Moving Picture Partners

09/12/2014

All

I regret to inform you that Harry Lipstein has elected to withdraw his application to the Village of New Paltz Planning Board to build a cinema at 12 Main Street in New Paltz.

Thank you for your interest and support.

09/05/2014

Help bring independent cinema to New Paltz
Make your voice heard!

Water Street Market is seeking the approval of the Village of New Paltz Planning Board to create a community-based mission-driven art house theater, the Water Street Market backlot Cinema, to be housed in a newly constructed facility at 12 Main Street in New Paltz, N.Y.

A public hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday September 16 at 7:00 PM in the Village Hall.

Please show your support by attending. If you are unable to attend, send your comments to the Village Planning Board via email at [email protected]

What is the Water Street Market backlot Cinema?
The new cinema will provide the residents of New Paltz and the surrounding communities with access to the best in independent, documentary, world and classic films in a state-of-the-art viewing venue.

As many of you are aware, in 2012 a proposal to create an art house theater was brought forward to the Village of New Paltz Planning Board and withdrawn. How is this proposal different from the 2012 proposal? The new proposal is an effort to be responsive to both the general support and specific concerns expressed with regard to the earlier proposal.

Both proposals have the same intention:

• Bring movies of interest to the diverse New Paltz community,
which otherwise would not be presented in the town
• Enrich the community -- not any single individual or group
• Provide state-of-the-art screening rooms with stadium seating, and
high quality digital sound and projection.

The proposals are different in that the new cinema:

– Is smaller:
• Two screening rooms vs. four screening rooms
• Capacity of 98 seats vs. 360 seats
• Less than 2750 square feet vs. 7000 + square feet
• Shorter by 13 feet
– Will have substantially fewer screenings
– Includes sufficient parking
– Provides no access from Main Street or Wurtz Ave.
– Has no associated cafe

What are some positive effects of an art house cinema?
Art house cinemas are different than most cinemas in America and they play a different role in the community. Art house attendees tend to be older. 57% are 55 or older vs. 26% for the US overall. They go to movies at art houses for the social experience. 58% usually attend movies with other people, most often a spouse, partner or significant other. They experience a profound impact on the quality of their life. More than 60% indicated that their favorite art house was “extremely valuable” or “very valuable” to their overall quality of life.

When rating the art house theaters they attend most often, 92% of attendees agree that it makes life enjoyable; 83% agree that it helps them be a more knowledgeable film viewer; 81% agree that it serves as an anchor in their community; 78% agree that it opens up new worlds; 75% that it makes them a more well-rounded person; 73% that it fills gaps in their knowledge; 72% that it teaches them about film appreciation or history and changes their life for the better and 61% agree that it makes them more tolerant of other points of view. *

How the new proposal addresses concerns related to the 2012 proposal?
We all would like to have easy parking near our homes and live in a safe tranquil environment. Concern has been expressed about the potential negative effect of the proposed art house cinema on the neighboring public streets in the village. Individual property owners on Wurts Avenue have spoken about how the road is constricted and that there is insufficient room in places for two cars to pass. People living on Wurts Avenue report that they frequently find that there is no place to park their own cars, or that someone has parked in front of their driveways.

We are sympathetic to these concerns and hope to become good and supportive neighbors. The question -- is whether the newly designed boutique art cinema would significantly worsen the current situation.

The new proposal for a 98-seat art cinema addresses the parking and traffic concerns by providing sufficient parking in the Water Street Market parking lots; by making people aware of the availability of community friendly parking, and by encouraging patrons to minimize traffic by walking, biking and ride sharing.

Specifically:
1. There is sufficient parking in the Water Street Market parking facility to support the proposed cinema. Assuming that every seat is occupied in the cinema and that all viewers arrive by car, we anticipate that 44 parking spaces will be needed (assuming 2.25 people per car, a national average). These spaces will be available in the Water Stree Market parking lots, based on the number of establishments open in the evening in Water Street Market. In the extremely unlikely event that everyone would arrive by car and that every seat would be sold, there is sufficient parking on the premises.

2. In addition to the sufficient space in the Water Street Market there are many unused spaces in close proximity. The “Water Street Cinema Traffic Impact Study” created in 2012 by independent expert William D. FitzPatrick, P.E., PTOE of FITZPATRICK ENGINEERING, LLC found that 1) within 5 minutes walking distance of the proposed cinema there are 208 public parking spaces, two-thirds of which are in Municipal Parking Lots; 2) within 8 minutes walking distance there are an additional 55 Municipal Parking Lot spaces; and 3) that based on observed utilization, during prime cinema operating hours, over 160 of the spaces on average were available.

3. Although the cinema is a not-for-profit business it does need to have paying customers to survive. Returning customers are essential to any retail business and without them the cinema will fail. If people are unable to find suitable parking in a timely fashion they will not return. The cinema will be vigilant in making people aware of community friendly parking. The cinema’s approach to parking is part of our commitment to sustainable design. Our goal is to create the “greenest” cinema in New York State. “Green” parking means encouraging biking, walking, use of public transport, ride sharing, and better utilization of existing parking in the area. The Loop Bus which passes within two blocks of the proposed site has carried over 45,000 passengers in the first ten months of 2012. The Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, within 2 minutes walking distance, provides environmentally friendly access from adjoining communities. Through its web-presence, signage and other means, the cinema will actively publicize and encourage access to the cinema by foot, bus or bicycle. We will also identify available parking within a 5-10 minute walk. The cinema will help make “green living” a greater part of the fabric of the community.

We hope that the advantages that an art house cinema can bring will encourage the greater New Paltz community to support this opportunity. We also hope that the new design mitigates potential negative impact sufficiently to make everyone comfortable.

Please show your support by attending the public hearing on Tuesday September 16 at 7:00 PM in the Village Hall, 25 Plattekill Avenue, New Paltz, New York.

If you are unable to attend, send your comments to the Village Planning Board via email and they will be read at the meeting. Please address them to: [email protected]


*Note: The preceding information has been taken from a research report presented on January 15, 2014 at the 2014 Art House Convergence conference in Midway, Utah. The report was sponsored by the Art House Convergence; the analysis and reporting were co-prepared by the Bryn Mawr Film Institute and Avenue ISR, a Traverse City, Michigan based research and strategy consultancy. More than 18,000 art house attendees of 29 movie theaters from across the United States participated in this landmark study. Data was collected using an online survey hosted on a third-party web site.

05/15/2013

Moving Picture Partners, the not-for-profit corporation behind the Water Street Cinema project, has withdrawn its applications to the Village of New Paltz Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeal. We thank everyone for their interest and thoughtful comments. We are continuing to work on bringing an art cinema to New Paltz with the mission previously described. Our current focus is on finding a new location. We will keep you post.

12/30/2012

http://www.newpaltzx.com/2012/12/28/water-street-cinemas-sachar-responds-to-neighbors-concerns/

A weekly newspaper bringing you the news of New Paltz, Gardiner, Highland and Beyond. Coverage of local schools, politics, business, sports and interesting people.

12/22/2012

The following addresses another question posed by the Wurts Ave. Neighborhood Association as presented to us by the New Paltz Times.

Question:
The Association is worried about the size of the Water Street Cinema as proposed. They said they thought it would lower their property values by replacing a view of the mountain ridge with a view of a "big-box theater."

Answer:
The proposed not-for-profit cinema is on a site in the Gateway district The site has a house facing Main Street (12 Main) and an undeveloped portion used today for parking that abuts the residential property on 7 Wurts Avenue, which is also partially in the Gateway district. The theater, designed to integrate with the house on 12 Main Street and fill the undeveloped portion, is in compliance with the building code and complements the surrounding structures.

The proposed theater, at its highest peak, is more than three (3) feet shorter than the existing barn structure on 7 Wurts Avenue, more than two (2) feet shorter than the garage and more than sixteen (16) feet shorter than the house on 7 Wurts Avenue. The house on 7 Wurts Avenue is over 85 feet from the proposed theater.

The view-shed from Wurts Avenue would be largely unaffected by the current theater design. For houses south of 7 Wurts Avenue it will not obstruct any view nor decrease natural light from the west. During barren seasons the theater will be slightly visible between the small gaps in the current structures on 7 Wurts Avenue, and when there are leaves on the trees it will be nearly unnoticeable. The section of the proposed building that immediately abuts the 7 Wurts Avenue property is a single story enclosed passageway which will be invisible from Wurts Avenue. The low height and effective set-back of the proposed structure will minimize any light screening effects. The theater will be visible in the corridor between the multiple dwelling on the corner of Main Street and Wurts Avenue (14 Main Street) and 7 Wurts Avenue. The theater is lower in height than the existing building on 12 Main Street and as viewed from Wurts Avenue lower than the barn structure on the 14 Main Street property.

Regarding comments about the size of the proposed not-for-profit cinema: We currently plan to have four screens with total capacity of 360 seats. To give a sense of scale, the current Rosendale Theatre Collective has a single screen and total capacity of 307 and the New Paltz Cinema has four screens with a capacity of slightly more than 500. Our currently planned total capacity of 360 seats is well below the mean (557) and median (402) for other American art cinemas.

Like most free markets, real estate value is hard to project. Few people that I have encountered here over the last 37 years identified real estate appreciation as a compelling reason for coming to and remaining in the exceptional New Paltz community. People talk about its beauty, rich cultural and social aspects, intellectual diversity, and embracing spirit. It is our sole desire to support and build upon these virtues. It has been suggested that the theater could have a significant impact on downtown New Paltz and the whole area. We hope that this is the case, and that it brings greater vitality and value to all that it touches.

12/21/2012

The following addresses a question posed by the Wurts Ave. Neighborhood Association as presented to us by the New Paltz Times.

Question:
The neighbors from the Wurts Ave. Neighborhood Association reached out to the New Paltz Times
to talk about their objections to the proposed cinema. Mostly they're worried that the parking waiver, if granted by the ZBA, would mean that everyone would park on Wurts Ave.

Answer:
First, an independent expert study concluded that the cinema will not cause any detrimental change. Based on an intensive study of the area, it found that there are sufficient public parking spaces in the near vicinity. The “Water Street Cinema Traffic Impact Study” (posted on http://www.facebook.com/MovingPicturePartners ) was created by independent expert William D. FitzPatrick, P.E., who was the Regional Director of Traffic Safety for the Region 8 office of the New York State Department of Transportation. It found that based on an intensive parking review: “sufficient parking is available in the Village of New Paltz to accommodate the Water Street Cinema Films proposed development plans without causing any detrimental changes to the health, safety, and welfare of the Village.” The study observes that: 1) within 5 minutes walking distance of the proposed cinema there are 208 public parking spaces, two-thirds of which are in Municipal Parking Lots; 2) within 8 minutes walking distance there are additional 55 Municipal Parking Lot spaces; and 3) that based on observed utilization, during prime cinema operating hours, over 160 of the spaces on average were available (see Tables 5 and 7 in the report).

The parameters of the study were developed and approved by the Village of New Paltz Planning Board and their engineer David Clouser, The results of the study were reviewed with the board and Mr. Clouser. We are unaware of any criticism of the scope, methodology or ex*****on of the study.

Second, our approach to parking is part of our commitment to sustainable design. Our goal is to create the “greenest” cinema in New York State. Regarding parking, “Green” means encouraging biking, walking, use of public transport, ride sharing, and better utilization of existing parking in the area. The Loop Bus which passes within two blocks of the proposed sight has carried over 45,000 passengers in the first ten months of 2012. The Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, within 2 minutes walking distance, provides environmentally friendly access from adjoining communities. Nationally 80% of movie theater patrons have dinner out, before or after a screening. It is reasonable to assume that many attendees will choose to leave their car where they parked for dinner and walk to the cinema. Through its web presence, signage and other means, the not-for-profit cinema will actively publicize and encourage access to the cinema by foot, bus or bicycle. We will also identify available parking within a 5-10 minute walk. The cinema will help make “green living” a greater part of the fabric of the community.

Third, we will discourage parking on Wurts Avenue, even though it is a roadway owned and maintained by the Village of New Paltz . It extends in a north/south direction between Main Street and Mohonk Avenue. It is part of a network of local streets serving residential neighborhoods as well as New Paltz University and NYS Route 208. Most all of the houses on Wurts Avenue have off-street parking and the blocking of driveways is a traffic offense. We will support all efforts to prevent such offenses from being committed and support the prosecution of offenders. The concept of banning from the cinema people who park on Wurts Avenue has been put forward. We will consider this if it is supported by the community, can be reasonably implemented, and is legal. However, we feel that the proposed theater should not be required to alleviate existing traffic and/or parking issues.

The study also looked at traffic specific to the Route 299 at Wurts Avenue intersection and states - “For this unsignalized intersection the levels-of-service are maintained throughout the Existing, No Build, and Build scenarios, i.e. LOS C for traffic exiting Wurts Avenue. Left-turns into Wurts Avenue operate well at LOS A. Given these results it can be concluded that the Water Street Cinema will not have a significant impact on the operation of this intersection even with the worst set of conditions applied to the analysis”. (See figures 5-16 in the report).

Over the last 37 years of my residence in the town, I have experienced traffic and parking challenges in New Paltz. My subjective observation is that the most noticeable occur with specific events and during the day – fairs, festivals, leaf –turning, graduations, fall harvest events, etc. By contrast, the prime hours of operation and attendance for the cinema would be in the evening – after the hours of greatest congestion. The strongest seasons for art cinemas tend to be November through March which is counter-cyclical with other major events that impact travel in the village.

Not-For-Profit Organization to create an art cinema in New Paltz, NY

11/14/2012

Thank you to everyone who attended the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) meeting last night and those that have participated in the dialog online.

Thank you to the ZBA team for conducting the meeting allowing diverse voices in the community to express their views in an open and cordial forum.

For those who were unable to attend or last the three hours, the ZBA closed public input, will review the Water Street Cinema Traffic Impact Study, and anticipates providing a ruling at the next regularly schedule ZBA meeting in December.

11/13/2012

REMINDER
Please come tomorrow. Show your support and express your views. Bring your friends.

We are requesting a variance from sections 212-47 Schedule (C) of the Village Code - seeking relief from the on-site parking requirement for a proposed not-for-profit art cinema and cafe on the lot at 12 Main Street.

The Public Hearing will be held at the Village Hall, 25 Plattekill Avenue, New Paltz
7:00 p.m. - November 13, 2012.

The proposed not-for-profit art cinema will be a cultural resource for the Village of New Paltz and adjoining communities. New Paltz is a destination for its cultural, historical, and scenic beauty and the cinema will add to these opportunities. It is anticipated that much of the patronage of the cinema will be a continuation of visitor's enjoyment of the Village's attributes - historic Huguenot Street, the stone houses, restaurants, and unique retail and market experiences. Since the closing of the Academy Theater in the 1980s, New Paltz has been without an art cinema. The Academy was an entertainment anchor in the downtown area providing cultural and social vitality to the community and attracting patrons to local shops, restaurants, and bars. The not-for-profit cinema is envisioned to play a similar role and become one of the town's main destinations for evening entertainment and a center for social discourse. The cinema will primarily screen the best of independent, documentary, and world cinema, mixed with classic films.

Although the cinema has no on-site parking, the variance is not substantial because a significant portion of the audience will not arrive via car and because of the abundance of parking for those that will. Within an 8 minute walking radius of the cinema there are over 250 public parking spaces of which more than half have been observed to be available during prime operating hours. The scheduled nature of movie screenings makes these alternatives particularly appealing. Many patrons are anticipated to arrive on foot having parked for other activities in the Village.

11/06/2012

Regarding comments about the size of the proposed not-for-profit cinema: It is best to think of it as a “miniplex”. Yes, we plan to have four screens. But, two of the rooms will have fewer than 50 seats each (44 and 48) and the two larger rooms will have 180 and 88. To give a sense of scale, the combined capacity of the two largers rooms is smaller than the current Rosendale Theatre Collective. As a community focussed mission driven art cinema four screens will enable us to present content of interest to the diverse community we aspire to support – indpendent films, foreign films, documentaries, films of specific local interest, films by local artists and students, streaming alternative content (theater, concerts, opera, lectures,..), live performances, and community forums.

10/25/2012

For those that are unable to attend the ZBA meeting on Nov 13 at 7:00 PM and would like to comment on our application (No. 1207) please send letters to:

Karl Budman
Village of New Paltz Zoning Board
P.O. Box 877
New Paltz, NY 12561

We are seeking an Area Variance from sections 212-47 Schedule (C) of the Village Code - relief from the on-site parking requirement.

Thank you