City assesses environmental impact of potential hotel

Jul. 25—PLATTSBURGH — The City of Plattsburgh Common Council has assessed the environmental impact of a potential hotel development at the city's harborside.

At the July 20 Common Council meeting, councilors — in accordance with an approved development agreement with developer GP Manager PLF, LLC — were required to complete a Type 1 New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), where they answered several questions about a concept hotel and what its impact on the area might be.

Through this SEQRA process, it was revealed that the conceptual hotel would have approximately 125 rooms and 4,000 square feet of meeting space, a restaurant and other ancillary facilities.

The hotel would also be located on "Lot B" of the now subdivided parcel at the city's harborside off of Dock Street, which neighbors the Plattsburgh City Marina.

DETAILS TO COME

Though city attorney Dean Schneller reiterated to councilors beforehand that the hotel project itself remains conceptual and more specific details about it are still unknown.

"We don't yet have the details such as the facade ... and all of those specific details," Schneller said.

If and when this project eventually gets to the planning board in the future, Community Development Director Matt Miller said more information will be available.

"That future review by the planning board will include a SEQRA review of its own that will answer some of the questions that we may not be able to answer today, because the project is still conceptual," Miller said.

"But that review will be much more detailed and will be one of the prerequisites before any final plans."

This drafted development agreement now allows both the city and developer to keep moving forward with the project in a safe direction.

"The rationale is the developer has to spend a significant sum of money to develop those plans, and in order to have that certainty, they require some protection through the form of a development agreement," Schneller said.

"From the city's perspective, we have real property that's valuable and we don't want to just sell it to anyone. We want someone that's going to do a project, which the city supports, in a fiscally, environmentally and community responsible way."

SKEPTICAL

At the end of the meeting, Councilor Elizabeth Gibbs (D-Ward 3) remained skeptical of the ongoing hotel project.

She said as they move forward, she would be more comfortable having an independent feasibility study done for that site and asked the council if they would be in support of that.

"I think we all want this project to be successful," Gibbs said.

"But because it is a really valuable piece of property, and what it would take to build and make that up and running, I would like to call for an independent feasibility study to make sure that the project, as proposed, would be successful in the City of Plattsburgh and that would require an outside vendor ... I think we owe it to the taxpayers, before we go through on a really large project like this, to call for a feasibility study."

Councilor Jeff Moore (D-Ward 6) supported Gibbs' proposal.

"I think that's a good idea. I mean, we had a similar thing happen a couple of decades ago that I don't think the city did their proper due diligence at that time," he said.

"I've got mixed feelings about this. I think the idea is a good one, but I would hate to see something fall apart somewhere between here and there. So I don't think that's a bad idea ... if it was such a dynamic location, there would have been some place there long before now ... (and) we've gotten burned on this before. We got a big parking lot in the middle of there that has no purpose whatsoever."

DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT

Mayor Chris Rosenquest assured the councilors that there are provisions in the development agreement that protect the city if the project were to fall apart.

"Opinions aside, honestly, lean on the development agreement. That's why it's there. It's built to protect the city taxpayer," the mayor said.

"I'm not in the mindset of hiring a third party to do a feasibility study on hotel development, which is not the city's hotel development, but the third party's. I think that would be akin to saying, 'hey, there's gonna be a pizza shop opening up downtown and we should do a feasibility study for a pizza shop, because there are three other pizza shops downtown that might fail.'

"I don't think that's the mindset for us. But again, my opinion aside, that's why we have the development agreement; that's why we have these legal mechanisms to protect the city."

Miller also clarified that as part of one of the Downtown Revitalization Initiatives (DRI) projects, there was a hotel feasibility analysis conducted in 2019 that spoke to Gibbs' proposal.

There have also been three separate, highest and best use analyses conducted on the proposed development site in the last 20 years, he said.

"And in each case, the study has come back and stated that the highest and best use for that site is a hotel."

"Except that the studies were done before COVID and (currently) hotels and restaurants are closing up," Gibbs said.

TOWN SUCCESS

Rosenquest, referencing the Town of Plattsburgh's past and future success with hotels, disagreed with Gibbs.

"Anybody would be hard pressed to say well, hotels are closing, but yet, there's hotel developments that are happening in the Town of Plattsburgh, or certainly projected to happen in the Town of Plattsburgh and those are feasible, but the one down here right on the waterfront, which would be Plattsburgh's only waterfront hotel, would not be feasible."

Councilor Caitlin Bopp (D-Ward 5) also stressed that once the deal does move forward, there is no risk to the taxpayers like Gibbs had suggested.

Paying for a feasibility study would instead be a risk, she said.

"The developers are taking on the financial responsibility. We are not a partner in this project, so it's not our problem; that's their problem to make sure that it's financially solvent and feasible," Bopp said.

"Which, I have no doubt that they're very focused on doing as we've said. and again, while I agree that (they're) outdated studies ... when we have, over the course of 20 years, three consistent studies with that information and a combination feasibility study from 2019, I think that that's pretty solid data to work forward from. What would be a risk to taxpayers would be spending this unbudgeted money to do something that's been done."

When asked by Bopp how much a study like that would cost the city, Rosenquest guessed it would be about $100,000.

"Councilor Gibbs, (this) certainly doesn't prevent you from bringing an item to consider for committee and debating it there as well," he then said.

Email: cnewton@pressrepublican.com

Twitter: CarlySNewton