The Kingston Common Council is expected tonight to formally rescind its approval of a plan to legally abandon part of an Uptown Street so that it can be incorporated into the proposed Kingstonian mixed-use project.

The move comes after the city, in response to a legal action filed by opponents of the project, agreed to hold a new public hearing on the matter after an earlier meeting was marred by technical difficulties.

At issue is a request by Mayor Steve Noble that the council authorize the abandonment of a part of Fair Street Extension, a short stretch of roadway linking Schwenk Drive, Fair Street and North Front Street in the Stockade District. Plans for the Kingstonian, A 143-unit apartment complex on the site of a municipal parking lot adjacent to Fair Street Extension, call for the street to be incorporated into the project as an entrance to a 437-space parking garage. A deck built over the street, meanwhile, will become a public plaza linking the apartment complex to a boutique hotel, restaurant and commercial space on the other side of what is now Fair Street Extension.

Opponents of the Kingstonian project have sought to halt the abandonment as part of a campaign to derail the development of a project they claim is, among other things, a giveaway to wealthy investors that will speed gentrification in the city.

State law mandates that a public hearing be held prior to the abandonment of public property. On Dec. 2, such a hearing was held in the Common Council Chambers at City Hall where dozens of speakers for an against the street abandonment voiced their opinions both in-person and via a Zoom link. But the December meeting was marred by technical glitches which left the online audience, including three aldermen who opted to attend virtually, unable to see or hear portions of the proceedings.

In an Article 78 legal action filed in state Supreme Court shortly after the hearing, lawyers for project opponents argued that the technical issues should invalidate the public hearing. Later that month, city attorneys entered into a “stipulation of settlement” agreeing to hold a new hearing.

As part of the agreement, State Supreme Court Judge Richard Mott called for the hearing to take place in person at a venue with a capacity of at least 200 people, larger than any space available at City Hall. That hearing is scheduled for Jan. 12 at a location to be announced. Tonight, the council is set to vote to formally rescind their Dec. 7 vote to authorize the street abandonment. Common

Council President Andrea Shaut said that she was in the process of polling aldermen to determine whether they wanted to schedule a new vote later in the month or wait until the next regularly scheduled meeting on Feb. 1.

“I want to make sure they have time to consider the comments, both in person and the ones in writing,” said Shaut. “Because with everything going on I anticipate there will be a lot of people submitting written comments because they don’t feel comfortable going to an in-person meeting.”

While the council prepares for a rare public hearing outside of their traditional venue, some project opponents are now calling for the hearing to take place either virtually or using a hybrid model to allow for both in-person or virtual comments. Activist group Kingstoncitizens.org has circulated a petition calling for a virtual option at the hearing saying that the move was warranted by the current surge of the omicron Covid-19 variant.

But Shaut said that the city’s hands were effectively tied by Mott’s order. “We have to do it in person because that’s what the judge told us to do,” said Shaut, who said she consulted city legal attorneys about the issue. “So unless the judge tells us something different, it will be in-person.”