Implications in St. Lawrence Cement Decision for Broadwater?
It's getting tougher and tougher to get permission in New York to build huge, ugly, landscape-blighting, environmentally-destructive, politically-unpopular projects on the waterfront.
Fifteen years ago, the New York State Secretary of State, Gail Shaffer, declined to issue a coastal zone permit to a developer who wanted to build 2,000 condos on 78-acre Davids Island in Long Island Sound. The project "makes no sense," she said.
Yesterday the current New York State Secretary of State, Randy Daniels, declined to issue a coastal zone permit to St. Lawrence Cement for a huge cement plant up the Hudson. The decision might have implications for another huge, ugly, landscape-blighting, environmentally-destructive, politically-unpopular project – namely the LNG terminal that Broadwater wants to build.
The Times reported:
The decision noted the changing character of Hudson, a former industrial city that has seen a transformation, with antique stores, boutiques and bistros opening in the refurbished brick buildings that line Warren Street, its main street. And it said that the plant would mar the sweeping views from Olana, the hilltop Persian-style home of Frederic E. Church, the Hudson River School landscape artist, which is now a museum.
"Hudson relies on the area's high quality of life, contributed to by the visual appeal of the area, its historic fabric and texture, its pastoral setting, and attractions such as its waterfront park and Olana as the basis for continued economic growth," the decision said.
In other words, a new industrial facility is inappropriate for that part of the river.
Is this Hudson River decision potentially good news for the Sound? Broadwater apparently needs Department of State approval for its LNG terminal. The terminal is clearly an industrial facility and, despite Broadwater’s propaganda, it is clearly in an area that has not yet been industrialized.
So maybe those of us who don’t want the project built in the middle of the Sound can take heart: the development of beautiful waterfront areas with inappropriately large, ugly projects does not seem to be part of New York State's coastal zone policy.
Fifteen years ago, the New York State Secretary of State, Gail Shaffer, declined to issue a coastal zone permit to a developer who wanted to build 2,000 condos on 78-acre Davids Island in Long Island Sound. The project "makes no sense," she said.
Yesterday the current New York State Secretary of State, Randy Daniels, declined to issue a coastal zone permit to St. Lawrence Cement for a huge cement plant up the Hudson. The decision might have implications for another huge, ugly, landscape-blighting, environmentally-destructive, politically-unpopular project – namely the LNG terminal that Broadwater wants to build.
The Times reported:
The decision noted the changing character of Hudson, a former industrial city that has seen a transformation, with antique stores, boutiques and bistros opening in the refurbished brick buildings that line Warren Street, its main street. And it said that the plant would mar the sweeping views from Olana, the hilltop Persian-style home of Frederic E. Church, the Hudson River School landscape artist, which is now a museum.
"Hudson relies on the area's high quality of life, contributed to by the visual appeal of the area, its historic fabric and texture, its pastoral setting, and attractions such as its waterfront park and Olana as the basis for continued economic growth," the decision said.
In other words, a new industrial facility is inappropriate for that part of the river.
Is this Hudson River decision potentially good news for the Sound? Broadwater apparently needs Department of State approval for its LNG terminal. The terminal is clearly an industrial facility and, despite Broadwater’s propaganda, it is clearly in an area that has not yet been industrialized.
So maybe those of us who don’t want the project built in the middle of the Sound can take heart: the development of beautiful waterfront areas with inappropriately large, ugly projects does not seem to be part of New York State's coastal zone policy.
posted by Tom Andersen at 11:03 AM
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