Cooperstown Trustees approve
Chestnut Crossing project
By GREG KLEIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
COOPERSTOWN — The village’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved a special-use permit for the 13-apartment Chestnut Crossing project at 10 Chestnut St. during a special meeting Monday, July 12, at Village Hall.
About 20 people witnessed the hour-long deliberation as the six trustees — Joe Membrino was not at the meeting — meticulously went through the 16 criteria they needed to evaluate in order to issue a special use permit to allow the density of the project.
However, the decision seemed obvious by the second criteria, which dealt with land uses and addressed the question as to if the development would fit with its surroundings. Deputy Mayor Cindy Falk explained two possible views of the neighborhood, which is zoned R3 for mixed-use residential. She said most of the immediate neighbors are single-family homes, but if you look at the blocks of Pine and Chestnut on a whole, there are hotels, bed-and-breakfasts and some office spaces.
“This really is a multi-use area and in that sense I feel it is in harmony with the neighborhood surroundings,” she said.
The trustees imposed multiple stipulations on the projects owners, Josh Edmonds and Francesca Zambello, whose company, ZAED Properties LLC, owns two adjoining plots of land on Chestnut Street and a third behind those plots, on Pine Boulevard. All rentals must be long-term with leases at least one year long and no subletting or short-term rentals are allowed, including for the Hall of Fame Induction.
