William Brandow of the Historic Albany Foundation, in his commentary on Dec. 10, writes that a refusal of Raven's Head Brewery's zoning variance would mean the loss of an opportunity to save an historic building.
Brandow is correct in his assertion that there is increased interest in living in and near historic buildings, and with that interest is the potential for invigorating our economy. It's exactly that point that Ten Broeck residents are trying to stress in our plea for careful consideration before allowing a zoning variance to pass that will vitally and permanently change the nature of an historic neighborhood.
Brandow does not include particulars of the brewery application that are vital for understanding the reticence of its potential neighbors. The people who live in the Ten Broeck Triangle are enthusiasts of urban revitalization. We moved to an historic area of the city that many dismiss as "dangerous Arbor Hill!"
In this neighborhood, we've restored row homes, returning them to their original character. Young professionals are moving in, the neighborhood is burgeoning.
The Raven's Head proposal seeks to add a 150-seat restaurant and 80-seat bar in the middle of this small residential neighborhood. The owners came to the community without any real solutions to parking, congestion, safety and noise issues on our already packed one-way streets. Granted, some folks turned down the proposal offhand. But many of the residents said "look, we're skeptical, but tell us what you figure out."
The restaurant they want will be the size of Troy's Dinosaur BBQ. Imagine Dinosaur BBQ in a residential neighborhood without any off-street parking. The property, now occupied by the former St. Joseph's Church, doesn't have the space to accommodate delivery trucks for their brewery operations, let alone a massive restaurant. The brewery group returned recently to talk about the proposal, still with no solutions. The zoning appeals application asks, "is there any public controversy concerning this?" Their answer, astonishingly enough, is "no."
Ten Broeck residents absolutely understand that someone needs to move into the church and save it. We understand that someone will have to be a large-scale operation that can raise the revenue to keep the building maintained. Many of us wanted the Raven's Head plan to work.
Had they chosen just a brewery, it might have. But a large restaurant and brewery opened by new business owners who haven't found parking and traffic solutions is not the right choice.
Not doing anything with St. Joseph's would be a tragedy, but allowing inexperienced business owners to drive away committed residents by disregarding their needs would be equally tragic. Our city's character is not built on tourists who drive into the city and spend $6 on a beer. It's built on people who have taken a stake in the survival and revitalization of this city, residents who pay city taxes and spend money in Albany every day.
Don't cast our concerns out as "anti-progress." We're simply trying to maintain the community whose survival we have a stake in. I hope that Raven's Head will work with residents to find viable solutions to the issues this large-scale restaurant and brewery will bring. I hope they finally try to get those of us who are open to the idea on their side.
I want the church to have a new life, but I want it to exist in a way that allows the neighborhood to continue to be safe and livable.
Jenna Hecker lives in Albany's Ten Broeck Triangle.