TRUSTEES UNANIMOUSLY

REJECT DOWNTOWN HOTEL

By JIM KEVLIN • for allotsego.com

COOPERSTOWN – Following a public hearing on a “special permit” required for a proposed downtown hotel to go forward, the Village Board a few minutes ago unanimously rejected plans for a four-story structure on the former TJ’s Place property at 124 Main.

The whole Village Board was present, so the vote was 7-0.

In his remarks before the vote, however, Mayor Jeff Katz said the action should not be interpreted as opposition to the idea of a hotel, or to economic-development generally.   He expressed support for an amended plan, perhaps for a three-story building that would fit more closely with village code.

“I sure hope so,” he said, after posing such an eventuality. “Whether it’s these guys or other people.”

Tom Lagan, one of three partners in BTP Cooperstown, the hotel developers, was present at the hearing, along with two dozen members of the public; the half-dozen who spoke opposed the hotel plan.  After the vote, Lagan declined to comment.

So far, the Zoning Board of Appeals rejected the plan on the grounds it was taller than the 42 feet allowed in the village code.  Planning Board also voted nay, saying it lacked authority in the law to approve the valet-parking component.  And the H-PARB had concluded the application it received was incomplete.

In the days leading up to today’s hearing, Village Attorney Martin Tillapaugh told the gathering, there had been “a flurry of phone calls and conversations” with the developers seeking to come up with an amended application that might be satisfactory, “to reduce the size of the hotel, at least of the height of it.”

Even if an amended application was forthcoming, however, the trustees would have been unable to approve the project today, given that a three-story version would have stretched back farther in the lot, requiring the Village Board to redo the SEQR, a review required by the state Environmental Quality Review Act, Tillapaugh said.

Even if the height were satisfactory, the lawyer raised the bar in a few other ways:  The uses proposed on the roof – an 80-seat restaurant, a swimming pool and fire pit – would have to be considered by the trustees, in addition to other factors, before issuing the necessary “special permit.”  “The add-ons are clearly within the purview of this board,” he said.

During the public-comment period, the importance of protecting Cooperstown’s ambience was emphasized.  “The historic charm is a huge asset to Cooperstown,” said Bernhard Viek, Fair Street.  Cooperstown Bat Co. co-proprietor Connie Haney said her customers often comment on the historic atmosphere.

But Ellen Pope, Otsego 2000, pointed out that successful development occurs in historic districts around the world, and can happen here too.  “We all want to see something in that space that is attractive,” she said.

After public comment, Katz solicited trustees’ opinion one at a time, and all were firm in their opposition to the project as it stands.  “I was not close-minded,” said Trustee Ellen Tillapaugh, the deputy mayor.  “It could have been viable in some way.  So I’m disappointed.”  Her comment was echoed by others.