Kingston Forward Final Zoning Code Draft Released

KPFFA's Ice Skating with Santa

Free Two-Hour Holiday Parking

Made in Kingston Returns

Mayor Noble Signs 2023 Budget

City of Kingston Job Opportunities

Kingston Redistricting Maps Released & Public Hearings Set

Mayor's Message:

Dear Friends -

It's been a busy week of news here in Kingston. First, I am very proud of the zoning code draft, which has taken into consideration best practices from other municipalities and ample community feedback. This new code is truly the vision of our community – it will encourage incremental growth and smart development across the City, while preserving our open spaces. Crucially, this code reform will reduce barriers to creating new housing at every level and will help us combat the housing crisis. Ultimately, these changes to the code will make a more equitable city for all and I look forward to seeing it adopted.

This week, the Council approved the 2023 Budget. As everyone is painfully aware, inflation has raised prices on almost everything, and substantially. That means the City of Kingston’s expenses are also up – everything from electricity and fuel to major infrastructure projects. But with this budget, we will continue to deliver on promises to better provide essential services to our residents. By investing in our City staff and in the proper equipment, we will be able to continue to build what is needed and maintain what is built. As we look to 2023, the budget will continue to support our work in the areas of housing, public safety, infrastructure, and parks.

-Steve

Kingston Forward Final Zoning Code Draft Released

The third and final draft of the Kingston Forward zoning code has been released.

The new form-based code will:

• Introduce a new system of “transects” to regulate the ways in which land is developed. This categorizes zones from the most rural zone to the most urban zone: T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5. These zones are designed to encourage mixed-use, walkable environments. A form-based code allows the City to steer new development to ensure that it reinforces the historic urban fabric within each of these transects.
• Remove minimum parking mandates.
• Legalize accessory dwelling units, an affordable and flexible housing type, citywide.
• Reduce the administrative burden of building new housing in Kingston, especially for smaller projects that meet the review criteria of a new minor site plan review board.
• Mandate at least 10% of all units in residential projects with 7+ units be affordable and includes new incentives for affordable housing, including expedited review and discounts on site application fees.
• Introduce a fair and balanced approach to regulating short-term rentals and ensure STRs will have a negligible impact on the supply of long-term housing in Kingston.
• Legalize neighborhood-serving corner stores in many of Kingston’s neighborhoods, as had been the case prior to the adoption of the 1960s zoning code.
• Allow for “missing middle” housing, including duplexes and triplexes, as had been allowed prior to the adoption of the ‘60s zoning code, to encourage economic diversity and incremental development types.
• Reflect the goals and vision of the 2025 Kingston Comprehensive Plan and mirrors the priorities outlined in the City’s 2020 Open Space plan and Local Waterfront Revitalization Program, as dictated by the State's Coastal Management Program.

During the creation of the new rezoning code, the team held 30+ public meetings and offered online surveys that garnered hundreds of responses. As part of the public input process, two previous drafts have been released with comment periods. All of the hundreds of comments received on the two first drafts were carefully considered and responded to and have been published for transparency on https://engagekingston.com/kingston-forward.

In response to the feedback on earlier drafts, major changes made to the final draft include:

• Changes to short-term rental rules. The new rules set a cap on the number of whole-unit rentals in the City of Kingston and impose other restrictions, including limiting the number of short-term rentals to one per lot. The new rules also clarify that after proper registration with the Building Safety Department, room short term rentals and whole-unit short-term rentals for less than thirty days per year would be allowed in most areas of the City. These rules would permit a limited amount of short-term rental activity and ensure this activity does not impact the supply of long-term rental housing.

• New incentives and requirements for affordable and workforce housing. Projects between 20 to 49 units must provide 5% workforce housing units in addition to the 10% affordable housing units. Projects with 50 or more units will have to provide 10% workforce housing units in addition to the 10% affordable housing units. New incentives have been added for encourage developers to meet or exceed the affordable housing standards, including site plan fee schedule discounts and an expedited review process. Bonus height provisions introduced in the first draft would also still apply.

• A new administrative process for street design standards. This new process clarifies how the street design guidelines would be enforced and outlines a review and approval process that involves the Complete Streets Advisory Council.

• A new height overlay that would allow greater heights in certain areas along Broadway and Cornell. This new height overlay would allow new projects to have up to six stories in certain locations along Broadway and Cornell Street by right. These are areas of the City that already have many five and six story buildings.

• A new Waterfront Special District. To be even more specific in designating standards that are in keeping with the community vision for the waterfront, previous City plans for the area, and comments we have received from this area, a new designation has been created: Special District Waterfront (SD-W). This new special district incentivizes mixed-use development and public open space along E. Strand and other areas along the Rondout and respects the cultural, historic, and natural resources of the area. The special district also recognizes that any development must be designed and built to withstand environmental conditions such as flooding.

The final draft has been submitted to the Common Council’s Laws and Rules Committee, asking that the final draft be referred to the City of Kingston Planning Board, Ulster County Planning Board, and the Historic Landmarks Preservation Commission for review. The Council will set a public hearing schedule in early January 2023.

To read the final draft of the zoning code, including all comments received and the team’s responses, visit https://engagekingston.com/kingston-forward.

KPFFA's Ice Skating with Santa

Join the Kingston Professional Firefighter's Association this Saturday for Ice Skating with Santa!

The event will be held on Saturday, December 10 from 11:00am to 3:00pm at Ole Savannah.

Free 2-Hour Holiday Parking

From Monday, December 12, 2022 to Monday, January 2, 2023, the City of Kingston will offer free 2-hour holiday parking. Parking in municipal lots and at meters across the City will be free for up to 2 hours.

“To help support local holiday shopping and dining, the City of Kingston is providing free two-hour parking in the City lots and at meters for the last three weeks of the year,” said Mayor Noble. “As always, we encourage residents and visitors to shop in our wonderful stores and to eat at our many incredible restaurants in Kingston. I hope the free parking helps to bring a little extra holiday cheer this season.”

During this time, City parking staff will focus on meter repair and routine maintenance, but will issue safety violations such as blocking fire hydrants, parking in handicap spots, double parking, and expired inspections. Vehicle owners must observe all traffic and parking rules and park in legal spots. Regular enforcement of parking meters will resume on January 3, 2023.

The 2023 parking permits for the City’s municipal lots are now for sale and renewal at https://kingstonny.cmrpay.com. The permits are $100 and are valid from January 1, 2023–December 31, 2023. More info at https://kingston-ny.gov/parking.

City of Kingston Job Opportunities

The City of Kingston currently has several open positions, including a Building Inspector, a Motor Equipment Mechanic, and a Motor Equipment Operator.

There are a number of upcoming Civil Service exams, including Accountant, Spanish-speaking Clerk, and Administrative Account Clerk, among others.

The Firefighter exam has been called for February 11, 2023.

For these and other City of Kingston job opportunities, visit https://kingston-ny.gov/employment.

Mayor Noble Signs 2023 Budget

Mayor Noble’s 2023 Budget was adopted by the Common Council on Tuesday night. The total 2023 General Fund budget is $50,156,158.

Under the 2023 Adopted Budget, the tax levy will be reduced to $17,600,940, which is a $50,000 decrease from 2022. The City’s 2023 tax levy is at its lowest point since 2015. Tax rates continue to decline for the 7th consecutive year for homestead (from $8.82 to $8.81 per $1,000 of assessed value) and non-homestead (from $14.14 to $13.91 per $1,000 of assessed value).

The 2023 Budget includes the addition of 8 jobs year-over-year and an investment in equipment to maintain infrastructure. The budget provides ample funding for public safety and includes the addition of a full-time Crime Analyst at the Police Dept. and a Mobile Mental Health EMT/firefighter at the Fire Dept.

The budget also includes significant investment in sustainability initiatives such as composting and municipal solar projects. More on these initiatives will be announced in the coming weeks.

All budgets can be found at https://kingston-ny.gov/budget. To view Mayor Noble’s 2023 Proposed Budget and presentation, visit https://kingston-ny.gov/budget2023.

Made in Kingston Returns

The annual Made in Kingston event, which showcases local artists and makers, was a big success. Held at the Kingston YMCA this year, the event featured more than 60 local artists, businesses, and organizations, along with local food and drink vendors and live acoustic music.

Visit madeinkingstonny.com/ to see a list of all the wonderful local artists and makers who create their work right here in Kingston!

City Reaches Washington Ave Tunnel Settlement

 The City of Kingston has settled the Washington Avenue Tunnel construction litigation for $1.4 million. The payment ends litigation concerning repairs performed on Washington Avenue between 2012 and 2016.

A tunnel under Washington Avenue was constructed by the New York City Board of Water Supply in 1911. One hundred years later, in April 2011, a sinkhole opened up on Washington Avenue near Linderman Avenue.

Problems that arose during the repair process resulted in raw sewage accumulating and exploding into the tunnel before damaging property and discharging unabated into the Twaalfskill Creek. Excess grout and other materials were removed in April 2018, and the tunnel was relined in June 2018.

At the time, the City of Kingston borrowed approximately $2.5 million to pay for the repair and related expenses. Mayor Noble initiated lawsuits against six construction companies involved in the repairs in 2018, seeking to recoup more than $2 million in damages related to the sewer line blockage and shoddy repair work. The City of Kingston previously settled with three of the six companies named as defendants in the lawsuit for $75,000 in 2021.

Kingston Redistricting Draft Maps Released

Public Meetings Announced

The City of Kingston, like other municipalities, must redraw its current ward maps to align with 2020 Census data on local population changes. Under the City’s Charter, the Common Council must undertake this redistricting process to make the nine wards more equitable.

The Common Council’s Redistricting Sub-Committee has released two proposed redistricting plans and will hold two public hearings to solicit feedback. 

The Redistricting Sub-Committee has released two draft redistricting plans and a Deviation and Demographics Report at Engage Kingston. Plan A represents the alternative with the least change and makes the fewest possible adjustments to the existing wards while still bringing Kingston into compliance with State and Federal laws. Plan B is an example of a potential alternative that makes more significant changes using the same legal guidelines.

The first public hearing to discuss the draft redistricting plans will be held in-person on Tuesday, December 13 at the Kingston Public Library at 6:00pm.

After community input on the initial map drafts, revised drafts of the redrawn maps will be available prior to a second public hearing, which will be held at City Hall on Thursday, January 12, 2023. The Council is expected to vote on the final maps by January 27, 2023.

The Common Council’s Redistricting Sub-Committee held an informational meeting to educate the public about the redistricting process. The recording can be viewed here. More information at engagekingston.com/redistricting.  

Plan A Redistricting Maps