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RFH 2010, News

Colgate Seeks Zoning Law Wording Change for Inn Improvements

Thu, Apr 08, 2010

Hamilton's Board of Trustees is being asked to change the wording of a section of the zoning law to accommodate changes at Colgate Inn.

Colgate Seeks Zoning Law Wording Change for Inn Improvements

There is going to be more room at the Inn, and that means the village zoning law could be changed..

That is the crux of the conversation that occurred Thursday night during a public hearing held by the village board to consider a request from the Planning Board to change the part of the zoning law that dictates how much parking is required for the Colgate Inn.

Planning Board Chairman Bob McVaugh (in the photo at the left) explained that the current zoning law requires that a hotel/motel/inn operating in a B-1 zone - which the Colgate Inn is - have no fewer than 140 parking places. The Inn has about 40, but that is OK because it was grandfathered in when the zoning law was written; it was a pre-existing use.

But now, said McVaugh, because Colgate wants to make changes to the building, it triggers a mandate for more parking. He said that the wording of the zoning law requires more parking, but the planning board is asking for the wording of the law to be changed to suggest more parking.

(The Inn is owned by the for-profit Hamilton Initiative, a business formed by the Colgate Board of Trustees in 2000 to invest in downtown Hamilton. The Initiative also owns the building that formerly housed Adventure Bikes and Boards, the Hamilton Theater, the Colgate Bookstore, the buildings that are home to Maxwell's, the Peppermill, Nichols & Beal, the Palace Theater and the building that houses Hamilton Village Real Estate. It also operates the Barge Canal Coffee Company, but does not own the building it is in.)

The planning board is seeking flexibility because the Inn, even by doubling the number of existing spots - which preliminary plans call for -- would not meet the letter of the law. McVaugh said the board wants the law to say that the parking requirements be called "desirable" and not "mandatory".

He said a hotel/motel/inn is the only use in a B-1 zone that has any parking requirements.

Plans displayed the hearing showed the creation of a parking lot with some 30 parking spaces added to the northeast corner of the Inn's property. That space now is an unused wooded area.

The drawings of the Inn's property also show the creation of an off-street loading/unloading area for trucks making deliveries. Currently, trucks park - or double park -- on Madison Street when making deliveries. Changes also indicate creation of an entrance that would help move check-in front the front of the Inn to the rear.

Sam Stradling, who lives at 19 Payne Street, was at the meeting to express opposition to the creation of more parking on the property. The lot Colgate proposes to build would abut his property.

Also at the meeting, Mayor Sue McVaugh read a letter from Susan Cerasano, who also objected to any change that would cause more parking on Madison Street. She said there currently are three driveways in close proximity - the Inn's, the one from Parry's and one from Colgate's parking lot for its Development offices - making travel difficult.

Hugh Humphreys, who lives on Smith Road but owns an adjacent building on Payne Street, said Colgate and the Inn have always been good neighbors.  

The next step is for the village board of trustees to discuss and vote on the proposed wording change, which it could do at its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, April 13 at 7 p.m.

Although not the subject of the public hearing, other details of proposed improvements at the Inn were also revealed. Plans call for moving the existing tap room to the southeast corner of what is now the dining room. There would be informal dining between it and the existing Green Room. That means the Inn's undersized kitchen would gain space by being moved to where the existing tap room is.

In addition, the Inn would add about 5,000 square feet of new space.

However, the number of guest rooms would actually decrease from 46 to 40 as several are to be expanded into suites.

Construction on the changes, once approved, could begin this summer. It has been suggested that the Inn would be closed for several short periods to accommodate construction.

 

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