Environmental Assessment Report (EAF)
Greenport Planning Board Minutes
Correspondence
from Public Files
Documentation needed
from Town of Greenport
Press Coverage
(the early days)
Press Coverage
(post-IDA)
Letters to Editors
(the early days)
Letters to Editors
(post-IDA)
Written Testimony
Presented to
Planning Board
Critique of Widewaters
Traffic Report
by Ketcham Engineering
State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR):
Environmental Impact Assessment in NYS
Parts 1-3 of the EAF
The SEQRA Cookbook
Kinderhook Neighbors for Good Growth
Press Coverage and Commentary subsequent to Widewaters' application for financial assistance from the Columbia County Industrial Development Agency (IDA)
Little Town Views
Widewaters Revisited: Public Subsidies for Private Commerce
May 20, 2008
Columbia County’s recent ruling to deny large tax breaks to the developer of a 565,000-square-foot shopping center is a commendable decision, but it was made for the wrong reasons and it highlights the complexities of offering taxpayer subsidies to promote private commerce in our towns.
... go to Little Town Views for the entire story
Grocery store to close at the end of the month
By Christine D’Agostino
Register-Star
May 20, 2008
GREENPORT — The Save-A-Lot grocery store, located in the Columbia Shopping Center on Fairview Avenue, will close its doors for the last time on May 31, according to a sign posted on the store’s entrance.
... more
Mall developer receives record fine from state
By Christine D’Agostino
Register-Star
May 7, 2008
GREENPORT — Work has been halted at the site of the future Greenport Commons on Fairview Avenue in Greenport, because of stormwater violations by the developer, an action that led to the largest stormwater penalty in state history.
...more
DEC orders halt to retail plaza work
Lack of measures to control erosion also nets $100,000 fine
By ALAN WECHSLER, Business writer
Times Union
First published: Tuesday, May 6, 2008
GREENPORT — The company building a 500,000-square-foot retail plaza on Route 9 near Hudson must pay a $100,000 fine and temporarily stop work on the site, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said Monday.
...more
Plaza firm fined $100k
by Chris Simonds
The Independent
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Greenport—Widewaters Greenport Co. LLC has agreed to pay a $100,000 penalty—the largest in New York history—for stormwater violations at its Greenport Commons retail project on Route 9.
...more
IDA balks
at tax deal
by Chris Simonds
The Independent
Friday, May 2, 2008
Greenport—Tuesday's vote by a key agency not to consider property and other tax breaks could sink the big Greenport Commons shopping plaza project on Route 9.
...more
Columbia County IDA won't weigh relief; developer cites market
By ALAN WECHSLER, Business writer
Times Union
First published: Thursday, May 1, 2008
GREENPORT — The Columbia County Industrial Development Agency has decided not to consider a proposal to give tax breaks to a planned half-million-square-foot big-box plaza in Greenport, causing the developer to question whether it will go ahead with the project.
...more
Greenport
Tax break for mall is rejected
by Christine D'Agostino
Register-Star
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The Columbia County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) denied a request from Widewaters, the developer for the Greenport Commons shopping plaza currently being constructed on Fairview Avenue in Greenport, that it be considered for various tax breaks, Tuesday.
...more
Our
View
No
tax breaks for Widewaters
Register Star
April 29, 2008
So there was Marco Marzocchi, general counsel for the Widewaters Group, sitting before the Columbia County Industrial Development Agency on April 10, saying "I don't want to be here" only to later add that he was there because of "economic times."
...more
Editorial: Go slow on tax breaks
The Independent
04/18/2008
WHO DESERVES BLAME for the rotten economy? How about greedy, sub-prime mortgage lenders? Or why not the Federal Reserve? Don't forget China, climate change, video games, fast food, big oil and the war in Iraq. Widewaters, too.
...more
Widewaters now wants tax breaks for Greenport plaza
by Chris Simonds
The Independent
Friday, April 11, 2008
Hudson--On second thought developers of the Greenport Commons shopping plaza might like some tax breaks after all.
"I don't want to be here," said Widewaters Group representative Marco Marzocchi at Thursday's meeting of the Columbia County Industrial Development Agency. "The only reason I'm here is the economic situation in our country."
...more
Hudson Developer asks for a tax break
Company that wants to build Greenport Commons shopping center wants to take advantage of a recently-lapsed law
by Andrew Amelinckx
Register-Star
Friday, April 11, 2008
Widewaters, the Rochester-based developer building the Greenport Commons shopping plaza, was before the Industrial Development Corporation (IDA) Thursday morning asking for a tax break.
The 500,000-plus-square-foot shopping plaza is in the beginning stages of construction next to Route 9 in Greenport.
The scene was something no one, including the developer, expected to be a part of.
"I don't want to be here," said Marco Marzocchi, general counsel for the Widewaters group, but blamed the current "economic times."
...more
Applebee's a mixed blessing for county
Register Star, Our View
December 27, 2007 [technically, written prior to the IDA application--ed.]
Wednesday's announcement that an Applebee's Bar and Grill will be part of the Greenport Commons shopping area is a proverbial mixed blessing for Greenport and Columbia County.
...more