After several previous meetings with public comment and commentary, the Newburgh Zoning Board of Appeals voted 4-3 on Tuesday, August 22 to not grant the proposed project known as Legacy House their requested area variances.

As in previous meetings, Assistant Corporation Counsel Jeremy Kaufman served as moderator for the board’s discussion on the project.“The last time that we were here, there was a public hearing held. There was no vote to be had at the last meeting,” he said.

According to Kaufman, at the city planning board meeting in July, the planning board declared a negative declaration on the matter. Thus with that determination, the project would have gone up for the vote if the applicant so chose to.

With the project before them again, Kaufman reminded the zoning board that the vote cast was to be cast based on the presented land usage and if the project met the city’s zoning code requirements.

“Whatever your vote is, for or against, it has to be tied to the requirements and the criteria in the city’s zoning code, which deals with area variances, that deals with the four criteria that we have discussed in the past on a number of occasions,” he said.“You [members] have to look at it from the perspective of the building, the building in its relationship to the property lines and to the other properties in the surrounding area.”

The Legacy House project is a proposed 50 unit supportive housing facility on Johnston Street owned by Newburgh Ministry Inc. This project has proposed single studio apartments to be built on the lots that currently have 17 and 19 Johnston St on the land. Both buildings are currently abandoned, with 17 Johnston having had a fire in it

The requested area variances were for two lots, Lot A, 17 and 19 Johnston Street and Lot B, the existing ministry building. Both buildings did not meet the requirements of city use and bulk regulations. With homes and buildings already lining Johnston Street, it is considered a medium density residential zone.

Zoning Board members had the opportunity to offer their comments on the project before casting their vote on the requested variances.

“Why couldn’t it be placed in another area of Newburgh? You got to put them in neighborhoods where people are doing better. You can’t keep certain people just condensed into one neighborhood,” said Melvin Hales. “Put it somewhere else. That’s my feeling.”

“Everything that they [Newburgh Ministry] presented to us shows that there’s going to be no adverse effect on the neighborhood,” said Corey Allen. “I don’t think it’s a hardship. When you go into a project, you know exactly what you’re doing. They [Newburgh Ministry] knew exactly what kind of funding they were going after.”

“I do think this has an adverse effect on the neighborhood, because you are putting so many more people into this area,” said Dianne Dixon. “Whether or not this is benefiting the neighborhood, we don’t know quite honestly. I don’t know if a single Newburgh resident will ever benefit from this project.”

Previously reported, the New York State Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (ESSHI) Office would contribute funding in the amount of over a million dollars for the project and an additional $15 million has also been invested.

“We’ve redesigned this project since we got ARC [Architectural Review Commission] approval, we’ve shrunk the building footprint by 1,000 square feet, brought the building height down a little bit,” said Don Petruncola, AIA, Director of Architectural Services of Tinkelman Architecture. “We’ve made this as compact as we can, and still be fundable.”

“You’ve heard some of the neighbors with the misinformation that’s been spread. You’ve heard an abundance of other neighbors with their support,” said Colin Jarvis, Executive Director of the Newburgh Ministry.

Following the vote on Tuesday night, Kaufman referenced Chapter 300 Section 115 on what procedures would be undertaken with a failed request for the variances. Jarvis declined to comment on the matter after the vote.