In what’s becoming a recurring theme in this space, our editorial opinion this week focuses on an issue we wrote about not too long ago – namely, the creation of a sewer district in Hyde Park as a component of the expansive St. Andrews at Historic Hyde Park development. At the time, we argued that the town shouldn’t delay in pushing forward the plan to create a sewer district accompanying developer Pierre Gagne’s St. Andrews project, especially considering his willingness to build a sewer treatment plant on site and foot the $13 million bill.
But time – along with the economy and unsteady support from the public and possible tenants at the mixed-use St. Andrews – struck first, and in a meeting at Coppola’s restaurant in Hyde Park this past week, representatives from St. Andrews and The Club at Hyde Park (another proposed development), along with Supervisor Pompey Delafield and other town officials, addressed the business community with news that the St. Andrews project – and the sewer district – were being put on hold.
Delafield explained that town leaders did not want property owners to incur any costs until he was confident that plans for the sewer treatment plant were in place, which is responsible planning. Joseph Gaudio, a partner of Reality Reliance Partners, spoke on behalf of the St. Andrews project and attributed its stoppage to the state of the economy. He said the firm remained enthusiastic about the future of the project, but made it clear that it would not proceed without a commercial base, like a large hotel.
All of which means that residents and business owners are frustrated, and rightly so. After four years of discussion about the formation of a sewer district, real progress has yet to be made, and in a way, the situation nearly parallels the renovation of the historic Luckey Platt building in the City of Poughkeepsie, a long-promised project with downtown business benefits only now coming to fruition. Business owners in the city who expected the population influx of Luckey Platt to fuel increased revenues have been disappointed so far, in much the same way that Hyde Park businesses have been put off by the slow sewer project. Although the housing and retail markets will pick back up at some point, businesses – especially small, privately owned community ones – can’t wait around forever. The bills have to be paid, and with no immediate answers on the horizon, the town’s indecision – along with the poor state of the economy – leave little room for optimism. Solutions for growth will need to be found, and soon. Town leaders must now put forward a plan for growth that addresses the concerns of business people and an uncertain economy, and find a way to help see these projects through to completion.