Will a Renovated Sharon Springs be Affordable?

Picture it now: The Imperial Baths and Spas and the Adler Hotel (where a teen-aged Ed Koch bussed tables during the Summer), returned to their former glory, bustling with tourists, lit up with life once again. Picture Main Street’s shops and restaurants overflowing with people. Streets so crowded with pedestrians you can barely squeeze through them.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Sharon Springs was the preferred resort locale for a who’s who of New York’s elite, cutely referred to as the “knickerbocracy”. Later, many Jews came to Sharon Springs to bath in the healing springs after the Holocaust. But into the 1950s and 1960s, interest in Sharon Springs began to wane heavily, and soon the only patrons of the massive, stately hotels and spas were the termites.

But a plan recently proposed by a group of New York City-based Korean investors with experience in the tourism industry hopes to change all that. What started out as a plan to invest $10 million dollars for renovations of two hotels has expanded into a $30 million dollar planned investment that would renovate most of the dilapidated resort facilities in the village. If these plans are carried out, which is a huge “if”, it could spell drastic change for this tiny rural village.

By and large, that change would be positive, a virtual rebirth. However, current residents see more than just a local renaissance in the making. They see cause for concern. High among these concerns are the potential for gentrification and rapid unmanaged growth. If there is a resurgence of interest in the Sharon Springs area, will it mean development along the scenic Route 20 corridor? If there is an influx of new residents, what will happen to local housing prices? Will the people living in Sharon Springs presently be able to afford to live in a renovated Sharon Springs? Can Sharon Springs be revitalized without dislocating its most vulnerable residents?

These are questions that deserve answers. A sustainable community that meets the needs of all of its citizens should be the goal that leaders aspire to. Any development or “progress” that fails to recognize this, is no progress at all. Revitalization should not come at the expense of displacing poor people.

Gilmore's Return

Former Cobleskill Mayor William Gilmore has announced that he will be seeking a seat on the Village Board of Trustees in this November's election. The seat is currently held by Rebecca Thillet, of the Community Matters Party, who was appointed by Mayor Sellers when Trustee Brinkman stepped down.

Mayor Gilmore was perhaps best known for his decision to extend water and sewer services to the proposed Lowe’s development even though it was to be located outside of the Village of Cobleskill. That decision was reversed soon after Mayor Sellers took office.

In the two years since Gilmore left office, Cobleskill’s politics has become especially bitter, with rivalries between Deputy Mayor Sandy MacKay and Tea Party activists Mark Galasso (a village trustee) and Bob LaPietra (a 2005 candidate for Mayor). Furthermore, the decision not to extend services to the proposed Lowe’s development has caused a rift between Town and Village officials.

Most likely, Gilmore will exploit these rifts in order to position himself as a moderating or healing force in Cobleskill politics. If he wins a seat on the Village board, no doubt he will try to get his old job back in 2009.

A "Slaughter" Conspiracy?

In a recent Times-Journal article covering the Republican nomination of Roger Cohn for the position of Cobleskill Town Supervisor, the term “Schoharie County slaughter” was briefly mentioned, with very little background information to explain its meaning.

For all of you who were left scratching your heads as to the meaning of the term “Schoharie County slaughter” let me explain. The term “slaughter” refers to a resident of Schoharie County who can trace his or her family back as having lived in Schoharie County for a significant number of generations. These people are not just locals or natives, they are the community’s “supreme elders”. These are the people who can tell you about Cobleskill’s first ever motor car, or when Schoharie County was first electrified, or about events that transpired during the Revolutionary War as if they themselves were there.

I’d be willing to bet that a group of these so-called “slaughters” get together in some barn somewhere in the dead of night every year to plot out the future of Schoharie County. It’s not hard to imagine, all things that happen in Cobleskill and Schoharie County being decided in advance by a top-secret gathering of “Slaughters”.
Will Lowe’s get village water and sewer? A majority of “slaughters” shake their wise and learned heads and give the idea a thumbs down. Should Cobleskill village ban skateboards on village streets? Most definitely, agree the Slaughters, the Slaughters can’t stand those little whippersnappers and their wheely-boards. Will the Town of Cobleskill consolidate with the Village of Cobleskill? This one has the slaughters tied. Too bad, they’ll have to vote on it next year.

Still many other questions are brought up by the less sage-like Slaughters and are quietly dismissed, such as: will the Warnerville Roller Rink ever be re-opened, or will the Park Theatre ever play anything except G-rated Disney movies, or will Cobleskill ever have a gas station that stays open past 11 FREAKIN’ P.M.!!! Have any of you ever left the house after 11 PM and looked down at a near-empty tank of gas only to drive by countless gas stations with the lights turned off, wondering if you’ll make it home, or end up stranded on the side of the road until morning?

It may be fun to joke around, but we have to ask ourselves: does having long-standing generational ties to a particular area make one fit for office? The reality is, for a lot of people, it does. This may be hurting these communities because it disqualifies many talented and intelligent individuals from serving in public office. Hopefully, Cobleskill’s Democrats will nominate a candidate for Supervisor with more credentials than being merely a “Schoharie County Slaughter”.

Village Must Take a More Active Role in Mineral Springs Road Development

There’s no denying it, the pressure to build along the Mineral Springs Road corridor, especially where it runs roughly parallel with the Village, is intensifying! There are already two major residential projects in the early planning stages. Last spring, the Village annexed the property for these proposed developments so that the developers would have access to Village water and sewer services.

The largest of the two projects, proposed by Maximum Equities, is a residential development which will include 130-200 units, according to village planning board member Niles Voyer-McGiver. However, according to Voyer-McGiver, the developer has yet to specify whether those units will be in the form of an apartment complex, row houses, condos or townhouses.

While Village planning board members and village officials are at odds over how best to handle the situation, the stakes for the Village could scarcely be higher. At 130 or even 200 housing units, this project will be largest in the Village’s history. Moreover, it will permanently shape the landscape that serves as the Village’s southern gateway. This being the first major development along Mineral Springs Road it will also set the tone for future development, which make no mistake, will be coming.

Village trustee Mark Galasso is foolish to insist that the Village should be “begging on a bended knee” for such developments. Yet Larry Weintraub’s (of the Department of State)
suggestion of a 6-12 month building moratorium may be excessive.

Instead, the proper course is for the Village to steer these projects in a direction that is beneficial for all involved, but mostly for the future of the Village. According to the Times-Journal, Village planners have discussed the possibility of establishing design standards. Well..what’s to discuss? Of course there should be design standards for this project. Remember, not only will this development form the southern gateway into the Village, but it will be entirely visible from I-88.

Instead of just kneeling down to every developers’ proposal, the Village of Cobleskill needs to become aware of the opportunities that exist for the development of this project. Instead of ending up with another cluster of suburban sprawl like that of the East End, Village officials must insist on a more sustainable, pedestrian-friendly design, one that is integrated with the Village’s Downtown.

First off, Village officials should take the necessary measures to create a land use zone that allows for higher densities and that prescribes a neo-traditional or “new urbanist” style of development. Apartment complexes and condos should be out of the question. Townhouses or row-houses with minimal setbacks along a grid-iron street pattern, and with plenty of trees and maybe even a small park would be best. The Village should also make it a priority to connect this development to Downtown via a pedestrian or bike trail. The Village’s main objective should be to demonstrate that this project is linked up and integrated (functionally, architecturally and aesthetically) with the Village, and not the just the first of many more poorly planned residential and commercial projects to sprawl out along Mineral Springs Road. There are lot’s of opportunities here, let’s not let them slip by.

It is especially important for the Village to take a pro-active role here, because of the fact that the developer of the project seems uncertain as to what exactly to build. As a community, let’s get up off our knees and tell the developers that we want a Cobleskill with a sustainable future and NOT more sprawl.