The Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) for the City of Newburgh voted to keep the public hearing open on a proposed 50-unit supportive housing facility on Johnston Street owned by Newburgh Ministry Inc. City residents and additional stakeholders were critical of the project and its intentions during a public hearing session on Tuesday, June 27. No official vote on the project itself was made that night by the zoning board.

“The project, the Newburgh Ministry residential care facility, will be a 50-unit supportive housing building located at 17 to 19 Johnston Street,” said Don Petruncola, AIA, Director of Architectural Services of Tinkelman Architecture. The intention of the project architect was to combine and then subdivide the listed three parcels into two parcels. The building, 17 Johnston Street, had suffered fire damage back in August 2021, and both 17 and 19 Johnston are still currently abandoned. Third parcel is 9 Johnston Street where the ministry is located.

On the plans, Lot A is identified as the proposed residential building while Lot B is the existing ministry building. Both buildings do not meet the requirements of “the Schedule of Use and Bulk Regulations in the Medium Density Residential Zone” thus requiring variances. Use is defined by NYC Planning as “any activity, occupation, business or operation.” Bulk is defined by NYC Planning as “the combination of controls (lot size, floor area ratio, lot coverage, open space, yards, height and setback) that determine the maximum size and placement of a building on a zoning lot.” The purpose of the appearance before the zoning board was to seek approvals for area variances for various setbacks. Setbacks in zoning terminology, as defined by Fontan Architecture, “is the distance a building or portion of a building must be recessed from a property line or other designated point of reference.”

Petruncola said the project had been presented before the Architectural Review Commission (ARC) of the city and had originally been proposed as a six-story building. The reasoning for that appearance in front of the ARC was due to the building located in the East End Historic District. The architect has now brought the building down to a five-story building and the building’s footprint has decreased by 1,000 square feet. The apartments, a majority of which are small studios, are intended for single individuals, and will have kitchens and bathrooms. “There are no two bedroom or family, large family size units,” said Petruncola. “This is essentially permanent housing, transitional permanent housing.”

Colin Jarvis, Executive Director of the Newburgh Ministry also provided additional information. He has been executive director of the ministry for the past 11 years now.

“We currently run two homeless shelters, one at 9 Johnston Street, 19 beds. We have another shelter over at [13] Bridge Street. The idea is that we submitted a proposal to the state (New York) to try and impact in a positive way, the homeless problems,” said Jarvis. “This is permanent housing for basically single individuals, but with services on site. So there’ll be 24 hour security, 24 hour maintenance.”

Jarvis shared that services such as financial assistance programming, crisis management programming, substance abuse counseling and social work services would be on-site. He anticipates breaking ground for the project in the fall of 2024 and the building is to be named “Legacy House” to honor the work of the sisters who began the ministry 40 years ago this year (2023). The amount invested into this project, as per Jarvis, is a little over $15 million. Additional funding at $1.3 million would be coming from the New York State Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative (ESSHI) Office. This funding is used, according to Jarvis, “to subsidize rents, maintain the building and provide support services to the tenants. Our goal is to, again, continue to incrementally enhance the community,” he said. “We’re not importing criminals from New York City. We look forward to clearing the air.”

Assistant Corporation Counsel Jeremy Kaufman shared that the City of Newburgh Planning Board has already expressed its intent for lead agency, or the organization that assumes responsibility for the project. If there were further questions on the usage of the project, members could reach out to Jarvis later on. With the public hearing, the applicant would field questions from the board, address concerns or adjust plans at their discretion. Kaufman also served as the moderator during the public comment.

Beginning the public comment period, Drew Kartiganer submitted a memo to the clerk for the board’s review. The memo referenced the city code on area variances, news articles of project coverage, the ESSHI tenant eligibility criteria and presented his opinions on the project. ESSHI defined its tenant eligibility criteria as follows: “The eligible target populations to be served under this program are families or individuals who are both homeless and who are identified as having an unmet housing need.” The state funding, intended for the project, is “only open to nonprofit organizations with experience in providing housing services to individuals, families and/or youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness” as stated by ESSHI.

“The general sense is, what they’re saying is going to be a nice project isn’t going to be a good project for Newburgh,” said Kartiganer. “You have a responsibility under the code to review the variances under various components.”

Other speakers were more blunt.

“We don’t know who we’re getting in, in the city. I’m not in favor of it. I don’t think this is a good idea really,” said Susan Whitfield.

“I agree with Mr. Kartiganer now, the project shouldn’t go on,” said George McNeil.

“We do have a lot of homeless, we have to take care of them, but at what point are you encouraging more people to come here,” said John Zelehoski. “I don’t know if we’re rehabilitating or just bringing more people here that are not going to be a good influence on our neighborhood. I know a number of people that weren’t able to make it here tonight are concerned about it, too. So I hope that we can keep it open for public comment.”

“I walk Johnston Street, I go to the store and I see all of these kind of people sitting out and I just feel so unsafe when I go to the store,” said Lillie Tallie. “I just feel uncomfortable with them [people who gather at the vacant lot near the DMV].” “Every couple of years a really terrible project like this one comes along. We don’t need more problems here and what we really need is family housing,” said Johanna Porr. “We need family housing. So I really hope that we can kill it here at the zoning level.” No other comments were given that night.

In the city code, Article XIII titled Zoning Board of Appeals lists in Section 300-115 Section B titled “Area Variances” that “the ZBA shall have the power, upon an appeal from a decision or determination of the Building Inspector, to grant area variances from the area or dimensional requirements specified in this chapter.” The section further discusses and explains the area variances and ZBA’s ability in granting these. The purpose of the ZBA as defined by the city is “to enforce the zoning laws of the City, and to hear applications for variances from the zoning law relating to the use, construction or alteration of structures or the use of land.” All materials can be referenced on the city website under the Zoning Board of Appeals tab.