernians Pipe and Drum Band. The Rosendale Improvement Association Brass Band performed also, setting the tempo for Ulster County Executive Jen
See Rosendale, page 3
Glenn Dehardt, Officer Caelin Fagerstrom, Lawrence Riedener, Commander John Creegan, Dan O’Sullivan and Jamie DePuy step off to start the parade. Photo by Grace Molenda
The Marbletown Planning Board meeting on May 22 began with chair Max Stratton and board members Dan Proctor, Dave Cobb, Harry Hansen and Brendan Masterson, secretary Shawn Marks, and town counsel Tracy Kellogg in attendance. Nadine Carney of Peak Engineering said that Ulster Savings Bank is still working on the lighting specs but septic design, landscaping, sustainability is all in for the new construction of an 8,600 square foot banking facility. Carney stated she hoped that enough information has been submitted to be able to move ahead with SEQRA. There will be a 20-foot vegetated swale to move storm water according to the B-1 district design guidelines. As for the request for a 10-foot fence by a neighbor, the swale is 4 feet higher than the parking lot, so the solid wood 6-foot fence should satisfy. The curbing had been approved already for a substantially higher volume plan, so it will be sufficient. “I don’t know if you want to wait a couple of days to see if I can get the photometrics from the architect. We are not opposed to holding off to submit it,” Carney said. “My question to Tracy is if we motion to circulate to Walden Engineering and they submit the photometric plan by Tuesday next week …?” Stratton said. The motion to refer passed. The High Meadow School special use permit is requesting a marginal increase on top of what is there. Stratton said, “My opinion is that it does not have a tremendous impact. We would like to see the location of HVAC.” Ganter said that the existing HVAC on the second floor will be sufficient. Stratton said, “I do not think this waiver is a big ask.” They will be raising the roof so that the office walls on the second floor will be increased from 4 feet to 8 feet. The design guidelines request a 5 feet on 12 feet roof pitch and this is 4 feet on 12 feet and will not even be visually detectable and would be only a small section of roof. The reason is so that 5-feet windows can be installed for egress in case of emergency. Stratton said that the fire chief has
See Cherries, page 15