By Eric Francis Coppolino
Published in The Lincoln Eagle January 2011 issue
Note to Readers: This is a local article involving an ongoing political issue with the city of Kingston, New York, where I live and do business. I’m posting it here in case you’re vaguely interested, and to tell Google the story exists. It is a bit of cell biology about how the world works or perhaps doesn’t work; and the kind of thing one might encounter when getting involved in taking control of the destiny of their locale. For background on this story, here is a past article, and here is a recent letter in the Daily Freeman, the official certified local newspaper. And here is a local video segment I just found.
Kingston Uptown Business Association (KUBA) claims to represent 300 uptown businesses, and has been one of the leading voices in favor of the proposed renovation of the Pike Plan, the canopy currently hanging over the fronts of 46 properties on Wall and North Front Streets since the late 1970s. KUBA representatives frequently make public statements in support of the proposed approximately $1.7 million renovation.
In a board of directors meeting Wednesday, Feb. 9, however, KUBA’s president, Kevin Quilty, admitted that though the organization voiced its support of the renovation plan to Albany early in the process, it never contacted property owners impacted by the canopy, and never studied the issue. The state, through a city official, needed an indication of stakeholder support, and KUBA spoke on behalf of the stakeholders without ever consulting them.
The city, as well, bonded the architectural plan for $100,000 without ever consulting the businesses under canopy. The businesses under the canopy will be paying this back for 15 years.
For contrast, when the Columbia, MO business district was faced with the issue of whether to remove its canopies, its business association did a study to determine what the impact would be. The stakeholders were directly involved. Columbia’s business organization learned, based on contacting many Midwestern and East Coast towns, that removing its canopy could result in up to a 50% increase in business.
During the 1970s, many American towns put canopies over their sidewalks. Locally these included Middletown, along with Red Bank, NJ, Wilkes-Barre, PA, Columbia, and many towns across the Midwest. All of these canopies have been torn down. After living in their shadow for years, merchants figured out they were blocking the visibility of the businesses. The canopy makes the businesses look the same, blurring them visually and blocking direct light from reaching their windows.
“We tore ours down five or six years ago and haven’t looked back,” I was told last month by Carrie Gartner, the head of the business district in Columbia, MO. When Columbia surveyed the towns in the Midwest that previously had canopies, they made some discoveries. Business increased by up to 50% because people could see the stores that were there. Buildings were restored to their original condition, with help from a federal grant. Cafes expanded onto the sidewalks. Other beautification projects were begun. The space was opened up, just like taking out an unnecessary wall in your house or adding a picture window.
Dominick and His Group
Dominick Vanacore, owner of Dominick’s Café and Dreamweavers Style and Health Center, is active in KUBA and has been a member of its board of directors for several years. Vanacore has long advocated that KUBA consider all options for the Pike Plan, including renovation and removal. But he says that businesses located under the canopy have never been formally consulted by KUBA — and that the organization still has no interest in listening, despite claiming to represent these same businesses.
In a Jan. 20 email to the KUBA board, Vanacore called for a special board meeting so that KUBA could hear from Kingston USA, the group of stakeholders located under the canopy that he co-founded. Vanacore wrote, “We would like to bring a group from our organization to meet the KUBA board for an open discussion.”
Guy Kempe is director of community development for the Rural Ulster Preservation Co. (RUPCO), a private nonprofit agency that works in the housing sector. Among RUPCO’s functions is to write and administrate grants. The agency currently has a $200,000 state Main Street Grant invested in the proposed $1.6 million project. Kempe is also a KUBA board member.
“I see no reason to schedule a ‘special’ KUBA meeting for Dominick and his group to rehash their objections to the Pike Plan,” Kempe replied in a Jan. 20 email to the KUBA board.