What Happened To The WALK In SideWALK?

A respectable 8 feet, where 2 people can
easily walk side by side.  Shouldn't this be 
the standard requirement for a sidewalk?

Outdoor dining season, 4 feet of sidewalk 
to walk single file on.  Same as last year.

How seriously does the City of Hudson regard pedestrians, the disabled and sidewalk safety?  As long as property owners leave at least FOUR FEET of sidewalk, there is no code violation.  Or is two feet?  (Chapter 266-7 Section B-1 of the code is ambiguous.)

City Hall recently approached the limits of its own rules for sidewalk requirements by creating a new and "improved" sidewalk in front of 520 Warren that was halved to all of 5 feet in width.  If they block more than just one foot of their own sidewalk, they will be in big trouble with Code Enforcement. Possibly.

City Hall.  Whose dumb-ass idea was this?

Like all municipal governments, Hudson City Hall (presumably!) wants local restaurants to be as busy as possible. Unfortunately, our City Hall seems to have no concern for what the consequences of narrowed sidewalks as a result of outdoor dining might mean for pedestrians.  This approach is no different or less negatively impactful than the city's desire for lots of new apartments and hotel rooms with no requirements for off-street parking.  A complete disregard for the impact on on-street parking is an approach and mentality that also lacks any common sense or foresight and will only come back to bite us in the ass.

Zero feet on Warren, last summer

Huge development with no off street
parking requirements.  Genius!

Whether it's 2 feet, 4 feet or 5 feet of sidewalk, it's simply inadequate and disrespectful.  A city where anything goes will get nowhere, and fast.

Today

If you were to ask anyone from the Planning Board, Hudson DPW or the Mayor's Office how long the contractor working on the Pocketbook factory is allowed to fence off the entire block of sidewalk along the 6th Street side of the building, I guarantee that you would get one of two answers:  "We don't know," or "However long they need to block it."  In other words, it will likely be at least two more years of no sidewalk and a lovely chain link fence that could just as easily be along the inside of the sidewalk rather than the outside.

PB factory - no sidewalks for years and 
no off-street parking requirements from
the Planning Board.

For how many years will the sidewalks
surrounding the PB factory be off limits?
Does anyone at City Hall know or care?