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Home Page   Local News   Local Sports   Community Calendar   Opinion   Editorials   Columns   Letters to the Editor   Archives   News Archives   Sports Archives	12-07-2006 Couple wants to convert Woodside Hall to inn By JIM AUSTIN Editor A plan to convert the former Woodside Hall adult home into an ``upscale inn’’ was discussed during the zoning board of appeals meeting Tuesday. Sherrie and Marc Kinsgley, owners of the Inn at Cooperstown, told the board they are interested in converting the six-acre property at the foot of Main St. into an inn that would have approximately 24 rooms. There is ample parking and a commercial kitchen, although they do plan to open a restaurant, Marc Kingsley said. The operation would have 12 to 15 employees. He said he didn’t know now if it would be open all year. ``There’s a reason the Otesaga closes for the winter,’’ he said. Although the more than 14,000 square foot building may be suited to conversion to a hotel, it is not a permitted use in the R1-A residential district _ the most restrictive of all. ``What we’re asking is not a permitted use,’’ Kingsley said. ``What do we do?’’ asked ZBA member Ted Spencer. ``Does it sit here until someone buys it for a residence?’’ ZBA chairwoman Susan Snell said there are only two options she knows of. One is to apply for a use variance and the other is to seek to have the zoning changed. ``He is not the first one to come here with the same concern about the R1-A district,’’ said board member Rick Jagels. Not long ago, nearby Estli Ave. resident Pat Thorpe approached the board about the possibility of her home becoming a tourist accommodation, but she also ran into the same restriction. The use variance process is a lengthy one and you have to prove you have no alternatives, Snell said. ``And that it’s not a self-created hardship,’’ added board member Wendell Tripp. The R1-A zones in the village were created in 1989. Prior to that, they were R1 zones where a hotel is allowed by special permit. Snell told the Kingsleys their best chance might be to make a case for a change in zoning. They could, she said, approach the planning board, which makes recommendations to the board of trustees for changes to the zoning law. Changing an individual property would probably be considered spot zoning and illegal, but the entire zone in which Woodside Hall is located might be changed. ``It’s definitely a tough situation,’’ Marc Kingsley said.
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